what are the 4 capstone project elements

CAPSTONE PROJECT: Parts of a Capstone Project

• Parts of a Capstone Project
• Voice in the Capstone Project
• Analysis of Qualitative Data

What a Table of Contents Could Contain

I      Introduction        A     Statement Of Problem/Opportunity (Research Question)        B     Background, Context, And Significance Of Study        C     Project Researcher Identification II     Literature Review        A     Subheadings (Themes Discovered In Review)        B     Notice Of Gaps In Knowledge III    Methods        A     Subjects/Participants        B     Data Collection Approaches/Strategies              1     Advantage Of Strategy              2     Limitation Of Strategy              3     Potential Risk              4     Ethical Issues About Collection Upon The Subjects/Participants        C     Data Analysis Approaches And/Or Software (NOT The Results Themselves, Just How You Are Going To Analyze The Data – Coding Method, Analysis Of Interviews/Recordings, Mathematics And Stats Analysis) IV     Results, Findings, Interpretation, And Discussion V      Recommendations, Application, And Conclusion VI     Reference Pages

What Goes Into Each Section

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Capstone Project: Definition, Types, Structure, and Examples

by  Antony W

January 2, 2024

If you're reading this, chances are that you're in your final year of school and the words "capstone project" have come up somewhere in your first or second semester.

You're probably looking for a quick score on the topic - what it's about, a project template, or even a sample. If so, you're in the right place.

Before we get into it, you' need to know that you're in the hands of consummate capstone project experts.

Help for Assessment is composed of scholars at all levels of academic achievement including Masters and Ph.D., all inspired and motivated to help students like you achieve their academic goals. The expertise and experience we have spans years. Even better, this combined academic expertise is placed at your disposal. If your capstone research project is already giving you goosebumps, we will do it for you from scratch including the project proposal, research, write up, and final review before submission.

Remember, you can trust Help for Assessment to complete your capstone project successfully and earn you top grades. All you have to do is order the service here on our service page.

 In the meantime, let us explore the definition of the capstone project, types of projects for students, and a sample capstone project.

What Is a Capstone Project? 

A capstone project in college is a final independent project undertaken in a program of study designed to assess the skills, knowledge, and expertise acquired by the student.

As the name suggests, it is the capstone or crowning achievement of academic life and the last class taken before graduation. It gives you the final credits required to pass the course, which is why every student must take the project.

Since it is designed to assess knowledge and skills gained in a particular discipline, capstone projects vary from school to school and discipline to discipline.

Such a project might involve something as simple as research on a topic, an evaluation of a new technique or method, development of a health program, research into a historical figure or event, or even composing a skit or theatre presentation.

No matter what kind of project you choose to undertake, the result is the same. You get to showcase your understanding of the coursework material learned and display your readiness to enter the professional world to start your career. It is a rewarding experience if done right, but can mess up your final year and possibly your graduation if you manage to mess it up.

Do you know that a successful capstone project also helps to land you lucrative jobs? That’s right, capstone projects are one of the ways potential employers find out just how learned, resourceful, and talented you are. Think of it as a kind of thesis.

Capstone projects are also called culminating projects, experience, senior exhibition, or other similar names. The project is usually self-directed, and most students find it a challenge to even come up with the right capstone project topic. 

Capstone Project Vs. Thesis

A capstone project and a thesis are both very similar in that they represent a final effort from the student just before graduation.

They are done in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course being undertaken. The comprehensive approach and assessment involved are very similar, and sometimes the structure and methodology might overlap.

Both also have to be reviewed and approved by the institution and will remain in the public domain after publishing.

However, there are some important differences.

• A thesis is purely academic while a capstone project focuses more on the practical preparation of the student for the real world/job market.
• A thesis is guided by a research question resulting in the addition of new knowledge to the field, while a capstone project is guided by the practical importance of the project to the field.
• A thesis involves academic research and analysis, while a capstone project can be anything including a dance or film.
• A thesis is expected to be original and authentic, while a capstone project will have more loose requirements. You can borrow another person’s capstone project ideas , so long as you demonstrate your own advancement in the field.
• A capstone project will usually only have a brief write-up or report, while a thesis generates a detailed, extensive writeup.
• The final presentation of a thesis, called a defense, is meant to prove and show that you have mastered the subject. You are supposed to be a mini-expert in the field. A capstone project presentation comes off as a kind of exhibition where you showcase your project without having to defend it.

Types of Capstone Projects

Capstone projects vary not just in the type of project, also in the level at which they are done.

There are projects for juniors and seniors in college as well as for postgraduate students.

Here are some examples of the forms of projects depending on the academic level.

• In-depth research projects.
• Developing the concept of a product, tool, or service.
• Expositions.
• Experiments.

Capstone projects can be conducted either individually or in a group.

However, the key thing is to make sure that the project proposal has been reviewed and approved by the instructor/panel/institution in charge before proceeding.

Senior Capstone Project

Senior projects are so called because they are done by high school students in their senior year.

Just like other projects, they represent a culmination of the coursework with an interdisciplinary application of knowledge and skills gained so far.

The project usually takes the better part of the final academic year and will have different parts to it, depending on the type of project chosen.

It will also require a presentation where the student(s) explain and describe the project to an audience, including their classmates.

Sample Capstone Project Outline

The write up for a project consists of several parts. However, even before starting the write-up, you need to do a few things:

• Come up with an idea for your project. What will be your subject matter, topic, or premise?
• Find sources for the project and review them beforehand to ensure that they will be of help to you.
• Come up with a step-by-step methodology for your project.

Using this information, you will then write a capstone project proposal for your project. It informs your instructor or review panel exactly what you intend to present so that they can approve or reject it.

Once approved, you can go on to the next stage. The final write-up has the following parts.

• A title page.
• Project outline.
• A description/abstract.
• Introduction
• Rationale/relevance/reason for doing the project.
• Objectives of the project.
• Procedures/methodology.
• Research and analysis.
• Evaluation of results and findings.
• Conclusion and future work/suggestions.
• Bibliography/works cited/reference list.

Note that the project is carried out in stages. Once approved, you will need to be submitting weekly or monthly status reports to your supervisor. After the project report is submitted, you will also have to make a presentation about the whole project.

This brief outline is only meant to be a rough guide. We have a much more detailed article detailing how you can do your capstone project, including a project template. 

Capstone Project Examples

Help for Assessment has extensive experience when it comes to capstone projects of all kinds.

Whether it’s a high school project, a college capstone, or a senior capstone project, you can trust us to carry it out successfully for you.

You can check out various project samples here . 

Get Help With Your Capstone Project

Capstone projects in every level of school are a make or break it deal. Given that they complete the graduation credits required, it makes sense to leave this important part of your coursework to experts.

We are proud to offer you a guide on how to write a capstone project here . If you need help, you can take advantage of our capstone project writing service at affordable, student-friendly rates with amazing discounts. 

Check it out here and make your order to experience excellence, peace of mind, and success thanks to our stellar services.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

Setting the Stage for Your Capstone Project

Since the capstone project is a very detailed project you must undertake, you must ensure that you add in all the capstone project elements to score well in a capstone course and get a successful capstone project. Read the article about capstone project in high school . Therefore, we have included a detailed explanation of capstone elements here in this guide, and capstone project tips will also be helpful.

Preparation and understanding of the route are crucial for capstone projects. Since the capstone project is a very detailed project you must undertake, it’s essential to lay down the groundwork strategically. We have carefully crafted this guide to assist you in navigating this daunting but fulfilling endeavor. You will discover the core elements of a capstone project and find helpful tips and insights to enhance your project’s quality and impact.

Read the article about capstone projects for high school students for a different perspective and to find a research topic. Equipping yourself with this knowledge can serve as a compass, guiding you towards a well-rounded and compelling capstone project that satisfies academic requirements and showcases your capacity to apply theory to practice in solving real-world issues and develop knowledge and skills for capstone projects.

Choosing the Right Tools and Approaches for Your Capstone Project

Remember that this is the section where you have to intrigue the examiner so that they continue to read further and want to find out what you are studying. This is highly crucial in this regard. So before you start working and have finalized the topic, research. Once sorted with this, you have a greater chance of doing well on the capstone project. Understand that this is a very important project, so you must give your best in what you do to get a capstone paper.

Element 1: Problem Statement

The first section is where you introduce the topic broadly and also start with the research. You are expected to give a background of the study here and require students to develop presentation skills. The idea is to start with a one-sentence research problem statement to give the examiner an idea about what you will talk about and the significance of this problem. In this section, the reader should know why you are taking up this project in the first place and the impact that this will have. The idea is to study this in a way that shows that this will have significant implications and that you need to understand each to work on this in the best way possible.

Element 2: Literature Review

The second section is the literature review, one of your research’s most important components. You are expected to search for different sources where you get information that forms the basis of this research. You can go through web sources, journal articles, and so on. The idea is for you to have a basic idea about things first. The idea is for this information to form the basis of the research that you are doing. So you need to make sure that the resources that you do justice to this.

A good way to do this is to note whatever you learn throughout to develop skills. This way, you can proceed with things more easily. This is especially important when you start writing your paper. You don’t have to recall what you learned, but you can take a look at the points and start writing them. Apart from having sound knowledge of the basics here, you are also expected to look for new ideas in this domain and confirm earlier findings.

Also, look for gaps in knowledge in this section to help you work on it much better in case you don’t want to fail the capstone project . Finally, understand that the more effort you put into this section, the more detailed it will be. Not just that, but your understanding of the basics will also be much better when you research and then work on this and get effective tips.

Just a formal presentation and video on a Capstone Project will help you succeed:

Element 3: Methodology

This is the third of the capstone structure and components. In this section, you will discuss how you plan to proceed with the research in a real-world problem. To start with, first, describe your research design. This can be qualitative, quantitative, or a mix of both researches. It is entirely up to you how you choose to take this forward.

This depends on what meaning you want to uncover and how you plan on finding more data for this. But if you pick one, you need to justify why you did that and demonstrate how that suited your research the most.

You also need to state your dependent and independent variables here for clarity of research. Independent variables are the ones you choose to investigate, whereas the dependent ones are affected by the independent ones. Once you do this, you must also present and discuss your project’s sample.

The sample or the capstone project examples is known to be the people you make a part of the academic research. You also have to talk about the method you chose for sampling and why this worked well for you here in this research project. Finally, talk about the inclusion and exclusion criteria here.

Next, you also need to discuss the materials and tools you used for research purposes in line with your research design. For example, you could choose to go for interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions, or a mix of these, but you need to be very clear about your rationale.

Also, write about the process of conducting research and the major elements used. Also, touch upon how you ensured you were ethical in your research as a culminating project. Then, it would help if you also talked about the analysis and how you did that. After that, you need examples to support your selection.

➡️  get help with your capstone project ⬅️

Element 4: Results and Discussion

This is the central part of your capstone thesis project, where you talk about the results of this research. Essentially, you answer the research question in this part by focusing on the study’s outcome for an academic capstone project.

Try to be as clear and direct as possible in this part, and do not make any assumptions to get the capstone experience. You can use graphs, charts, and tables as you deem fit based on your research methods and skills gained. But, again, the idea is to be clear about what you want to say if you wish to your capstone project to be successful in a final assignment.

How Long Does it Take to Complete a Capstone Project?

However, capstone projects may vary depending on the rigor of the graduate program and the specific requirements. Sometimes, they can last from a quarter to two semesters, depending on the school. Most graduate programs require students to undertake capstone projects that usually last about one semester. It’s better to begin formulating an idea of what you want to explore. Waiting until the end of a dissertation to study a specific subject is a hazard for a capstone project.

Strategies for a Successful Capstone Project – Graduate Programs for Educators

Capstone projects provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the learning experience from the program. Unlike exams, capstone projects allow students to demonstrate their expertise and use that knowledge to solve real-world problems. Capstone projects and actions are the primary tools used in college courses, particularly graduate programs. The capstone project should provide a comprehensive overview of all of the elements of the capstone.

The Perfect Capstone Project Topic

Choosing the right capstone project topic is the foundation of a successful endeavor. Selecting a topic that aligns with your interests, career goals, and passion for exploration is essential. Start by brainstorming potential topics and considering various areas of education that spark your curiosity. Whether it’s technology in education, innovative teaching methods, or curriculum development, exploring potential topics will allow you to create a capstone project that resonates with your academic journey.

In-Depth Research and Literature Review

Once you’ve identified your capstone project topic, the next step is to dive into in-depth research and literature review. Seek scholarly articles, journals, and authoritative sources on your chosen subject. A thorough literature review will strengthen your understanding of the topic and provide a solid foundation for your project’s methodology and findings. Consider primary and secondary research methods to gather data, as they add depth and credibility to your work.

Your Capstone Project with Precision

As you delve into the research phase, creating a well-structured capstone project that showcases your insights effectively is crucial. Begin by formulating a clear research question that will guide your investigation and provide a focus for your project. Organize your project into coherent sections, including an introduction, methodology, findings, and conclusion. Use data mining, machine learning, or any other relevant techniques based on your topic to analyze the collected data. By crafting your capstone project with precision and attention to detail, you’ll create a compelling narrative highlighting your expertise and contributions to the field of education.

Solving Real-World Problems and Making an Impact

The true essence of a capstone project lies in its ability to address real-world problems and make a positive impact. As educators, your capstone project can influence and shape the future of education. Consider how your findings and recommendations can be applied practically, benefiting students, teachers, and the education community. By envisioning the broader implications of your capstone project, you elevate your work from a mere academic assignment to a valuable contribution to the field.

What makes a good capstone project?

A defining element of a Capstone should be a culmination of personal academic or professional experiences. Capstone courses are used to synthesize integration of knowledge or apply existing experience rather than to acquire new knowledge. Students’ ability to show, not learning new things.

The Heart of Your Capstone Project

Once you have discussed the main findings, you must also discuss things here. Analyze it all critically and also be very attentive. Try to find patterns and also show correlations in the findings. In the discussion section, talk about whether or not your findings aligned with the data you found in the literature review section.

You can also talk about important implications and recommendations here. There is also much room to discuss future research areas in this section. Anything that you feel is important and adds value to your words must be discussed in this section.

So from here, you can see the four essential capstone elements. You can only score well on your capstone project in your academic program when you know these elements and why it is important to have detailed knowledge to start working on capstone projects.

So make sure to have a very detailed approach when working on all these capstone projects to easily work your way through expanding your knowledge and scoring well in this part; also, read how to write a capstone project article on this blog. Good luck with your capstone project, or get  help at Writing Metier .

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Laura Orta is an avid author on Writing Metier's blog. Before embarking on her writing career, she practiced media law in one of the local media. Aside from writing, she works as a private tutor to help students with their academic needs. Laura and her husband share their home near the ocean in northern Portugal with two extraordinary boys and a lifetime collection of books.

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How to Write a Capstone Project like an Expert

This guide describes all the steps needed to create a capstone project, including choosing a topic, structuring the paper, and writing in a scholarly manner.

A capstone project is a research assignment that many students must complete as part of their undergraduate or master’s degree. It differs from other types of final papers such as a thesis or dissertation because it has a practical nature. Capstone projects call for a student to review a certain problem, often specific to the writer’s interests or experience, and conduct research to evaluate or resolve the detected issues. The goal of such assignments is to involve students in their future professional sphere (Weaver 2). Moreover, capstone projects assess how students use critical thinking skills and the knowledge they have acquired during a course.

Choosing a Topic

It is clear that your selection must be connected to your sphere of education. For example, if you are a medical student, your capstone project will likely be focused on health-care interventions. For future biologists and chemists, chosen topics will reflect their field of expertise. Nevertheless, these assignments can be made more personal as follows:

• Search for a topic that interests you. Selecting a theme that does not spark your interest can negatively affect your attention and the quality of your writing. You may neither be able to concentrate on your paper nor conduct in-depth research. Think about your experience, both educational and professional. Has there been a problem or issue that you noticed and wanted to solve? This capstone project may be your chance to do that.
• Consider the format of the assignment. What does your instructor ask you to include in the project? Anticipate the composition of the future paper and the various components it should contain. Do you have to conduct research, and do the results have to be measurable? Adjust your topic to reflect the instructions. Since in most cases students have to confirm the topic with their advisors before writing, you will be able to get some help if you are struggling to find suitable subject matter.
• Take into account the project’s length. Depending on the number of requested pages, you may need to broaden or narrow your topic. Try to estimate how much space each part of the project will take up, and choose a research area that has enough information.
• Research existing literature on the topic. If your topic is too narrow or too recent, you may not find enough academic literature to support your research. In contrast, if the topic is too broad, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of available information.

Capstone projects usually follow a specific structure:

• Abstract. Although it is located at the beginning of the written project, the abstract should be written last. It is a summary of the entire study; you can approach it as soon as you are sure that every other part is complete. Do not confuse the abstract with the introduction of the paper—abstracts contain enough information to interest the reader in the entire project. Thus, they must capture the essence and relay main concepts, hypotheses, research methods, and findings.
• Introduction. In this section, you will acquaint your readers with the topic you have selected. Sometimes, an introduction is split into multiple smaller categories such as “Purpose of the Paper” or “Research Questions,” but they can be located in this part since they present the topic. Here, you should introduce the issue and connect it to your sphere of academic knowledge or course. In addition, you may discuss why this research problem is significant. Next, list the formulated research questions or hypotheses that will guide the investigation. State the objectives that you wish to achieve with the help of this project. Finally, if it is required, include a thesis that succinctly describes the aims and beliefs of the capstone project.
• Literature Review. A review of the existing literature is a vital component of any research endeavor. Here, you will search for academic and other reliable sources that are connected to your topic. These articles, books, trials, and studies will be used as a foundation for the research. Sources can contain pertinent findings, discuss well-examined methodologies, present new ideas, and confirm or refute earlier findings. Document the results of your search and analyze them; look for gaps in knowledge. What themes are not explored well or missing altogether? What should or can be researched in more detail? You can attempt to fill in these gaps with your findings.
• Methodology. In this section of the project, you will talk about how your research is to be conducted.
• First, describe your research design; it can be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed (a combination of the two). Each type also has many subcategories. Choose one, and explain why it works the best for your topic.
• Next, state your independent and dependent variables if needed for your selected design. Independent variables are what you choose to investigate (for example, different training programs for employees). Dependent variables are affected by independent ones (for example, employee performance after training).
• Describe the sample for your project. Who are the participants, and how many of them are involved? What are the inclusion and exclusion criteria for research?
• List the materials and tools you used in conducting research. Here, you can introduce questionnaires, online tests, and other media created for this project.
• Write about the process of conducting research, discussing all the major elements of the procedure. What were the participants asked to perform? How were the results collected?
• Discuss how you analyzed the results, listing measurements, tests, and calculations. Explain why you chose each method, and support your selections with previous research.
• Results. This is a significant part of the project, where you show the results of the conducted research. Refrain from making any assumptions or conclusions here—state the results without interpretation. You can use graphs, tables, and images to illustrate findings. Remember to present data that will answer all the research questions and hypotheses you introduced earlier. Check the findings’ validity and significance if required by the chosen research style.
• Discussion. Here, you should analyze the revealed results—be critical and attentive. Try to find patterns or show correlations in the findings. Talk about the context. What does previous academic literature tell you about this study? Does it contradict or align with your findings? Think about the importance and implications of your results. Does this study add something new to the sphere of knowledge? Do not forget to consider the limitations of your project—what could make the research more reliable? Finally, introduce some questions for future research and encourage additional investigation.
• Conclusion. Some papers include a conclusion in addition to the discussion. Restate all major information from the study here, presenting it concisely. Do not propose any new ideas or data in this part. The function of a conclusion is to wrap up the project and talk about all important judgments.

Writing Process

In addition to adhering to the structure described above, you should also remember to pay attention to your writing process. Do not be afraid of making drafts before writing the final version; they will help you structure your arguments and findings. After completing the paper, be sure to proofread it as mistakes and inconsistencies can make the written project difficult to read, confusing, or even incorrect. If you think you need someone else’s opinion, ask for it—turn to your instructor, writing center, or other knowledgeable persons that will help you revise the text if necessary. Check all tables and graphs, and make sure that a reader can understand them as well as you do.

Capstone projects give students an opportunity to apply their knowledge in practice. They are designed around a narrow topic that investigates a real problem, using a specific structure that is followed in the majority of cases: an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and discussion are essential elements of every capstone project. These assignments use a scholarly voice and require in-depth knowledge of previous scholarly literature. Like all academic papers, they need to be substantiated with evidence and be clear and unbiased. Lastly, proofreading is an important part of scholarly writing as well. This paper shows the writer’s level of preparedness after completing a course. Follow the provided guidelines and remember to be attentive—these rules should help you complete a high-quality capstone project.

Weaver, K. F., et al. “The Benefits of Peer Review and a Multisemester Capstone Writing Series on Inquiry and Analysis Skills in an Undergraduate Thesis.” CBE—Life Sciences Education, vol. 15, no. ar51, 2016, 1-9.

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What Is a Capstone Project in University?

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Importance of Capstone Courses

Characteristics of capstone projects, capstone project vs. capstone course, examples across various majors, capstone project process, benefits for students, challenges and tips, frequently asked questions about capstone in university.

Confused with the concept of a capstone project ? As you approach your senior year, you might be hearing about this culmination project—whether a research endeavor, final paper, application, or portfolio— this academic endeavor aims to showcase the depth of your learning throughout your college years and prepares you for the professional world.

 In this blog post, I will explore what it means, how to prepare for it, and how you can bring this academic achievement to life. I'll guide you through this process, ensuring you have the support and resources you need. With the right guidance and understanding, you can transform this challenging task into an opportunity for growth and real-world application.

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Capstone courses are part of university curricula and are strategically designed to prepare students for a seamless transition from academia to the workforce. They may include research endeavors and theses. However, each has a distinct focus and purpose.

These projects often highlight practical applications and skill enrichment, making them more aligned with professional practice (often done as a group project).

On the other hand, research and theses contribute to the academic body of knowledge, delving deeper into theoretical aspects. Bridging this knowledge gap is essential to empowering students with the understanding needed to make informed decisions about their final-year assessments.

In a broader context, a capstone project is designed to integrate theoretical knowledge with practical application. It provides a platform to reflect on academic journeys, apply acquired knowledge to real-world scenarios, and develop problem-solving skills. By addressing tangible challenges, learners enhance their readiness for the professional world.

The benefits of capstone projects extend beyond academic prowess. They empower students to navigate complex, work-related issues, through practical experience and fostering a deeper understanding on a particular subject.

This synthesis of knowledge and practical application enriches the graduate student's educational experience and typically involves graduates with a skill set essential for success in their higher education.

Although the terms "capstone project" and "capstone course" are often used interchangeably, it's necessary to understand their differences:

A  capstone project   is an independent assignment that encapsulates students' academic learning and demonstrates their proficiency in a specific discipline or field.

The focus is on individual research, problem-solving, or creative endeavors, providing a medium to demonstrate the knowledge acquired as students finish their studies. A capstone project is part of a course (think of it as a final assignment).

A  capstone course   contains a broader coursework and educational experience. It is an entire course (like any other) in which students incorporate and apply their knowledge gained throughout a program. It often requires students to collaborate on projects, engage in discussions, and participate in various activities. It can take longer to complete and varies depending on the institution. 

Students across different degree programs engage in multifaceted capstone experiences at the end of their college careers. These experiences can vary widely, from individual research to collaborative group endeavors, reflecting the essence of their academic achievements.

For example, in fields such as political science, students may delve into a senior thesis, conducting extensive research and showcasing their critical thinking skills.

Alternatively, within literature courses, the last capstone course may involve a comprehensive literature review, illustrating the culmination of knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course of the degree program.

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Many capstone courses extend beyond conventional research papers, requiring you to work on a final project addressing a real-world problem. This collaborative effort and practical method, which can be conducted in small groups, emphasizes teamwork, a significant amount of research, and a strong work ethic (fundamental skills that prepare students for the workplace).

In addition to meeting the degree program and requirements, these capstone experiences often involve a final exhibition, allowing students to present and demonstrate their problem statement to professors, other students, peers, and sometimes even external stakeholders.

A capstone course experience serves as a bridge to graduate degrees or even doctorates, honing research capabilities that are essential for success and develop the necessary skills for potential employers.

As Jolanta Burke and Majella Dempsey highlight in their Practical Guide for Students Book , commencing a capstone project is like constructing a house:

Firstly, you must establish solid foundations, much like a house, ensuring reliability. Then, continue learning and enhancing your skills to build it. Once armed with the necessary skills and information, the next step is to decide on the materials, devise a plan of action, and follow through until the house—your project—is complete and ready for use.

Just as a house requires a robust foundation, a capstone project initiates with meticulous planning. This phase encompasses defining content, goals, and methodologies, ensuring the project demonstrates most capstone courses.

For instance, if your project revolves around human-centered design, identify a problem, such as a shortage of shelters in a city, and conduct research. Then, the person and approach to solving this problem should be determined, perhaps by studying the owner of an existing shelter and identifying gaps in current approaches.

While delving into extensive research, it's crucial for students to hone academic capabilities by studying other courses and examining what has already been done about the specific problem. Seeking input from people, professors, and TAs are invaluable. Once enough material, like a literature review or interviews, is gathered, present it to your professor for feedback before progressing.

Pre-Execution

Jus like choosing construction materials for a house, students must decide on materials and formulate a detailed action plan, meeting degree or course requirements. This phase demands careful consideration of methodologies and strategies, emphasizing material determination—whether it's an app, a history psychology project, or any other course. Craft a structured plan and present it as a proposal before delving deeper into the subject.

The final stage involves executing the plan and completing the project, demonstrating the capstone experience. The research project needs to be prepared for use, showcasing the culmination of efforts.

Presentation

The presentation serves as the grand reveal of the completed project. A well-structured project and a compelling pitch, typically required, is essential to demonstrate its readiness for use.

This approach ensures a seamless transition from planning to execution, essential for success in capstone courses and the culmination of their academic journey.

The preparatory nature of these projects makes students discover what they enjoy the most, what comes easily, and the potential to find areas of improvement. The benefits are crucial for student' personal and professional development, providing a real connection between academic knowledge and real-world application.

Gaining Skills and Experiences

Capstone projects showcase the skills and experiences accumulated throughout a student's educational journey. From research prowess to critical thinking and effective communication, the project culminates in these proficiencies, bringing them to the student's forefront.

Practical Transition to the Next Phase

Capstone projects are vital in preparing students to transition to the professional world or advance in academic pursuits. It's a practical initiation into college career, familiarizing students with the challenges and responsibilities they'll encounter in their future careers or advanced degrees at other schools.

Initiation of Work or Advanced Studies

Working on a capstone project program allows students to navigate the complexities they'll encounter in their chosen field. This experiential learning program equips them with valuable insights and the confidence and adaptability required to transition to the professional world or pursue advanced degrees.

Holistic Development for Future Success

Capstone projects contribute significantly to students' and major programs' holistic development, ensuring they are academically qualified and possess the practical skills demanded by prospective employers for their future endeavors.

Here are some potential burdens and some capstone journey strategies that have helped me throughout my projects during school.

Choosing a Subject:

• Challenge:  Defining the size of your capstone project can be daunting. I recommend balancing ambition with feasibility. For example, if you are trying to help dog shelters, maybe focus on how to prevent owners from abandoning them by educating dog owners. In the case of a more research-based project, look at the literature review of your research focus and build upon what has already been investigated.
• Strategy:  Begin with a clear project scope and revisit the risks regularly. Prioritize key objectives to avoid complicating your project, and focus on a single issue .

Time Management:

• Challenge:  Capstone projects often overlap with other academic commitments. Time management becomes paramount.
• Strategy:  Create a detailed timeline, allocating specific tasks to manageable time frames. Regularly reassess and adjust as needed.

Research Roadblocks:

• Challenge:  Conducting extensive research may lead to information overload or difficulty finding relevant sources.
• Strategy:  Define research questions early. What is the project doing? For whom? In what builds upon? Utilize academic databases and seek guidance from mentors for targeted resource discovery.

Team Dynamics (if applicable):

• Challenge:  Group projects may need help coordinating schedules, differing work styles, or conflicting ideas.
• Strategy:  Establish clear communication channels, set expectations from the beginning, and address conflicts promptly.

What exactly is a capstone project?

A capstone project is a culmination endeavor in your last year of college. This final assignment showcases the knowledge you acquired throughout your college years. It's a bridge between academia and the professional world, demonstrating the complete scope of your learning.

How do capstone courses differ from capstone projects?

A capstone project is an independent culminating assignment reflecting academic individual proficiency. On the other hand, a capstone course is an entire academic course that may involve collaborative projects, discussions, diverse activities, and presentations.

What are the benefits and challenges of capstone projects?

Capstone projects offer transformative experiences, unveiling skills and experiences gained through academic years. The benefits include skill refinement, self-discovery, and a practical transition to the professional realm.

However, challenges such as choosing a subject, time management, research roadblocks, and team dynamics may arise. Strategies like clear project scoping, time management, focused research questions, and effective team communication can help overcome these challenges.

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What Is a Capstone Project & How to Write It: Definition, Outline, Steps

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A capstone project is a culminating academic project. It typically requires students to apply the skills they have gained during the course to a real-world problem. Capstone projects are common in undergraduate and graduate programs across a range of disciplines, including business, engineering, healthcare, and education.

Interesting fact, the first documented capstone project was completed in 1937 by Edgar F. Batten, who proposed to build an airport. It was considered a novel idea at that time, but it led to the development of Cleveland Municipal Airport. Today, they have come a long way, allowing students to showcase their creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. In this guide, we will define a capstone project and state its purpose in academics. We will also delve into its significance and provide an outline of how to do a capstone project. So, get ready for an exciting journey to become a capstone pro! Remember that you can always buy a capstone project from our academic gurus if you strive for maximum output.

What Is a Capstone Project: Definition

Capstone projects are vital in every school. Then, what is a capstone project ? Generally, it is research designed to showcase students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities in specific fields of study. This task is challenging and time-consuming, but once completed, it is rewarding. Capstone project is interdisciplinary in nature and can be completed in various formats, such as a written report, research paper , term paper , or presentation. It often involves independent research and analysis by an individual college or university student or group. For example, you could be asked to explore one topic or social problem that interests you, do extensive research about it, assess findings, and propose a solution. Based on the definition of capstone project, it is a culminating academic experience that typically takes place at the end of students' college education. Other basics include:

• Use of academic knowledge Students apply knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout their academic program to their papers.
• Collaboration with faculty members or industry professionals Students may work with faculty members or industry professionals to gain additional insight and guidance on their capstones.
• Presentation or defense Students may also be required to defend their capstone project in front of a panel of experts or live audience.
• Evaluation by committee A committee evaluates the student's paper to determine if they have met all academic requirements and project standards.

What Is the Capstone Project Purpose?

The main purpose of a capstone project is to assess your ability to integrate and apply knowledge acquired throughout your academic program. It gives you a chance to demonstrate mastery of a particular field of study, showcasing critical thinking, research, and communication skills. Capstone project serves several key goals:

• Demonstrate student’s learning abilities As an educational strategy, capstone project can be used to show if the learner has acquired knowledge gained over the entire course.
• Improve students’ self-perception and confidence Typically, capstone projects allow students to take on new responsibilities and show commitment all through. Completing them boosts their self-esteem, self-awareness, as well as confidence.
• Boost career aspirations Since capstone projects involve working on real-world problems, students gain practical experience and prepare them for their future careers.
• Foster motivation and engagement Creativity involved in senior capstone projects, especially since students select them based on their personal interests, can motivate them to learn, engaging others in that process.

Importance of Capstone Projects

The importance of capstone projects cannot be overstated. They supplement your academic journey, providing opportunities for you to demonstrate mastery of skills and knowledge, build real-world experience, and showcase your abilities to potential employers. Writing capstone paper can serve several important reasons, including:

• Preparing for future careers By working on real-world issues and engaging in independent capstone research project, you develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and presentation skills that are essential for successful careers.
• Encouraging innovation By providing you with an opportunity to tackle complex problems and come up with innovative solutions, capstone projects encourage creativity.
• Demonstrating mastery of a particular field By successfully completing a capstone project, you demonstrate mastery of a particular field, setting yourself apart from others in the academic program as well as enhancing your marketability in the job market.
• Building your CV Prospective employers want to know more than just your academic performance. What is the capstone project you undertook in school? Adding them to your CV will inform them of your additional skills you possess.
• Building a sense of accomplishment Completing capstone essays can be a significant accomplishment, giving you pride and satisfaction for your hard work.

Senior Capstone Project Structure

A capstone project structure plays a crucial role in helping you write a successful paper. It provides a clear, organized framework for the capstone project, helping you ensure that you include all necessary parts. It will also guide you in the right direction, helping you find the best approach to complete your paper. Before you begin writing a capstone project paper, it is important to carefully review all guidelines provided by your academic program to ensure that it meets all requirements and is structured clearly and effectively. Here is a general structure of senior capstone project:

• Abstract Brief summary of the capstone project, typically around 250-300 words. It provides a concise overview of background information, objectives, methodology, results, and conclusion. It is often the first section that readers view to better understand your study's purpose and findings.
• Introduction This section provides an overview of the paper and sets context for your study. It includes a background on the topic, a clear problem statement or issue being addressed, research questions, and objectives. It should also highlight how your paper will be structured.
• Literature Review It provides a comprehensive overview of relevant research on the topic, including an analysis of previous studies, gaps in literature, and theoretical framework that will guide your study. It is important to provide thorough and well-structured literature review to support your research questions.
• Methodology In this section, you outline research design types, data collection and analysis methods, and sampling procedures that will be used to address your research questions. It should also give detailed description of the research process, including rationale for methods chosen and procedures followed to ensure validity and reliability of data collected.
• Results Here you present your study findings, including statistical analyses, tables, graphs, and figures that illustrate the results. They should be presented in a well-organized manner, focusing on answering your research questions.
• Discussion This section provides an interpretation of results, connecting findings to literature and research questions, further discussing their implications. The discussion should give critical evaluation of results, considering the limitations for future research.
• Conclusion It summarizes the main study findings, providing recommendations for future research. This section should be a clear and concise summary of results, tying the findings to research questions and objectives.
• References This section provides a comprehensive list of all sources cited in the paper, formatted according to appropriate citation style (APA, MLA, etc.).
• Appendices If necessary, this section includes additional materials that support the main study findings, such as survey instruments, raw data, or transcripts of interviews.

Capstone Project Outline

A sample capstone project outline is a visual representation of the paper structure and organization. It acts as a roadmap for writing, helping ensure that the project stays on track. The purpose of the capstone project outline is to provide an overview of all main elements and order in which they will be presented. Here is a template example of an outline for a capstone project:

• Background of the topic
• Purpose of study
• Research questions
• Overview of paper structure
• Overview of relevant research
• Analysis of previous studies
• Gaps in literature
• Theoretical framework
• Research design
• Data collection and analysis methods
• Sampling procedures
• Rationale for methods chosen
• Procedures to ensure validity and reliability of data
• Presentation of study findings
• Statistical analyses
• Tables, graphs, and figures
• Focus on answering research questions
• Interpretation of results
• Connection of findings to literature and research questions
• Implications of findings
• Critical evaluation of results
• Study limitations
• Implications for future research
• Summary of main findings and conclusions
• Recommendations for future research
• Comprehensive list of all sources cited in paper
• Additional materials that support main study findings

How to Write a Capstone Project Paper?

A capstone project requires careful planning to show that you have a grasp of a particular discipline or subject. As such, it is important to understand the steps involved in the process and have a well-defined plan in place. The following subsections will guide you in writing a capstone project paper, from start to finish, giving you the roadmap to ensure a successful outcome. Each part is carefully detailed to help you understand what’s expected of you. Follow these steps to learn how to write a capstone paper:

1. Choose a Topic

Choosing a topic is an important step in writing a capstone project. It sets the foundation for your paper, determining how successful the final product will be. Always go for capstone project ideas that have not been extensively researched, allowing you to add new insights. Here are some steps to follow when choosing research topics :

• Identify area of interest Think about your interests, passions, and academic strengths. This will help you choose a topic that you are genuinely interested in or are well-suited to research.
• Consider the project scope Make sure the topic is manageable within a specified timeframe and resources available to you. In particular, it should be narrow enough to allow you to focus, but broad enough to provide enough material for a comprehensive analysis.
• Review the coursework Take a look at all courses you have taken so far and consider how they relate to your chosen topic. Remember the paper should be built on knowledge you have acquired throughout your academic journey.
• Consult your supervisor A capstone project advisor can provide valuable guidance and feedback on the topic. They can help you refine it, ensuring that it is relevant to the field of study.
• Research your topic Once you have a few potential topics, research each one to determine their feasibility, availability of resources, as well as scope of literature.
• Make a decision After you have conducted your research, choose one topic that you are most interested in and that you believe will be the most rewarding.

Choosing a topic that is relevant, manageable, and of personal interest to you will help you stay motivated throughout your capstone writing process.

2. Research Existing Literature

Conducting a thorough literature review is crucial in helping you understand the current state of knowledge on the topic, identifying gaps your capstone senior project can fill. Here's how to go about it:

• Start by brainstorming keywords or phrases related to the topic, using them to search databases, such as Google Scholar , JSTOR , and other relevant academic sources.
• Pay attention to relevant theories and studies as you research. This will help you get a sense of what has already been done, what questions remain unanswered, and what you can contribute to the field.
• Keep track of all sources, taking notes as you read. Organize them into categories, like creating an annotated bibliography that you can refer to later.
• Evaluate the quality of sources you found. Check if they are peer-reviewed or have been published in reputable academic journals.
• Synthesize the information you have gathered to identify themes or patterns. This will help you see the bigger picture and understand the research context.
• Use the synthesized information to refine the research question and hypothesis. Make sure that your research is original and adds to the existing body of knowledge.

By conducting a thorough literature review, you will write a capstone paper that is well-informed, grounded in latest research, and makes a meaningful contribution.

3. Define a Problem

Based on research, define the problem statement you aim to address in your capstone research paper. It should be well-defined and specific. The problem statement should be clear, concise, and align with the research question. It should also be justified, explaining why the problem is important, including how it relates to current literature. Here are some steps to follow when defining a problem for a capstone project:

• Review existing literature Conduct a thorough review of existing literature in your area of interest. This will help you identify any gaps in knowledge or areas that need further research.
• Identify the problem Based on literature review, identify a specific problem or issue that you would like to address. It should be relevant and of interest to you.
• Refine the problem Make it more specific and focused. Consider the project scope, available resources, and own abilities.
• Formulate a research question Based on the problem you have defined, formulate a research question that will guide your paper. It should be clear, concise, and answerable through research.
• Develop a hypothesis Develop a hypothesis that you will test through research. It should provide a potential answer to the research question.

Defining a problem is important because it provides focus and direction for research. A well-defined problem will ensure that your capstone project writing is of high quality.

4. Introduce Your Research Methods

This section should describe methods you will use to collect and analyze data, as well as the rationale behind your choice. They should be appropriate, accurate, and reliable for the capstone project. You should also explain any final capstone project limitations, including how you plan to address them. Here are some steps to follow when introducing graduate capstone research methods:

• Choose research methods that are appropriate for the research question and hypothesis. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of different methods, and select the ones that are most suitable.
• Provide a clear explanation of why you chose the methods you did. Explain how they will help you answer the research question and test your hypothesis.
• Give a detailed description of research methods, including how you will collect data and analyze it. Be specific about what steps you will take, tools you will use, and data you will collect.
• Consider any ethical issues that may arise from using those research methods. Explain how you will ensure that research is conducted in a responsible manner.
• Review previous research that has used similar methods, considering any lessons learned from that. Explain how you will apply these lessons to your own research.

Introducing research methods is important because it sets a foundation for your research. It will provide readers with a clear understanding of your methods, including rationale behind them.

5. Discuss Your Key Findings

This step involves presenting findings of the study and analyzing all data. When writing a capstone paper, provide a clear presentation of the results in addition to how they relate to the problem they aim to address. They should be presented in a logical, organized manner, and supported by evidence. In your capstone work, discuss their implications, including how they contribute to the existing body of knowledge. Here are some steps to follow when discussing key findings:

• Present results in a clear and concise manner. Use tables, graphs, and charts to help illustrate your findings.
• Interpret results based on your research question and hypothesis. Explain what the findings mean and why they are significant.
• Compare your results to those of previous research in similar fields. Explain how the results you got are similar or different from previous findings.
• Discuss research limitations and the strengths of methods used. Explain how they may impact the results.
• Discuss implications of the findings for your field of study or society as a whole. Explain how that research contributes to a broader understanding of the topic.
• Conclude your discussion of key findings by summarizing results and their significance. Highlight key takeaways while explaining why they are important.

6. Present a Capstone Project

In this final step, you should present your capstone project in a clear, organized manner, highlighting key findings and significance of research conducted. This should be a well-structured, well-written paper or oral presentation that showcases your knowledge of how to do a capstone project on a specific subject. Capstone in college or university should be written in an academic style, following the guidelines set by the institution. The paper should also include an abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results section, discussion, and conclusion. For oral presentation, you may also be required to answer questions from the audience. So, it is important to be well-prepared and familiar with the paper content. It should effectively communicate your research findings to them. To make a successful presentation, here are a few suggestions:

• Plan your presentation carefully.
• Use visual aids, such as slides, charts, graphs, and images, to help you effectively communicate ideas or findings to the audience.
• Rehearse the presentation several times until you are confident and comfortable with its content and flow.
• Present only the most important information to avoid going into too much detail.
• Interact with the audience by asking questions or allowing for discussion.
• Be ready to answer questions from the audience, discussing your work in great detail.

Capstone Paper Format

A capstone project format can vary depending on the discipline or requirements set forth by your instructor or program. Most times, you may encounter the following common formats used in most capstone papers.

• APA paper format Mostly used in social sciences, education, and psychology. It contains a cover page, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, references, and appendices.
• MLA paper format Commonly used in humanities, such as literature and language. You must include in-text citations and the Works Cited page.
• Chicago format Often used in history, business, and other disciplines. It involves using either footnotes or in-text citations and a bibliography page.

Regardless of the chosen format, ensure that your capstone paper is well-organized, has proper grammar, and is easy to read.

Capstone Project Writing Tips

To ensure success in writing your capstone project, it is important to keep in mind some key practices. In this section, we will introduce you to common tips that can help you effectively plan, research, and write the paper. From choosing a suitable topic to proofreading the final draft, these tips on how to write a good capstone project will help you produce a successful paper that meets academic standards:

• Start early Give yourself enough time to research, write, and revise. Starting early will also give you enough time to address any obstacles that may arise when writing.
• Choose a suitable topic Pick a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study.
• Research thoroughly Gather as much information as possible from reliable sources. Conduct a comprehensive literature review to gain a deep understanding.
• Outline your ideas Organize ideas to create an outline for the capstone project. This will help you stay focused, ensuring the paper has a clear structure.
• Write clearly and concisely Use clear, concise language to communicate ideas. Avoid using technical jargon unless it is absolutely necessary.
• Cite your sources Properly cite all sources you use in the capstone project to avoid plagiarism. Follow the required citation style specified.
• Revise Take time to proofread the work. Check for grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Also, ensure that ideas are presented well.
• Seek feedback Ask a friend, mentor, or academic advisor to review your capstone assignment and provide feedback. This will help you identify any mistakes.

Bottom Line on Capstone Project

In this guide, you have learned what’s a capstone project definition, its benefits in education, purpose, and structure. Before you embark on writing your paper, make sure you fully understand the meaning of a capstone project paper and what it entails. This means taking the time to carefully research a topic, identify a clear problem to address, and develop a research plan that will help you find answers. Remember that the final product should be well-written, well-organized, and effectively communicate your key research findings. Once you begin to write your capstone, keep in mind the following tips:

• Strictly follow the instructor’s guidelines.
• Only pick reliable sources for your capstone paper.
• Pay attention to the layout, format, and structure.
• Plan your time for completing the project wisely.
• Always seek feedback to ensure you are going the right way.

Feel free to check out our capstone project writing services and see how else we can assist you with this program! Our writers can always get you well-written texts before the deadline!

FAQ About Capstone Projects

1. what is a capstone project in college.

A capstone project in college is the final piece of stone needed to complete a degree program. It often involves significant research proposal, presentation, or practical application of skills and knowledge acquired during their program. By definition, it is a requirement for graduation and may be evaluated for grades or other forms of academic recognition.

2. What is capstone project significance?

Capstone projects are significant because:

• They provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their mastery of a particular subject area.
• They allow students to apply knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout their college degree in a real-world setting.
• They provide students with a sense of completion and achievement, helping them demonstrate the value of their college performance to potential employers or other stakeholders.

3. How long should a capstone paper be?

The length of a capstone project paper varies depending on set guidelines by the academic institution or instructor. On average, they can be between 20-25 pages long, sometimes 35, including any supporting materials, such as appendices or references. However, check specific requirements from your institution as they can cap the number of pages.

4. What is the difference between a capstone project and a thesis?

A capstone project and thesis are both academic works, but they carry significant differences between them. A thesis is typically longer, and more in-depth than a capstone project. It is often required for graduate students and is based on original research. Its focus is narrower and more specialized. A capstone project is often required for undergraduate students, mostly based on research or practical application. It is more interdisciplinary in nature, involving solving world problems.

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What are Capstone Projects? The Complete Guide to Capstone Projects in High School & Middle School

In athletics, there are competitive matches; in the performing arts, there are stage performances. If you imagine school as a series of practices, capstones are the “big game”.

They provide an opportunity for learners to get their ideas out into the world by working on a project they are passionate about while making an impact on their community.

Already know about Capstones? Skip to Capstone Project Ideas

Looking for advice skip to capstone project tips, what are capstone projects, capstone project definition.

A middle school or high school capstone is a culminating experience where students design and execute a significant and impactful project, often in their final academic year. This project requires students to apply knowledge and skills from various subjects while addressing real-world issues.

A typical capstone project includes the following stages: research, planning, execution, iteration, and presentation. It aims to showcase a student’s critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills while fostering a deep understanding of the subject matter and its practical applications.

Projects can take various forms, such as a product or service prototype, a community service initiative, an action research paper, a multimedia presentation, or a performance, depending on the educational context and the student's interests.

Why Capstones?

The value of capstone projects extends beyond academic requirements. They provide a platform for students to delve into their passions and take ownership of their educational experience. As students immerse themselves in these projects, they not only contribute to their personal growth as well-rounded students, but they also make valuable contributions to their communities.

Capstones provide an opportunity for students to learn for the sake of learning, where research is rooted in what they are actually interested in, and where all of the foundational skills built in prior years suddenly have relevance. They serve as a bridge between classroom learning and real-world application, empowering students to demonstrate their readiness to embark on their next chapter, whether that be in higher education or the workforce.

How Capstones Improve Learning

Capstones create meaning in a learner’s life that can be transformational. Our philosophy at Unrulr is: when learners see the relevancy of learning a technical skill— and it's documented, shared, and celebrated—they're going to learn it at a much faster rate than had they not seen the relevancy. Also, the data shows that capstones or senior projects can help 12th graders avoid "senioritis" by providing students with a reason to remain engaged.

The main goal of capstone projects is to promote comprehensive learning. They aim to nurture a wide range of 21st century skills that go beyond subject-specific knowledge:

Application of Learning: Capstone projects bridge the gap between theory and practice. They encourage high school students to apply what they've learned in various subjects to real-world situations, enhancing their understanding and retention of knowledge.

Deepened Understanding: By immersing themselves in a specific topic of interest, students gain a deeper understanding of complex issues and nuances that traditional classroom settings may not fully capture.

Interdisciplinary Learning: Capstone projects often require high school students to draw from multiple disciplines to address multifaceted challenges. This interdisciplinary approach nurtures a holistic view of problems and solutions.

Research Skills: Students develop research skills, from conducting literature reviews to collecting and analyzing data to interviewing key stakeholders, fostering a foundation for academic and professional pursuits.

Critical Thinking: The complexities of capstone projects demand critical thinking. Students learn to evaluate information, assess perspectives, and make well-reasoned decisions.

Problem-Solving: Engaging in capstone projects hones problem-solving abilities. Students encounter obstacles, experiment with solutions, and adapt strategies as needed.

Creativity: Students have the opportunity to explore creative solutions and innovative approaches, encouraging imaginative thinking and originality. Additionally, students have the opportunity to work on creative projects, such as art installations or performances.

Communication: Capstone projects teach students to effectively convey ideas, findings, and progress. Students refine skills in expressing complex concepts, adapting messages, collaborating in teams, and delivering confident presentations. Additionally, regular reflection moments foster self-awareness and a deeper understanding of their journey.

How Capstones Help Students Get Into College

In an increasingly competitive landscape, college admissions seek students who exhibit not only academic prowess but also a commitment to growth and a willingness to embrace challenges. High school capstone projects provide a perfect platform for students to stand out.

Learners are able to showcase evidence of who they are and what they've worked on. Regardless of GPA or SAT score, when a college can see who a learner is and what they're capable of— what they care about— it’s so much more valuable than just a narrative essay.

When detailed in college applications, capstone projects showcase a student's dedication, initiative, and ability to see a long-term project through to completion. Admissions officers recognize that these projects demand a level of commitment and resilience that goes beyond standardized testing, and indicate a student's potential for success in college and beyond.

How Capstones Prepare Students for Life After Graduation

High school capstone projects have a significant advantage: they mirror the demands of the real world. From project planning and research to time management and effective communication, students gain practical skills that extend far beyond their classrooms. The collaborative nature of many capstone projects also cultivates teamwork and interpersonal skills, essential in today's interconnected world.

Also, capstone projects often require students to engage with their communities. This engagement nurtures civic responsibility and a deep understanding of the societal impact of their work. As they identify and address real issues, students learn the value of empathy, cultural awareness, and ethical decision-making—these are critical SEL skills.

We’ve seen capstones and the work that's come out of them be used for jobs and internships. A learner is able to showcase what they've built and how they worked on it. When projects are documented, this kind of evidence is appealing to potential employers, and can be more impactful than a generic resume that blends in with the rest.

Capstones can build confidence for learners by providing an opportunity to test out ideas in the safe environment of a school. Learners can launch entrepreneurial ventures, lead impactful campaigns, or champion social justice initiatives, and then they can carry that forward after graduation and into their future careers.

Real-World Capstone Example: Student Farmers Market

“Don’t let your age stop you." - Chris Blake (Trinity's teacher)

Trinity embarked on an environmental science capstone project during her senior year. Her challenge was to enhance the school's sustainability. She identified a major issue faced by her school and the larger community: the heavy reliance on imported food in Hawaiʻi.

Empowered by the agency to choose her own direction, Trinity initiated an on-campus, student-led farmer's market. Through this endeavor, she honed various skills, even delving into web design to create a  website for the market. This experience ignited her passion for sustainability and farmers markets. It also boosted her self-confidence and taught her to leverage her age to her own benefit.

After graduating and attending a youth entrepreneurship summer camp, Trinity co-founded Mauka Market , the world’s first regenerative e-commerce and pop-up marketplace. Trinity's journey has culminated in her sole ownership of Mauka Market.

To learn more about Trinity's inspiring journey, listen to our podcast episode .

Capstone Project Ideas

Here are a few more examples of middle school or high school capstone project ideas that highlight some of the possibilities:

1. Design a Sustainable Energy Solution for the School | STEM

Students in this project might investigate renewable energy sources, conduct energy audits, and propose innovative ways to reduce the school's carbon footprint and stem environmental degradation. They could then design and build wind turbines or set up solar panels and analyze the cost-effectiveness of their solutions.

2. Create a Social Impact Documentary | Humanities

Students interested in social issues might create a documentary that sheds light on a particular challenge in their community, such as mental health challenges or food insecurity. They would conduct interviews, gather data, and present their findings through a compelling film that raises awareness and encourages change.

3. Curate an Art Exhibition | Arts

Artistic students could curate an art exhibition that explores a specific theme, technique, or art movement. They would select artworks, write artist statements, and design the exhibition space to convey a narrative to visitors. Student could be encouraged to collaborate with their peers to coordinate a larger art show, providing the opportunity to develop their communication and cooperative planning skills.

4. Establish a Community or School Garden | Community Service

Students interested in a community service project might initiate a project to establish a local community or school garden. They would plan the garden layout, engage the community (or school), and document the garden's development, from seed planting to harvest. For an added STEM component, students could try different methods of gardening across multiple plots and collect and analyze data on growth rates.

5. Launch a Student-Run Business | Business & Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial students might start a business within their school, such as a student-run café or an online store. They would handle all aspects, from market research and product development to marketing and financial management.

Personalizing Student Projects

Keep in mind, projects should be personalized to the interests and skillset of each student, while also taking into account your learning community's unique learning objects or portrait of a graduate. A well-planned capstone experience will help prepare students for college and their professional careers. Devoting class time to guide students through introspection and identity reflection will significantly aid in preparing them to generate project ideas that hold personal meaning and captivate their interest.

How to implement capstone projects

Successfully integrating capstone projects with your learners involves several crucial stages:

1. Ideation Encourage learners to explore their interests, identifying topics that resonate with them. In addition, have students consider what impact they want to create in their community. This phase is about sparking curiosity and allowing them to select projects that will hold their attention over the course of a semester or year. For a helpful exercise you can run with your students, check out our Heart, Head, and Purpose lesson plan .

2. Research: Guide students in conducting thorough research related to their chosen topics. This phase is essential for building a strong foundation of knowledge and understanding, which will inform the entire capstone journey.

3. Project Management & Planning: Teach project management skills that enable students to break their projects into manageable steps. Encourage students to create a quarter, semester, or year-long plan, depending on the duration of the capstone project. This stage emphasizes effective organization and time management, ensuring that progress remains steady.

4. Project Implementation & Documentation: This is the heart of the capstone journey. Students actively work on their projects, translating ideas into tangible outcomes. Simultaneously, they document and reflect on their progress, challenges, and successes to create a comprehensive record to draw from during their final presentations.

5. Final Presentation/Showcase: Offer students the opportunity to present their finished projects to an audience of key stakeholders at a culminating showcase event. This stage hones communication and public speaking skills, allowing learners to articulate their findings, insights, and the learning journey itself.

6. Reflection & Assessment: After completing their projects, encourage students to reflect on the entire experience. This process aids in recognizing personal growth, skill development, and the challenges overcome. Use these reflections to assess the overall effectiveness of the capstone process.

By carefully guiding learners through these stages, you create a structured and meaningful capstone experience that fosters skill development, critical thinking, and self-confidence.

Tips for running capstone projects

Sold on capstones? Here are our tips for running successful capstone projects:

Tip #1: Cultivate skills ahead of senior year (or 8th grade)

Begin laying the groundwork for capstone success by nurturing essential skills well before students reach their final year.

By initiating skill development at an earlier stage, educators can effectively equip learners with the capabilities and confidence needed to excel in their culminating project.

Tip #2: Implement weekly check-ins for clear progress tracking

Consider incorporating a weekly check-in system to keep tabs on your learners' progress. It will be the first time that many students will be embarking on a long-term project or being tasked with transforming their ideas into tangible realities. This transition can be overwhelming. To smooth this process, offer supportive scaffolding and introduce project management concepts.

By establishing weekly check-ins, you create a valuable framework for following your learners' progress and providing timely guidance.

Tip #3: Embrace your learners' identities, skills, and passions

A crucial aspect of capstone success is aligning it with your learners' unique identities, backgrounds, and life experiences. To do this, foster a culture of openness and trust through thorough ideation and an emphasis on vulnerability. Give ample space for learners to explore their interests, skills, and capacities, as well as the problems they aspire to solve in the world.

By dedicating time to these aspects, you enhance the overall value of the capstone experience.

Tip #4: Foster a capstone community

It’s important to engage essential players within the school ecosystem as you shape your program. This includes collaborating with college counseling, admissions teams, and the advancement office to facilitate mentorship opportunities for students. Equally vital is the participation of department heads (e.g. English and Social Studies) to co-create rubrics and align essential components of the capstone experience. By seamlessly weaving these elements into the fabric of existing courses, you create a continuous connection from ninth grade to twelfth grade.

Consider organizing several exhibition days throughout the capstone journey, rather than just at the end, to ensure that key stakeholders in a learner's academic journey remain informed and involved in the capstone experience. Capstones possess the remarkable potential to transform learning into a truly community-driven endeavor.

Unrulr: The ultimate capstone tool

Unrulr addresses a common challenge for capstone educators: how to monitor students' progress without overwhelming them with assignments and rigid milestones.

Unrulr empowers students to shape their capstone narratives and share their ongoing progress by documenting the evolution of their projects and capturing their reflections throughout their learning journey.

Learners can delve into each other's posts and reflections and add comments, transforming their capstone experience into an active and collaborative community.

Book a demo or create an Unrulr account today.

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Elements Of A Capstone Project

In the instances when the Capstone Supervisor is different than the Faculty Fellow, this halfway evaluation is one other alternative for the Fellow to make sure the proposed work is meeting Honors College requirements. If you don’t have strict necessities on the capstone project, you might select the form to current it. Think about your audience because you have to develop one thing they will understand. In faculty or university, you’re continually dealing with theoretical assignments. This is, in fact, very good and lets you achieve fundamental knowledge. However, after commencement, many students really feel uncertain.

And what may be the nicest thing about capstone projects is that they are normally interdisciplinary. That college students are compelled to take a look at and investigate different subjects, serving to them increase their information across many domains. Theresa Granger (Ph.D., MSN, NP-C), a profession nurse educator, states that the capstone project culminates with both a presentation or a paper whereas writing for the Nurse Journal. The presentation is supposed to evaluate your professional and civil communication abilities. It is also meant for data dissemination to the stakeholders and application of the EBP skills.

Students create an settlement with the supervising college within the semester earlier than enrollment that outlines the expectations the capstone project. Of course, making ready both the capstone project and the exams brings lots of hassle. Moreover, the fascinated individual has the best to determine on the subject and discover it.

In addition, be positive that the in-text citations and the bibliography list/references are consistent with your chosen format. One more thing, the literature evaluate can even contain the theories or frameworks that you are basing the capstone on. When writing your capstone, you can use nursing or borrowed theories, management frameworks/theories, and other healthcare models. What you select depends on the inclination of your capstone and directions from your professor, supervisor, or preceptor. Ensure that you simply use studies which might be relevant to your analysis, largely journal articles.

Students only want to complete both a thesis OR a capstone project. The thesis is the culmination of the coursework and studies in the diploma program. It is meant to be double spaced pages in length and ought to be connected to the student’s space of research. It goes after the title page and provides an overview of the capstone project.

Some schools might allow college students to organize an “honors project.” They may work alongside a instructor to generate an extended paper. Participation in authorities and in our communities is fundamental to the success of American democracy. Through this project, students will apply data and abilities they’ve learned via their P-12 Social Studies help to do assignment training, in addition to different topic areas. Capstone tasks can take 12 weeks, which can be a hell of a time for you, but not when working it out with certainly one of our best capstone writers. We can equally work with you in your thesis to an expert level that meets the publication necessities for professional nursing journals. Your literature review lays the inspiration and background of your nursing capstone project.

When writing a capstone paper, you could be required to suggest options to distinct health issues relating to nursing practice, depending on your area of research. In many instances, you might be required to use evidence-based follow expertise in fixing healthcare problems. For example, you probably can choose to develop a new intervention strategy to promote well being, enhance the standard of life, enhance healthcare outcomes, and enhance affected person safety and satisfaction levels. Every nursing scholar in most universities and nursing colleges must write a capstone paper or a capstone project, which is taken into account a mandatory requirement for attaining a nursing degree.

You may also begin the Capstone Project as early as your junior yr and complete it prior to your last semester. Note that if this does happen, you will want to proceed to register for HON 222 and complete an Honors Activity up until graduation. Consult together with your Capstone Supervisor to determine an acceptable outlet and form in your presentation. Presentation of the results of your work in some type of public tutorial or professional forum allows you to showcase your accomplishments.

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Master of Science in Threat and Response Management

Capstone project guidance, introduction to the capstone project.

The capstone project is a degree requirement of the Master of Science in Threat and Response Management Program. Students complete their capstone projects during the last three quarters of the program. Students will use the skills and experience gained during the program to complete an emergency management project with a sponsoring organization. The projects are conducted in groups of two students with mentorship from the student’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), consisting of scientific advisors and capstone sponsor as well as the capstone course instructors.

Students register for three capstone classes that occur in three consecutive quarters during their second year: Autumn, Winter, and Spring.

In the first of the three courses, Capstone Project Proposal, students will develop their project. They will turn a problem statement, whether provided by a sponsor or developed independently, into an actionable plan for research. In the second course, Capstone Project Implementation, students will complete the bulk of their research. Even though research may or will have already gotten underway during the first course, students will be completing the bulk of their interviews, surveys, quantitative analyses and / or other data collection methodologies during the winter quarter. In the third and final quarter, Capstone Project Writing & Presentation, students may complete their data collection and will write/revise the final capstone paper, the written deliverable for the sponsor, and a presentation that summarizes their work.

All students must meet standards for satisfactory academic progress as outlined in the Graham Student Manual to begin their capstone project. Students must not be on probation, must not have incomplete courses, and must possess at least a 3.00 cumulative GPA. Because the capstone sequence involves university-industry partnerships, a high degree of professionalism is expected of students during all phases of the capstone project.

Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) Mentorship

The SAC provides mentorship and guidance to student teams throughout the capstone process. The SAC comprises 1-2 MScTRM instructors 1 , who serve as scientific advisors, and at least one representative from the capstone sponsor organization. Even though the scientific advisor and capstone sponsor are both on the SAC and may share certain competencies, they have distinct roles in the guidance and oversight they provide students.

Scientific Advisors

Program staff match MScTRM instructors as scientific advisors to capstone projects based on their subject matter expertise in an area of emergency management. Scientific advisors should be regularly updated on progress on the project throughout the capstone process because they will grade the final capstone paper and presentation. In addition, they can advise students on appropriate sources, methodologies, and perspectives for their projects so that they can produce professionally relevant and rigorous research.

Primary advisors should be available for every meeting to provide guidance and feedback. Secondary advisors will attend meetings if their schedules allow. Both advisors should be included in meeting invites, progress update emails, etc. Both advisors will be grading final paper and presentation at the end of the Capstone Writing and Presentation quarter.

Meetings with scientific advisors should be held each quarter as follows:

• Proposal Course : meet at least three times or approximately once per month to share finalized project scope and solicit feedback and subject matter advice.
• Implementation Course : meet at least three times or approximately once per month to discuss data collection methodologies and preliminary analyses to ensure that high quality research is being conducted.
• Writing & Presentation Course : meet at least three times or approximately once per month to discuss the final analyses, conclusions and recommendations derived from the research to ensure that the final capstone paper and presentation are thorough and rigorous

Capstone Sponsor

The capstone sponsor provides direct oversight and supervision of the student team by guiding the goals and scope of the project. Typically, sponsors are seeking solutions to specific problems or aim to gain an understanding of issues of particular importance and relevance to their work. To ensure that student teams are working according to the expectations of the sponsor, student teams should connect with the capstone sponsor throughout the year. The meetings should occur as follows:

• Proposal Course : two to three times to discuss and set project goals, scope, and deliverables.
• Implementation Course : weekly or bi-weekly to report on findings and progress in data collection and to adjust the goals and scope of the project if necessary.
• Writing & Presentation Course : two to three times to discuss findings and conclusions; and to confirm the structure of the final deliverable for the sponsor 2 .

Capstone Instructors

The capstone instructors will also work closely with students. As social scientists and writing experts, they provide guidance on the research process (generally) including research methods, the structure of the written work, the logic of the analyses and writing. The instructors are there to address confusion, set expectations for the level of work that is required, explain the principles of research, help student teams work together and organize their work, provide advice on how to address the concerns of the SAC and teach principles of writing. Capstone instructors will also meet with students between quarters. Students will meet with capstone instructors as follows:

• Proposal Course : during the monthly course meetings and by student team, at least once a month. Student teams are invited to meet with the capstone instructors whenever they have questions.
• Implementation Course : during the monthly course meetings and by student team, at least once a month. Student teams are invited to meet with the capstone instructors whenever they have questions.
• Writing & Presentation Course : during the monthly course meetings and by student team, at least once a month. Student teams are invited to meet with the capstone instructors whenever they have questions.

Finding a Project

MScTRM staff curate a catalog of projects for student teams and match students to these projects based on their preferences, skills, and professional experience. Even though matching to a project from the catalog is preferred, students may suggest a project idea. Please see below for details on matching to a project and requirements for proposing a project.

MScTRM project catalog

The MScTRM program has academic, industry, and non-profit partners that sponsor projects. Descriptions of these projects will be shared prior to the start of the Capstone Proposal Course. The program staff and MSTR 33301 instructor will facilitate the matching process between organizations and students by initiating an introductory communication between the student and the sponsor. The final decision on whether the student will be matched to the project will rest with the sponsor organization.

Student proposed project

If a student has a relevant project from an employer or network that could be submitted as a capstone project, it must be approved by the MScTRM program staff and the MSTR 33301 instructor. The proposed project is required to be different from day-to-day work duties and must have a detailed scope and goals that address the needs of the sponsor and the field of emergency management. The student team must identify a capstone sponsor who would provide adequate supervision and must work with the sponsor to decide on a final deliverable for the sponsor. If a student is interested in moving forward with an independently proposed project, the project problem statement and description must be submitted in advance of the start of the autumn quarter by the deadline communicated by the capstone project administrator.

Capstone Final Paper

At the end of the spring quarter of the capstone process, student teams will submit a research paper to the MScTRM program. This paper may also be submitted to the capstone sponsor. (Sponsors may require additional, written deliverable(s). See below.) All final papers will have the essential components of an academic paper (e.g., table of contents, problem statement, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, references, and appendices) and should be no more than 50 pages in length (not counting references and appendices.

Even though every team must submit a final academic research paper as a degree and capstone requirement, students may also be required by their sponsor to develop a written product that is different from the capstone paper. This should be discussed with the capstone sponsor during the Capstone Proposal Course. The following are examples of deliverables which may be requested by a sponsor:

• White Paper - A white paper advocates for a certain technical position or solution/tool (e.g., best practices or guidelines) to address a particular problem.
• Data analysis, research summary and report on results – The specific format should be discussed. with the sponsor.
• Emergency operations plan (EOP) .
• Policy brief .
• Capstone Project Confidentiality –  Some industry partners may also require that students keep certain data and work product confidential, including in some cases the identity of the sponsor. As a condition of participation in such a project, students may be asked to agree to grant such rights to the applicable sponsor and comply with any applicable confidentiality requirements and / or data sharing agreements. If any confidentiality, learning, or data sharing agreements are required, please inform the instructor. Please contact the MScTRM course instructor and program staff if you have any questions or concerns about intellectual property.

During the first quarter of the project (Autumn), students will develop a capstone project proposal. In this graded course, students will complete different sections of the proposal as assignments and will revise their work to produce a strong draft by the end of the quarter. In addition, students will be required to meet with scientific advisors and sponsors on a regular basis. (See below.) All assignments are set by the MSTR 33301 instructor and are included in the syllabus on the Canvas course site. Note: Peers will be asked to provide feedback on the work of their partner. Sponsors will also be asked to provide feedback on the work of the student teams.

Sections of the Proposal

The project proposal includes all of the following sections. (These should be reviewed with your SAC before collecting data in the winter quarter.)

• The problem statement should include a brief description of the emergency management problem.
• Research questions should indicate the goals of the research.
• The background section should provide context for the problem that will be addressed. This could include descriptions of the organizations that may be part of the focus of the research, history of laws that are pertinent to the problem, discussions of emergency management concepts and considerations that are relevant to the problem, and the like. The precise content of the background section will depend on the problem being addressed in the research. Again, the background section establishes the context and the relevant information that would make the problem intelligible.
• The Literature Review includes a review of the relevant literature pertaining to the proposed problem/project. The purpose is to establish what is already known about the focus of research and to determine if there are gaps in the research. The literature review also presents controversies and debates. The literature review can provide the rationale for the research that the TRM student team is undertaking. The precise content will depend on the project.
• The methodology section lays out the anticipated methods that will be used for data collection. It will also include the type of analyses that will be conducted and what type of data will be needed. Methods that have been previously used include, but are not limited to, surveying and interviewing professionals in the field, conducting a case study, reviewing media reports, and analyzing quantitative data.
• A timeline of dates by which each step and milestone will be accomplished should be included, along with a description of any potential obstacles.

Note : Proposals should present a well-defined project, but projects continue to evolve. A proposal cannot anticipate all the insights and challenges that would cause the project to change. However, the proposal still helps to guide the project. As the year progresses, sections of the proposal will be revised and will eventually be included in the final paper.

A project that involves human subjects must be reviewed by the University of Chicago Institutional Review Board (IRB). According to the UChicago Social and Behavioral (SBS) IRB office , human subjects research includes but is not limited to:

• Studies that collect new data through intervention or interaction with individuals (e.g., interviews, surveys) and yield information about the individuals including their opinions, views, and thoughts on various topics (e.g., surveys about alcohol consumption, interviews on experience with active shooter situations),
• Studies that produce generalizable knowledge about categories or classes of subjects from individually identifiable information, or
• Studies that use human beings to evaluate environmental alterations, for example, weatherization options or habitat modifications to their living or working space or test chamber.

Students must submit project details to the capstone instructors by the deadline established and no later than the start of month two of the Capstone Proposal course, see supporting document “MScTRM IRB Review.” The instructional team will aggregate project information and submit to the director of the SBS IRB who will determine whether each project must submit an application online via AURA.

In the winter quarter, the student team will execute the research plan outlined in the capstone proposal. Student teams are expected to spend at least 100 hours on the project throughout each quarter (equivalent to the time spent on a typical 100-unit course), but research can be unpredictable, and more time may be required. This course is graded. To ensure that students stay on track with their data collection and analyses, the MSTR 33302 instructor will require assignments that share preliminary data collection results and analyses. These are included in the syllabus on the Canvas course site. Note: Peers will be asked to provide feedback on the work of their partner. Sponsors will also be asked to provide feedback on the work of the student teams. During the Capstone Implementation Course, students are expected to adhere to the following:

Regular Communication with the Sponsor

The project proposal should include a timeline and description of communication with the sponsor, including how and when check-ins will occur. Students should be checking in with their sponsors on a regular basis, whether that means weekly or biweekly, and in-person or virtually. Students should report any obstacles to fulfilling this requirement to the capstone instructor and program staff.

Regular Communication with Scientific Advisors

The project proposal should include a timeline and description of communication with scientific advisors. Regular communication with the scientific advisor about progress, course corrections, and challenges will help manage uncertainty. Regular meetings with scientific advisors will also help address unexpected outcomes, will help avoid errors in the analysis, and will help strengthen the methods and results. Bi-weekly to weekly check-ins are recommended. Students should report any obstacles to fulfilling this requirement to the capstone instructor and program staff.

Professionalism

All students must abide by the sponsor and University of Chicago standards for professional behavior, appearance, and communications during the capstone sequence. When students are working on their capstone project, they are representing themselves, their group, and the University of Chicago as emergency management professionals. If the expectations are unclear regarding onsite business attire, the sponsor should be contacted before visiting the site. Because capstone projects involve crucial communications with the sponsor and/or with the MScTRM team, UChicago email should be used for all official interactions. Voicemail should be checked regularly for sponsor communication as well.

Even though student teams may still be finalizing data collection and approaches to the analysis, the writing and presentation course in spring focuses on writing and revising the final paper and presentation. Throughout the year, teams will have been writing the project. In the final course of the sequence, student teams will bring together different drafts of the sections of the paper, add new sections and revise where necessary. Students will be graded on assignments created by the MSTR 33303 instructor. Assignments mainly consist of drafts of various sections of the paper. Due dates are included in the syllabus on the Canvas course site. Note : Peers will be asked to provide feedback on the work of their partner. Sponsors will also be asked to provide feedback on the work of the student teams. Requirements include:

Final Paper

To complete the requirements of the MScTRM Program, student teams will submit a final paper. (An additional deliverable for the sponsor may be determined with the sponsor.) Students must MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THREAT AND RESPONSE MANAGEMENT 8 keep in mind that no matter the deliverable for the sponsor, the final paper must include the following elements 3 :

• Table of contents
• Executive summary
• Statement of problem
• Research questions
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Recommendations
• Appendices (as needed)

Final Presentation

All capstone students are expected to develop a presentation of their work and provide a project summary at the MScTRM Capstone Showcase in spring. All team members are expected to speak during their presentation.

Presentation Format and Help

Students will develop the presentation using a PowerPoint template that is accessible on the Canvas capstone course sites. Students are expected to reach out to their SAC to solicit feedback, practice, and fine-tune the presentation. Students should be prepared to rehearse their presentations before the showcase.

Elements of the Presentation

Presentations must include key elements from the proposal and final document such as:

• Brief statement of the problem.
• Recommendations that emerged from the research.
• Brief review of background and the literature review.
• Methodology Results and findings.
• Recap of the recommendations and how they relate to the research.
• Next steps for the organization or field of emergency management.

Capstone Project Grading

The grade for MSTR 33303 Capstone Writing & Presentation will comprise the following elements:

Written document

The final academic research paper will account for a major percentage of the final grade. It is graded by the scientific advisor(s). The final paper and / or the deliverable for the sponsor will be shared with the capstone sponsor.

Capstone Showcase Presentation and Q&A

Scientific advisors will score their assigned presentations during the capstone showcase and provide written feedback. All scores will be averaged and included in the final course grade.

Course assignments as outlined in syllabus by instructional team

Note : The weighting of each component will be outlined on the Canvas capstone course site and syllabus

MScTRM Capstone Project Timeline

Before capstone (summer quarter).

• Attend or review a capstone information session.
• Update resumes.

Capstone Proposal (Pre-Autumn Quarter)

• Review capstone project catalog.
• Complete the Capstone Preferences Survey.
• Complete all pre-quarter assignments as outlined by MSTR 33301 instructor and capstone administrator.
• Complete the capstone checklist.
• Prepare for the IRB process by completing CITI training and applying for an AURA account.
• Get matched with a project.
• Hold introductory meeting with the sponsor, scientific advisors and capstone instructors.

Capstone Proposal (Autumn Quarter)

• Complete all assignments as outlined by MSTR 33301 instructor.
• Regularly meet with the sponsor to finalize project scope, goals for the capstone paper and the deliverables for the sponsor.
• Regularly meet with scientific advisors to receive feedback on sections of the project proposal.
• Submit project information to capstone instructors for determination of IRB application.
• Submit final capstone project proposal.
• Complete peer evaluations.

Implementation (Winter Quarter)

• Complete all assignments as outlined by MSTR 33302 instructor.
• Execute project plan: conduct research, collect data and follow expectations defined in the capstone proposal.
• Check in (weekly or bi-weekly) with sponsor contact.
• Check in (weekly or bi-weekly) with scientific advisors.
• Share assignments with scientific advisors.

Writing and Presentation (Spring Quarter)

• Complete all assignments as outlined by MSTR 33303 instructor.
• Check in with SAC while writing the final paper and presentation.
• Submit final capstone project paper.
• Develop capstone project presentation.
• Present at the MScTRM Capstone Showcase.
• The program may also approve non-MScTRM faculty as a scientific advisor under special circumstances.
• It is possible that the sponsor will request a deliverable that is different from the capstone paper. For more information, please reach out to the capstone instructor.
• Sections may be subject to change. Students should refer to the materials posted on the Canvas sites for the capstone courses by the capstone instructor.
• Developing Skills while Building Industry Connections
• A Foundation to Tackle Anything
• Room to Spare

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Private: Research Forms, Functions, and Skills

5 Capstone Products

The capstone is a distinctive type of research project. The capstone project uses the findings of a needs assessment and literature review to build a product that can be applied to the local educational context where the research was conducted. The product is designed to address the problem being researched in the project.

Product examples include:

• professional development presentation
• a teacher’s toolkit
• a faculty handbook
• training videos
• a leadership manual
• new institutional policies
• new employee training
• mentorship programs

Capstone Projects in Education: Learning the Research Story Copyright © 2023 by Kimberly Chappell and Greg I. Voykhansky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Center for Engaged Learning

Capstone experiences.

Capstone experiences aim to facilitate students’ sense-making of their growth and development across their major or general educational studies and have been a hallmark of undergraduate education in one form or another for at least as long as higher education has existed in the United States (Levine 1998). Historically, capstone experiences took the form of a culminating examination, testing a student’s accumulated knowledge. In the 1800s, a seminar model emerged, often taught by the college president (Levine 1998). Beginning in the early 1900s, course-based capstone experiences became a final opportunity to instill university values and reinforce learning (Kinzie 2013). They continue to be integrative and transformative learning experiences that mark the transitional nature of the final year (Kinzie 2013; Levine 1998).  

Capstone experiences can take the form of: 

• A problem-based learning experience in which students work to apply their knowledge in a discipline to a problem (e.g., Brooks, Benton-Kupper, and Slayton 2004; Butler et al. 2017; Dunlap 2005). 
• An undergraduate research experience sometimes but not always structured as the writing of a thesis (e.g., Julien et al. 2012; Nelson-Hurwitz and Tagorda 2015; Upson-Saia 2013). 
• A service-learning or community-based learning approach in which students work with community members to put into action the skills and knowledge they acquired over their college career (e.g., Collier 2000; Nelson-Hurwitz and Tagorda 2015).  
• A collaborative learning approach in which students tackle problems and apply their learning in groups, simultaneously navigating interpersonal challenges and learning from one another (e.g., Brooks et al. 2004; Collier 2000; Julien et al. 2012; Upson-Saia 2013). 

Capstone experiences may even be developed as some combination of the above practices.  

Even within a single university, the range of practice in capstones can be significant, and for good reason. Capstone experiences may occur as the culmination of a disciplinary major or mark the integration of interdisciplinary learning across a core curriculum. In either case, there is no universal way students might synthesize and apply their learning. In a study across capstone experiences at University of La Verne, Peggy Redman (2013) shares some examples: 

The marketing student may identify growth through the complexities of developing a marketing plan in partnership with a local business or nonprofit organization. The education student sees learning in the development of a unit including lessons that cut across many disciplines, preparing him or her for the multiple-subject classroom.

A student in psychology completes a senior project that takes the student and faculty member to a conference where they are major presenters. All of these pathways can be part of the capstone, a critical force in integrating classroom learning and practical application. (Heading 6, par. 1) 

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What makes it a high-impact practice?

Capstone experiences are designed to “provide students a host of opportunities to be engaged in educationally purposeful practice” (Kinzie 2013).   Much of that design incorporates the qualities Kuh, O’Donnell, and Schneider (2017) specify as essential elements of High Impact Practices (HIPs). The following section reviews these elements in the specific context of capstone experiences. 

Performance expectations set at appropriately high levels . Strong capstone experiences recognize the deep learning students have done over time and continue to challenge students in their application of those skills and sets of knowledge. One example of this is Julien et al.’s (2012) assessment of capstone courses in which students participated in “authentic research experiences” in advanced physiology so as to be prepared for future study or work in health sciences. 

Significant investment of concentrated effort by students over an extended period of time.  The semester-long class can harness this element of HIPs by structuring students’ development of a common goal or focus over the entire course. Projects in which students develop and conduct their own research are good examples of this. But extended capstone structures that carry over multiple semesters or even years (Nelson-Hurwitz and Tagorda 2015; Rash and Weld 2013; Redman 2013) could potentially be even more impactful for students. 

Interactions with faculty and peers about substantive matters.  Many of the examples of capstones involve collaborative learning among students (e.g., Brooks et al. 2004; Julien et al. 2012). It is worth noting the significance of student-faculty interactions within capstones as well. The most successful capstones embrace this key opportunity for students and faculty to reshape their relationship by “reframing the faculty–student relationship such that faculty become mentors, and students are both comfortable with coaching and highly motivated as they take on primary responsibility for their work” (Paris and Ferren 2013, Heading 2, par. 1; see also Rash and Weld 2013). Research suggests the relationships developed in college, especially with faculty, are one of the most significant and potentially transformative elements of higher education (Felten et al. 2016). 

Experiences with diversity; wherein students are exposed to and must contend with people and circumstances that differ from those with which the students are familiar.  Many capstones involve some kind of service-learning, community-based learning, or internship experience (Butler et al. 2017; Collier 2000; Nelson-Hurwitz and Tagorda 2015). These are not only grounded opportunities to apply learning, but they are also often good opportunities for students to interact in meaningful ways across difference. Even capstones with collaborative learning without this experiential component show evidence of improving students’ interpersonal skills (Brooks et al. 2004), which may be connected with students working in diverse groups. 

Opportunities to discover relevance of learning to real-world applications.  This feature is most apparent in capstone experiences that involve service-learning, community-based learning, or internship experiences (Butler et al. 2017; Collier 2000; Nelson-Hurwitz and Tagorda 2015). The relevance of learning to real-world applications can also come in carefully structured undergraduate research experiences. Brooks et al. (2004) in particular found that capstones structured as student-led multi-disciplinary team projects were especially well equipped to help students bridge their personal, professional, and public worlds. 

Public demonstration of competence.  Several capstone experience examples include oral presentation components (e.g., Brooks et al. 2004), and Redman gives one example of a student who shares research with her professor as a major conference (2013). Half of the thesis examples in Upson-Saia’s (2013) study require some kind of public presentation or defense. However, an in-class presentation is very different from contributing to a disciplinary conference. It is unclear from this research how significant a public demonstration needs to be to have a positive impact on a student. It would also be worth exploring the impact of this practice in capstones that offer more creative or flexible forms of public demonstration of confidence, such as curating a gallery, leading a teach-in, or performing creatively.

Periodic, structured opportunities to reflect and integrate learning . There are multiple examples that explicitly highlight reflection and reflective activities or projects as a key element of the capstone experience (e.g., Brooks et al. 2004; Butler et al. 2017; and Redman 2013). Reflection provides an opportunity to synthesize and, as in one example, ask the key questions: “Who am I?, How can I know?, and What should I do?” (Brooks et al. 2004, 283). However, reflection must be intentionally facilitated, rather than assumed as a natural element of capstones. The examples that best showed students making gains in their reflective learning were those like Brooks et al. (2004) that included reflection as a driving goal of the capstone course. 

Research-Informed Practices

Upson-Saia (2013, 12-15) offers three overarching suggestions for the development of capstones:  

• Think locally
• Think holistically
• Reassess periodically  

While her recommendations were written following study of discipline-specific capstone experiences (in her case, in religious studies), they are broad enough to be both relevant and highly applicable to interdisciplinary capstones as well.  

Think Locally:  Upson-Saia (2013) describes the first recommendation as a reminder that capstones should be context specific. In the case of disciplinary capstones, this means the capstone should be tightly woven with departmental missions. Even for interdisciplinary capstones, focusing on just one culminating goal will give the capstone direction and focus (2013). A backwards approach to design, keeping one top priority in mind for what students will accomplish or take away from the experience, will help the experience be most impactful for students. Lee and Loton’s (2017) study of capstone purposes across disciplines may help those designing capstones prioritize goals. This focused and context-specific approach to design can help reign in the overwhelming possibilities as well as reinforce courses and projects that feature a significant investment of effort by students over an extended period of time (Kuh et al. 2017).  

Think holistically:  This recommendation addresses the institutional factors that will make or break capstones. With the number of features HIPs need to include, and the goals some researchers have suggested of shifting the role of teaching to mentoring (Paris and Ferren 2013; Rash and Weld 2013), instructors have a difficult job facilitating successful capstone courses. Several researchers emphasize that the time and resources required are substantial, and they suggest administrators acknowledge and support faculty in this work (Lee and Loton 2017; Upson-Saia 2013). In addition, Lee and Loton (2017) describe capstones as “high risk activities” due to the high expectations both students and faculty place on these experiences. These expectations make administrative support imperative, but it also means that if an instructor wishes to deviate their capstone structure from the institutional norm, they will need to offer substantial justification due to the existing pressure on these courses and projects. 

Reassess periodically:  Upson-Saia reminds us that because there is such a wide variety of possibilities, the form of capstone an instructor settles on may not remain appropriate as departmental cultures, curricular structures, and students all change and evolve over time. She describes the special topics seminar form of some capstones in her study as minimally different from other upper-level courses in the department and a holdover from the senior seminars of the 1800s (Upson-Saia 2013) and questions whether that model is still the most appropriate way to culminate a student’s experience. It is worth checking in and evaluating the efficacy of a program or project no matter what. Brooks et al. (2004) offer a helpful example of how to assess a capstone experience; they found that while their capstone did not meet some goals they assumed it would, it was successful in a number of other areas and did broader curricular work for the department that was otherwise missing. Without pausing to assess their program, they would not have understood whether its form was successful for their departmental goals.

Embedded and Emerging Questions for Research, Practice, and Theory

Several characteristics of high impact practices need to be researched more deeply in the context of capstone experiences, including in particular: interaction with faculty and peers about substantive matters, public demonstration of competence, and frequent and timely feedback. Recent research has revealed the mentored relationship to be one of the most impactful of a student’s undergraduate experience (Lambert, Husser, and Felten 2018). Writings on capstones recommend spending time developing these mentored relationships in the capstone, but few explore the particular impact of relationship and mentorship in capstone experiences. Future research on this topic could contribute enormously to scholarly conversations about course-embedded mentorship and relationship building. Current research doesn’t specify how public demonstration of competence need be to make a capstone high impact. It would be worth exploring, for example, the impact of the demonstration of competence in capstones which have more creative forms such as curating a gallery, leading a teach-in, or performing creatively. Finally, frequent, timely, and constructive feedback—a key element of high impact practices—remains unexplored in the context of capstones and could make a valuable new direction for research. 

Like the qualities of high impact practices, writing about the benefits of capstones often doesn’t do enough to highlight the unique impacts of the qualities of capstones. Research on capstones highlighting their benefits often center on elements of capstones that are other HIPs—such as collaborative learning, problem-based learning, service- or community-based learning, or undergraduate research. This practice makes distinguishing the benefits of capstones from the known benefits associated with these other HIPs nearly impossible. And this challenge raises an important question: would a capstone without these elements be equally successful in promoting deep and engaged learning? 

While capstones share admirable goals and purposes, it has been more difficult to tell how much they are actually meeting those goals. Some interesting analysis of capstones has emerged of late that found that capstones were a significant positive predictor for only one element of liberal learning (“need for cognition”—or one’s propensity to engage in lifelong learning) and in fact was a significant negative predictor for critical thinking (Kilgo et al. 2015). The authors of this study specify that more research on capstones is needed, but a previous 2004 case study found similar results (Brooks et al. 2004).  In Brooks, Benton-Kupper, and Slayton’s (2004) assessment of a university (interdisciplinary) capstone, they were surprised to find that though they expected the university capstone to significantly support students’ critical thinking development, “the students did not identify the course as meeting those common threads of the University’s goals to a great or moderate degree” (Brooks et al. 2004, 281). Instead, students who took a discipline-specific capstone reported higher levels of critical thinking development. Both of these studies noted a number of other strong benefits to capstones—so it may be that in conjunction with the other coursework students engage in, they do not need to have a strong critical thinking focus. It is also possible that capstones that look different from these—perhaps those with more of an undergraduate research focus—may do a better job developing this skill. More research is needed in this area to make sense of these findings. 

Key Scholarship

Butler, Des, Sandra Coe, Rachael Field, Judith McNamara, Sally Kift, and Catherine Brown. 2017. “Embodying Life-Long Learning: Transition and Capstone Experiences.” Oxford Review of Education 43 (2): 194-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2016.1270199 .

About this Journal Article:

This case study describes the first of six  principles ,  which informed the development of a capstone design for Australian legal education, and according to the authors, should inform the development of  any  capstone. The authors focus on Transition–the first of their selected principles–as a theoretical framework for the pedagogical design they develop. They extend  Kift’s  Transition Pedagogy, an adaptation of Schlossberg  that  focuses on first year students, to inform final year practices—viewing final year students as students in transition, too. The authors identify three areas in which the incorporation of transition pedagogy can enhance a capstone experience and help students manage uncertainty, complexity, and change; develop a professional identity; and career plan. While the case study doesn’t cover the implementation of  the  capstone design, the study can offer a useful model for capstone development. Additionally, the transition framework does a helpful job of linking student development theory (and Schlossberg’s theory of  t ransition) with pedagogy and ends with qualitative data from students  as  evidence  of  the necessity of the framework.

Collier, Peter J. 2000. “The Effects of Completing a Capstone Course on Student Identity.” Sociology of Education 73 (4): 285-299. https://doi.org/10.2307/2673235 .

Collier’s article studies the effect of participation in a capstone experience on undergraduate students’ identification as a college student. He proposes that the increased identification with this role by capstone students over time indicate capstones’ effectiveness in socialization. Using  different identity theories around  role identities  and role-identity acquisition as theoretical frameworks, Collier developed a longitudinal study of 26 senior capstone students (multidisciplinary and across the university) of one year’s capstone at a university, with a nonequivalent control group (n=26). Using pre- and post-measurements, Collier found that the nature of the capstone as a grounded and experiential course contributed to its transformative impact on students. Students connecting with the community in a capstone context were pushed to work more collaboratively, and this social aspect of their learning and work helped them to associate more strongly with the role of  a  college student. The development of identity as a student is a potential strength of capstones. However, Collier fails to discuss why developing a student identity–especially in the senior year–is a worthwhile or positive practice, nor does he discuss how that student identity intersects with other social identities a student may hold. Collier does offer several practical implications for curriculum and specifically capstone development.

Dunlap, Joanna C. 2005. “Problem-Based Learning and Self-Efficacy: How a Capstone Course Prepares Students for a Profession.” Educational Technology Research and Development 53 (1): 65-83. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02504858 .

Dunlap employed a mixed methods approach to study the self-efficacy of 31 students in a required undergraduate capstone course. She analyzed guided journal submissions and triangulated those responses with student responses to a survey tool called the General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale, a 10-item scale that “assesses optimistic self-beliefs to cope with a variety of difficult demands in life” (73). Her findings — that students’ participation in a  p roblem- b ased  l earning environment impacts students’ sense of capability, especially looking forward to career prospects and their sense of professional identity — offer data to support why capstones serve as a powerful facilitator of transition for students. While her findings are most specific to problem-based learning, a related high   impact practice, their basis in a capstone context may help support the development of positively impactful capstone experiences.  

Julien, Brianna L, Louise Lexis, Johannes Schuijers, Tom Samiric, and Stuart McDonald. 2012. “Using Capstones to Develop Research Skills and Graduate Capabilities: A Case Study from Physiology.” Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice 9 (3): 58-73. https://doi.org/10.53761/1.9.3.6 .

This case study describes two physiology capstones that culminate the Bachelor of Health Science at La Trobe University. The authors describe the student assessments involved in the capstones and evaluate the program itself based on student performance, student feedback, and faculty perceptions of the course. The authors found that final grades for students were significantly higher in 2011 ,  following the implementation of the  capstone  course than final grades in the previous two years. Students reported positive skill development and satisfaction, and instructors noticed a higher degree of student-centered learning along with a “vastly increased workload” and “greater need for infrastructure services” (11). The value of this case study is not only the model it provides for capstone development, but also the consideration of staffing and resource needs to support strong capstone experiences. Other institutions looking to launch or revise capstone experiences would do well to recognize this resource challenge.

Ketcham , Caroline J, Anthony G Weaver, and Jessie L Moore. 2023. Cultivating Capstones: Designing High-Quality Culminating Experiences for Student Learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

About this Book:

Cultivating Capstones  introduces higher education faculty and administrators to the landscape of capstone experiences, offers research-informed models that institutions could adapt for their own contextual goals, and suggests faculty development strategies to support implementation of high-quality student learning experiences. The edited collection draws primarily from multi-year, multi-institutional, and mixed-methods studies conducted by participants in the 2018-2020 Center for Engaged Learning research seminar on Capstone Experiences; this work is complemented by chapters by additional scholars focused on culminating experiences.

The collection is divided into three sections. Part one offers typographies of capstones, illustrating the diversity of experiences included in this high-impact practice while also identifying essential characteristics that contribute to high-quality culminating experiences for students. Part two shares specific culminating experiences (e.g., seminar courses in general education curricula, capstone experiences in the major, capstone research projects in a multi-campus early college program, capstone ePortfolios, etc.), with examples from multiple institutions and strategies for adapting them for readers’ own campus contexts. Part three offers research-informed strategies for professional development to support implementation of high-quality student learning experiences across a variety of campus contexts.

Learn more at Cultivating Capstones – Center for Engaged Learning

Kilgo, Cindy A, Jessica K Ezell Sheets, and Ernest T Pascarella. 2014. “The Link between High-Impact Practices and Student Learning: Some Longitudinal Evidence.” Higher Education 69 (4): 509-525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9788-z .

This study used pre- and post-tests to estimate the efficacy of the 10 high impact practices supported by AAC&U and found that overall, the high   impact practices do, in fact, support student learning. They found that active ,  collaborative learning and undergraduate research were especially effective in promoting critical thinking, cognition, and intercultural effectiveness, while capstones (among other HIP s ) had more mixed effects. For capstones in particular, the authors found a negative link to critical thinking, “but positive net association with four-year gains in need for cognition” (519). The authors highlight several other specific positive gains in student learning  as a result of  capstones, and this data can be especially helpful in advocating not only for the value of capstones themselves, but in the value of intentionally designed capstones. The multi-institutional results help generalize the benefits, and even more importantly point to areas where negative links occurred, suggesting that administration and facilitation are key in capstones  actually having  high (positive) impact.  

Lee, Nicolette, and Daniel Loton. 2017. “Capstone Purposes across Disciplines.” Studies in Higher Education 44 (1): 134-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1347155 .

This literature review analyzes the purposes of capstones as presented by faculty involved in capstone design and instruction. This review is valuable in offering a broad overview of capstone literature and present understandings— for example,  capstones are frequently linked to development of employability skills and personal student attributes. In addition to a review of the literature, Lee and  Loton  conducted an online survey of 216 capstone educators internationally (with just over three – quarters originating from Australia, the authors’ base). Here, they found the 20 most highly rated purposes for capstones were similarly rated across disciplinary groups — implying they serve a common purpose regardless of discipline. The survey responses echoed what has been focused on broadly in the literature and adds some nuance  that  will be useful to readers seeking to understand capstones at an introductory level. Finally, the purposes raised may help designers of capstones identify shared purposes from which to backward design the capstone experience.  

Paris, David, and Ann Ferren. 2013. “How Students, Faculty, and Institutions Can Fulfill the Promise of Capstones.” Peer Review 15 (4). https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/how-students-faculty-and-institutions-can-fulfill-promise .

This article offers a useful analysis of the capstone experience broadly, offering some recent historical context for capstones as well as recommendations for where they are headed today based on practice examples found across the United States. For American readers in particular, this  analysis  will offer some helpful comparisons to programs in a more familiar context. Unlike some of the heavier and formal research-centered pieces, another benefit of this  article  is its accessibility, due in large part because it serves to introduce a whole issue of  Peer Review  focused on capstone experiences. Paris and  Ferren’s  focus on the faculty-student relationship within capstones may be especially useful to readers, as it’s a lens of capstones not frequently seen in other literature and may be a key element in what makes capstones a high   impact practice.  

Rash, Agnes, and Kathryn Weld. 2013. “The Capstone Course: Origins, Goals, Methods, and Issues.” PRIMUS 23 (4): 291-96. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2013.775203 .

This is an introduction to a special issue on capstone courses, which describes a range of models, common goals across capstones, popular teaching methods used in capstones, the value of capstones  as a way to  assess a curricular program, and issues related to faculty development. The curricular focus, mathematics, is somewhat unique and so may be especially useful for instructors who come with a strong disciplinary connection and are unsure of how capstones may fit into or enhance the content they hope to impart on students. An interesting  and also  unique aspect of this piece is the acknowledgement of capstones’ value in program assessment. For  administrators in particular, this  may be a helpful argument for an added benefit of capstones beyond student learning directly associated with the course. This  article , as  with  several others, is explicit in framing the teaching of capstones as more of a mentorship relationship–an idea that would be worth following up on in future research.  

Redman, Peggy. 2013. “Going beyond the Requirement: The Capstone Experience.” Peer Review 15 (4). https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/going-beyond-requirement-capstone-experience .

This case study describes capstones across the curriculum and educational levels (bachelors, master’s, and doctoral) at the University of La Verne in southern California. By looking at the 127 capstone projects that students produced (41 undergraduate), Redman analyzed student writing and learning. As a result of the findings associated with this analysis, the university adapted a more integrated and reflective process across all four years to prepare students for their final capstone. This piece serves as a valuable model for thoughtfully embedding and scaffolding the capstone experience not only in the final year, but from a student’s first experience on campus. Additionally, the piece offers innovative ideas for linking capstones to other high impact practices such as community partnerships (service-learning) and  ePortfolios .  

Upson-Saia, Kristi. 2013. “The Capstone Experience for the Religious Studies Major.” Teaching Theology & Religion 16 (1): 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1111/teth.12001 .

This study examines capstone experiences for religious studies majors at 29 different U.S. institutions. Upson-Saia not only explores the strengths across these experiences, and the  factors  that  set apart  especially successful programs, but also takes an explicit focus on “the most frustrating aspects of the capstone” and “how some departments avoid such frustrations” (4). Unlike Lee and  Loton  (2017), who found strong consensus among the top purposes of capstones, Upson-Saia found little consensus among religious studies capstones beyond “culmination” in their educational objectives. This may be a difference in scale–on a smaller scale, more variation is visible–or in context .   P erhaps authors have similar ideas about what should be talked about in published articles, but in practice ,  there may be more variation in purpose. Interestingly, Upson-Saia  discusses  one of the themes Lee and  Loton  raised about the pressures put on the capstone: suggesting that frustrations about the capstone as not going well ,  or doing as much as it could ,  stem from those pressures for capstone to be doing everything. She takes a historical lens in her response to this, exploring the evolution of capstones and their purposes through history to think through how capstones may be positioned  today. Her resulting list of best practices for religious studies capstones may be adapted across disciplinary contexts and offer a useful starting point for people designing and developing capstones.  

Young, Dallin George, Jasmin K Chung, Dory E Hoffman, and Ryan Bronkema. 2017. 2016 National Survey of Senior Capstone Experiences: Expanding our Understanding of Culminating Experiences. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

This publication reports on the 2016 National Survey of Senior Capstone Experiences conducted by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. The survey previously was administered in 1999 and 2011. It reports on capstones in curricular and co-curricular higher education programs, including objectives for the capstone experiences, types of capstone by field of study, and percentage of seniors participating in capstones.

See all Capstone Experiences entries

Model Programs

The University of Oregon  has several strong capstone examples based around community engaged learning. Their Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) serves as the capstone experience for environmental studies majors and other interested students, and involves matching student “teams with non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and businesses to address local environmental needs” ( Lynch and Boulay 2011 ). Similarly, the University of Oregon’s Master of Public Administration program matches students to local clients to “solve real-world policy and management problems” ( IPRE Blog 2020 ). In 2020, students in this program focused on supporting vulnerable populations, developing resilience, and supporting sustainability. The real-world and problem-based nature of these capstone experiences allow students to apply their learning to projects that matter.  

The University of Leeds  has a culminating research experience as the capstone for its honors bioscience students. The department specifies that “all honors degree students are expected to have some personal experience of the approach to practice and evaluation of scientific research,” and that “it is expected to include an element of novelty satisfied by work that is hypothesis-driven or which leads to formation of an hypothesis” ( University of Leeds and D.I. Lewis 2019 ). 

The College of Wooster  in Ohio has a robust final year research project as its culminating experience. Wooster works to set the foundation for this work early, through opportunities like the  Sophomore Research Program , which funds students as paid research assistants to Wooster faculty and encourages students to connect with faculty on independent research projects in other spaces as well. The final capstone experience is called the  Independent Study , and pairs every student with a professor for a one-on-one mentored experience. This deep, synthesizing, sustained, and highly mentored experience checks off each of the key qualities of high impact practices.  

Additional programs are featured in  Cultivating Capstones  (forthcoming from Stylus Publishing). 

Related Blog Posts

Designing an interdisciplinary capstone, part 2: student perspectives.

Limed: Teaching with a TwistSeason 2, Episode 8 In this episode, we finish our conversation about designing a capstone course for a new Global Film and Cultures minor at Elon University. Student panelists from Elon University, Gianna Smurro and Mia…

Designing an Interdisciplinary Capstone, Part 1: Faculty Perspectives

Limed: Teaching with a TwistSeason 2, Episode 7 Designing an interdisciplinary capstone course is a challenging task that presents an opportunity to innovate. Lina Kuhn and Kai Swanson from Elon University join the show to get some advice on how…

ePortfolios as Capstone Experience

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Featured Resources

Elon statement on capstone experiences.

From 2018 to 2020, twenty-two scholars participated in the Center for Engaged Learning research seminar on Capstone Experiences, co-led by Caroline Ketcham (Elon University), Jillian Kinzie (Indiana University), and Tony Weaver (Elon University). The seminar fostered international, multi-institutional research on capstone…

“2020 Capstone and Oregon Policy Lab Project Launch.” Web log.  IPRE Blog (blog). University of Oregon, February 20, 2020. https://blogs.uoregon.edu/cscenter/2020/01/28/2020-capstone-and-oregon-policy-lab-project-launch/.  

Brooks, Randy, Jodi Benton-Kupper, and Deborah Slayton. “Curricular Aims: Assessment of a University Capstone Course.”  The Journal of General Education  53, no. 3/4 (2004): 275–87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27797996. 

Covington, Owen, Leo M Lambert, Jason Husser, and Peter Felton. “The Conversation:  Mentors Play Critical Role in Quality of College Experience.” Today at Elon. The Conversation, August 22, 2018. https://www.elon.edu/u/news/2018/08/22/the-conversation-mentors-play-critical-role-in-quality-of-college-experience/.  

Felten, Peter, John N Gardner, Charles C Schroeder, Leo M Lambert, and Betsy O Barefoot.  The Undergraduate Experience: Focusing Institutions on What Matters Most . Wiley, 2016.  

Kinzie, J. “Taking Stock of Capstones and Integrative Learning.” 2013.  Peer Review; Washington  15, no. 4: 27–30.  

Kuh, George, Ken O’Donnell, and Carol Geary Schneider. “Hips at Ten.” 2017.  Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 49, no. 5: 8–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2017.1366805.  

Lynch, Kathryn A., and Margaret C. Boulay. 2011. “Promoting Civic Engagement: The Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Oregon.”  Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 1, no. 3: 189–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-011-0028-x.  

Levine, Arthur. 1998. “A President’s Personal and Historical Perspective.” In  The Senior Year Experience: Facilitating Reflection, Integration, Closure and Transition,  ed. John N. Gardner, Gretchen Van der Veer, and Associates. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

“Microbiology Society.” Homepage | Microbiology Society. PIXL 8 Group, 2021. https://microbiologysociety.org/.  

Nelson-Hurwitz, Denise C., and Michelle Tagorda. 2015. “Developing an Undergraduate Applied Learning Experience.”  Frontiers in Public Health  3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2015.00002.  

The Center thanks Sophia Abbot, our 2018-2020 graduate apprentice, for contributing the initial content for this resource.

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Project Initiation and Planning

6 Project Charter

The most important things to discuss at this stage are: what a Charter is , what is included in a Charter , why a Charter is important , and how a Charter is developed .

What is a Charter?

“A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.” (PMI, 2004, 368)

Why is a Charter Important?

The project charter is an indispensable part of the Six Sigma project, and the foundation for the project’s success. The creation of the project charter begins at the top of the organization as management creates a one-page document that summarizes the project. The charter is a dynamic, living document and can be updated as information becomes available in the DMAIC process . When developing a charter to documents we need to ensure we understand the goal of the project so that we can ensure the deliverables will help obtain it.

The charter provide parameters for the project – think of it as being similar to a contract, between a team and a client. It is important the organization and people working on the project understand why they are doing it.  This will also help them to stay focused on the outlined goals and objectives. This is done through questions such as:

• What are the benefits of this project?
• Who will be impacted by the project?
• How will we know the project is successful?

How to Develop a Charter

You will have a Project Sponsor or “client”.  For a Capstone project, this is likely your industry partner or perhaps a faculty member supporting the project within your institution.

This person should be providing the initial SOW ( Statement of Work ) or objectives to define their goals.

The first step of a project should be to have a kick-off meeting.  In this meeting you will do the following:

• Review the SOW and any other documents provided
• Ask about ‘Project Objectives’
• Understand who will be impacted and potentially the outcomes they are looking for once the project is completed
• Contrast requirements between proposal and expectations — try to be as specific as possible
• Set up deliverables, with milestones and checkpoints
• Identify success criteria and create a schedule (tools with automatic reminders will help with this aspect)
• Processes for executing monitoring, controlling and overall management of the project

Project Goal

The project goal the business need, opportunity, or problem that the project was undertaken to address – i.e., the project justification. This should not be the deliverable (or “what you are doing”), but rather what the project is trying to accomplish (the “why”) . i.e. – Company XYZ wants to increase their revenues by 25% through social media campaigns in 2020. Goals should be SMART – specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound ( HubSpot SMART goals ).

Video Modules

Simon Sinek Golden Circle

Simon Sinek and his concept of the Golden Circle is critical in your understanding of what you are try.ing to accomplish and more importantly ‘Why’.

Deliverables and Research Goals

Provide a high-level list of “what” needs to be done to reach the goals of the project.  The overall project should be split into 3 or 4 main deliverables, with 5-6 sub-deliverables or “tasks”.  Each deliverable should be sufficiently detailed and measurable so that the Project Team will understand what needs to be accomplished.  Describe the deliverable using action words (verbs) such as “deliver, provide, create, research, etc.

Steps to Define Deliverables :

• Provide a high-level list of “what” needs to be done to reach the goals of the project.
• Break this into 3-4 smaller defined pieces (sub-deliverables) along the way.
• Each deliverable should be detailed in a way that both the client and team have a clear view of what is to be provided.  This should include things such as format, suggested length and items included. 

The charter deliverables will need to define what will be handed in at each phase and what they will look like in detail.

What Do Deliverables Look Like?

Deliverable #1: Research Phase

This may include primary or secondary research (i.e. interviews versus scholarly analysis). For some projects in which both primary and secondary research are necessary, this phase would consist of solely primary research and secondary research would fall into deliverable #2.

Deliverable #2: Action Phase

For those projects only requiring one form of research, this stage begins the analysis and summary of research into actionable recommendations.

For projects which require secondary and primary research, the secondary research would be conducted as this deliverable – with a thought towards application and filtering of secondary research to the findings from deliverable #1. Note – most institutions have a requirement for specific approval of primary research endeavors – you should check with your professor before proceeding into any primary research.

Deliverable #3: Presentation Phase

For all forms of projects, this phase is the conclusion of the project. Therefore, this should be the deliverable in which the client is presented with a result that seeks to satisfy the original goal of the project. The presentation format is at the client’s discretion but can be in the form of a drafted policy, recommendation report, presentation, or other. The idea is that the students hand a hard copy of the accumulation of all their work to the client in a format that allows the client to easily see the original goal as accomplished.

Many projects will not be completed fully over one semester and will have an additional team picking up where you left off. It is okay to clearly identify a portion of a project or game you are completing over the semester. This means as part of your final document you should have a clear handoff for the next team, including a drive where the files would be accessible.

Research Goals

Data: Information to be used for research purposes.

• Will the use of data/information aid in your project?
• Secondary Research – requesting existing data from external organizations/government – Library resources or Google Scholar are excellent for this.  You need to make sure you are using quality reputable resources
• Primary Research – through human interaction (in-person/online/phone) with participants.  This can be difficult to manage due to the inherent risks.  It requires a solid plan and Research and ethics board approval.
• Program Evaluation and/or Quality Improvement data
• Your client – data that they have already collected internally
• Having considered the above information, are you planning on conducting and/or analyzing research to aid in the project goals and deliverables?

There should be metrics included in this section. i.e., we plan to survey 100 people over the course of 3 weeks, we will analyze 10 different companies, we will provide 20 marketing pieces, etc. These will help in developing your updates or check-ins throughout the term.

Scope – The extent of what a project will produce (product scope) and the work needed to produce it (project scope).

Document the scope of work to be delivered. To assist in defining scope, use documentation such as RFP, sales proposals, business requirements, functional specifications, etc. to set and limit the scope.

In-Scope is what the project will include, meeting the requirements of the project goals.

Out of Scope excludes responsibilities, activities, deliverables, or other areas that are not part of the project.

Scope Creep :  Adding additional features or functions of a new product, requirements, or work that is not authorized (i.e., beyond the agreed-upon scope).

Top 5 Causes of Scope Creep, Larson, R. & Larson, E. (2009).

Assumptions, Constraints & Dependencies

Identify the assumptions that were made to define the scope and to complete the deliverable s. Assumptions are elements that need to be ‘true’ in order for your project to proceed.

Objective: Set the boundaries and address how the triple project management constraint (scope, time, cost) could be impacted or managed (Baratta, A., 2006).

List any constraints (potential factors that will impact the delivery or make it difficult to manage the project) on the project or dependencies (on resources or funding to the project). Consider time, cost, dates, rules, and regulations, etc. as constraints or dependencies to the project.

These should be specific to your project.

• What would limit you?
• What information/data/access are you expecting provided by the client?
• What do you need the client to do by when? IE give feedback, post to social media, provide reports?
• Provided funding? Tools? Equipment?
• What tools will you be engaging with for your project? (Hootsuite, oculus, raspberry pi, databases etc)

Include any required equipment or resources that will be needed and who is expected to be providing them.

Related Documents

Reference any related documents that were used to define scope and assumptions. Include a description, along with a copy/attachment/link to the documentation.

Project Organizational Structure

Tools and Templates

Board of Innovation Stakeholder Map

Miro Stakeholder Map 

Mural Stakeholder Map 

Think of this as a contact list for the project. It should include you client (and other secondary contacts), as well as your course contacts ([professor, TAs, mentors, etc.).

Identify the key stakeholder s and team members by function, name, and role. One team member will be designated Team Lead and will act as the main point of contact for communication for the project external partner.

What’s a Stakeholder?

• A stakeholder is an individual, group or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project (Project Management Institute, 2013).
• Key Stakeholders can include: customers/users, sponsors, portfolio manager, program manager, PMO, Project Manager
• It is important to remember to identify the project stakeholders in your Charter .

Confidentiality Agreement

It is important to understand that there is a confidentiality agreement on your projects and you should be cautious with how you save, share or use the information provided.  Consider things such as:

• Keep anonymous the identity of the interviewed respondents, including the project sponsor (client) and any associated party of the sponsor.
• Not use the respondents’ contact information for any other purpose than to conduct the present study.
• Not use the collected data for any purpose other than to complete the present study.
• Not provide the collected data to any third party other than our client and the professor, and to keep all the research information confidential by not discussing or sharing it in any form or format (eg. disks, tapes, transcripts) with anyone other than our client and the professor. The research results will be discussed with the faculty involved in the Capstone course at the final presentation only.
• NOTE – you should never sign any external confidentiality documentation without consulting with your professor or faculty advisor.

Project Authorization

Once you have completed your charter, it should be reviewed by the main stakeholders for acceptance; this is what will ‘kick off’ the project and allow you to begin work. This can come as an email from your client confirming acceptance, but it is most preferred to have a written signature and/or verbal agreement in a meeting.

A sponsor is the person or group that provides the financial resources, in cash or kind, for the project. (PMBOK Guide)

A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

A narrative description of products or services to be supplied under contract. (PMBOK™ Guide)

A milestone is the planned completion of a significant event in the project.

Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that must be produced to complete a process, phase or project. (PMBOK Guide)

The extent of what a project will produce (product scope) and the work needed to produce it (project scope).

Adding additional features or functions of a new product, requirements, or work that is not authorized.

Assumptions are “factors that, for planning purposes, are considered to be true, real, or certain without proof or demonstration” (PMI, 2008, p 148).

The Triple Constraint says that cost is a function of scope and time or that cost, time and scope are related so that if one changes, then another must also change in a defined and predictable way.

Project constraints are limitations imposed on the project, like the budget, schedule, or resources. The PMBOK Guide recognizes six project constraints: scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources, and risk.

Relationships between products or tasks

A stakeholder is an individual, group or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project (Project Management Institute, 2021)

A project leader can be a project manager, but the project manager is not a project lead.

Tools and Resources for Capstone (v. 1.2 Jan 2024) Copyright © by eCampus Ontario is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

• JOLE 2023 Special Issue
• Editorial Staff
• 20th Anniversary Issue
• LEARNING FROM LEADERSHIP CAPSTONE PROJECTS

Andrew J. Wefald, Mac T. Benavides, Aliah K. Mestrovich Seay DOI: 10.12806/V21/I3/R3

Introduction

After five years of teaching a capstone leadership course and using the same student driven capstone project, the instructors of the course started noticing trends in the kinds of projects the students chose. These discussions trended towards some agreement on the categories of projects students decided to pursue. At one point, the authors asked what a qualitative research approach would reveal about these categories and topics students chose. We asked ourselves, what can we learn from capstone projects in leadership programs? What areas of leadership development do students seek out through capstone projects for a four-year leadership studies minor? What can this tell us about the program from an evaluation perspective? The purpose of this work is to examine the capstone leadership projects from a four-year leadership minor. Leadership programs across the world are becoming more prevalent due to the perceived need for leadership capacity in increasingly turbulent times (Hotho & Dowling, 2010). Higher education has responded to this need by offering academic and co-curricular leadership programs for students (Schwartz et al., 1998). Additionally, literature supports the need to support students transitioning from higher education to career (Anderson et al., 2012). Given the breadth and depth of current leadership programs, instructors at a four-year leadership program in a large research university in the Midwest region of the United States began an experiment with a senior year capstone project called the individual leadership education and development (iLEAD) project. This assignment allowed students to choose their own capstone project depending on their interests after having (nearly) completed a multi-year academic minor in leadership studies, and the project was framed in such a way that students were asked to focus on topics they felt they needed to further explore as part of their leadership learning. Over several years of assigning the iLEAD project, the instructors began asking what senior-level students were saying they still needed in terms of leadership education and development after going through a four-year leadership minor involving both curricular and co-curricular components. This broad research question became more specific over time and developed into the examination outlined in this study regarding the topics chosen for these projects. Through an examination of these project topics, we aim to explore how leadership education programs can assess potential gaps in leadership education curricula by tuning into student-driven learning experiences.

The iLEAD project is a semester-long project through which students identify what they want to work on in terms of their leadership development. As the instructors gained experience in administering the assignment, the projects appeared to fall into several common categories. Anecdotally, these categories included (a) working to be less introverted, whether through gaining more confidence or by practicing extraversion; (b) learning to listen empathically; (c) practicing self-care; (d) delegating/stepping down from a role; (e) leading or engaging with community-based projects (e.g. service learning, community engagement, etc.); and (f) examining a specific leadership concept such as personality types or motivation. For this study, we examined these projects to better understand what elements of leadership learning students sought through this project. We also offer a preliminary look at using capstone projects to assess gaps in leadership programs as a form of program evaluation (Shaeiwitz, 2002). Capstone projects offer a unique way to assess and evaluate a program. They typically give students an opportunity to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in a given area (leadership in this case) and capstone projects have been used as the basis for curriculum modifications at other academic institutions (Shaeiwitz, 2002). Thus, our research questions are as follows:

• What areas of leadership development do students seek out through capstone projects for a four-year leadership studies minor?
• How can leadership educators and program administrators assess potential gaps in curricula by using capstone projects as another source of program evaluation?

Pedagogical Framework

The iLEAD project is a student-directed project. Students complete a series of self-reflective activities within and outside of class to identify an aspect of their leadership that they would like to develop. The role of the instructor is to assist and provide guidance throughout this process. Ultimately, the student determines the direction of the project and in what areas of leadership development they wish to engage. The instructor then works with students individually to find an avenue through which to enact their project. These avenues could include organizations with which the student is already involved, such as a campus organization, a place of employment, or a sorority or fraternity. Alternatively, the project could involve a club the student wishes to join or even friends and family members. Offering students the choice and autonomy in selecting the topic, managing and assessing their learning activities, and determining the timing and location of those activities aligns with the concept of self-directed learning (Knowles, 1975). Self-directed learning gives students the initiative and responsibility for their own learning. This project embodies that model.

Self-directed learning connects to the concept of exercising leadership when an authority figure is not directing a follower. When authority figures are not present or are not directing followers, it is up to those followers to exercise leadership to achieve organizational and personal goals (Ferrazzi & Weyrich, 2020; Heifetz et al., 2009). The iLEAD project gives students an opportunity to practice this kind of leadership by following a self-directed learning model with the focus and intention of furthering the students’ leadership education and development goals as determined by the students themselves. Self-directed learning is an important skill for students today, and students need opportunities to direct their own learning and create their own assignments, learning environments, and forms of feedback and assessment to create lasting and meaningful learning (Rashid & Asghar, 2016). These kinds of activities are also important in creating intrinsic motivation for students, which results in an overall stronger performance and greater success during their collegiate experience. With greater control over their own learning, students are better able to critically assess information, reflect on their learning, and assess their own performance (Douglass & Morris, 2014).

Baxter Magolda (2008) defines self-authorship as an “internal capacity to define one’s beliefs, identity, and social relations” (p. 269). Self-authorship is a transition for a person from having values, beliefs, and identities imposed on them from the outside to redefining those things for their self. The iLEAD assignment is, in essence, asking students to make this transition and create a project which gives them the freedom to determine both what they need to complete their leadership education and how they will do so. Leadership educators can utilize self-authorship as a theoretical building block where students can examine their own beliefs about leadership, their identity as leaders, and how leadership works in practice with others. Indeed, this framework reflects the leadership program in this research.

Baxter Magolda (2008) outlined three primary elements of self-authorship, which mirror the journey upon which we hope our students will embark through this iLEAD project. First, it is important for students to trust the internal voice by having enough self-knowledge and self-awareness to determine when to do something. The iLEAD project brings a sense of urgency to students’ goals because it is within the parameters of an assignment for a one-semester course, though students determine what exactly they will do. In this way, they determine the significance of their interests and prioritize developmental goals that they see as important to their next steps. The second element is building an internal foundation, which is accomplished by solidifying one’s identity internally and acknowledging strengths and weaknesses. In the context of the iLEAD project this would be reflected in one’s leadership identity (Komives et al., 2006) and the student’s strengths and weaknesses as a leader. The self-reflective nature of the iLEAD assignment engages students in a process of honest self-discovery that moves beyond simple awareness to action-oriented behavior. Students understand their strengths and areas for growth, and they use this awareness to chart a path forward through this assignment. Finally, securing internal commitments occurs when the first two elements come together to promote wisdom about oneself. As students learn more about their positive and challenging experiences in the past and present, they develop the confidence necessary to effectively address issues that will arise in the future.

Initial and Informal Data Analysis

Over the course of four semesters, instructors collectively reviewed and graded 263 iLEAD projects. These projects spanned across 13 class sections of 15-20 students each. This sample represents all the sections and projects over the four semesters. Students were a mix of junior and senior undergraduate students. Specific demographics were not recorded. Examples of past projects include: developing empathic listening skills through scheduled coaching sessions; participating in a local Toastmasters club; developing self-care habits such as mindfulness and meditation; writing a guidebook for the next generation of club leaders; teaching strengths-based leadership to coworkers; and examining a work group’s personality differences and how to leverage those differences. One student used the project to practice his speech for a non-profit he was starting, as well as to help launch the non-profit. Another student served as a leader of a student organization and made it her goal to know every one of her approximately 80 members’ names and something about each of them. The projects have had varying levels of investment by the students, but most instructors were generally pleased with the projects and student investment in their projects at both the beginning and end of the semester. Anecdotal evidence from conversations with instructors suggested seven initial categories (Table 1).

Initial Categories

Note. This table outlines anecdotal initial categories that emerged from discussion with instructors of the senior seminar course in which the iLEAD project was assigned. 

Research Design

Students in a capstone leadership course participated in a semester-long project in which they identified an area to further develop their personal leadership skills and abilities. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to examine what areas of development these students identified and engaged in and how this can inform curriculum design that better prepares students for the next step in life. Grounded theory is a theoretical framework that is used as an inductive strategy to data analysis (Charmaz, 1996). Using a grounded theory approach to the iLEAD project, researchers gathered, organized, and then analyzed large amounts of student-generated qualitative data related to their final project for their leadership minor. Researchers took note of codes and categories which emerged and then mid-level themes from this inductive process and not from a pre-established hypothesis. Researchers continued to refine their data analysis process by engaging in co-construction of meaning together to “develop their ideas and intuitions about the data” (Charmaz, p. 26, 1996). Our approach to grounded theory involved organizing data through thematic analysis, which Braun and Clarke (2012) described as “a method for systematically identifying, organizing, and offering insight into patterns of meaning (themes) across a data set” (p. 57).  Through this type of analysis, researchers are able to make sense of the common ways participants experience and understand phenomena. With this framework, we sought to answer our primary research question: What areas of leadership development do students seek out through capstone projects for a four-year leadership studies minor? This design will also inform our secondary research question around how leadership educators and program administrators can assess potential gaps in curricula by using capstone projects as another source of program evaluation.

Data Collection.   Data for the study came from student projects in a senior level leadership course. The course was the capstone in a four-year leadership program that is primarily academic, but also includes co-curricular components. The project, called the iLEAD project, asked students to think about their own leadership education and development. They reflected on questions, such as what would be essential to their leadership development and learning as they complete a leadership program, or what would be necessary for their continued growth and development as they transition from college to career or graduate school. Students were asked to think about these questions and come up with what they wanted to do for their project and what they wanted to work on for their own leadership learning and development. Students were encouraged to be honest and vulnerable in deciding the direction of their projects and were steered away from “safe” or “fluffy” projects that entailed little engagement from the student. The parameters of the project were deliberately broad to encourage student creativity, and students were allowed to choose their own project and determine what work was necessary to develop their own leadership skills. Data were collected from 13 sections of the capstone course from 2016 to 2018, and 263 projects were collected and analyzed. The assignment asked students either to write an outline of their proposed project or to write a contract with their instructor outlining their project. These outlines and contracts were collected from the 13 sections.

Data Analysis.   Each of the researchers separately analyzed the projects of 263 participants to identify primary areas of development that students focused on in their capstone. This process involved examining students’ espoused purpose of the project, the outline of the actual work in which the student engaged throughout the semester, and student reflections following completion of the project. With this holistic analysis of the project design and implementation, we used descriptive coding to describe the purpose of each project. After this initial round of descriptive coding, we each used pattern coding, which is a method of searching for relationships between codes to identify emergent themes (Saldaña, 2021). As with the initial analysis, this second round of coding was done separately so that we each identified potential categories and emergent themes through our individual analyses of the data.

The separate process of initial data analysis was a form of researcher triangulation, which enhances the credibility and trustworthiness of qualitative research (Shenton, 2004; Merriam, 1998). After performing separate individual coding analysis, the researchers brought their separate analyses together to discuss emerging categories. Over the course of two meetings, the researchers compared our interpretations and determined patterns supported by data analysis across the three researchers. Ultimately, we found no major discrepancies in researcher interpretations of the data. While in some places we organized the data patterns differently, there was a general consensus regarding overarching themes. As a result, we were able to fine-tune these through our discussions by expanding some thematic groupings and consolidating others. This process allowed us to ensure that our findings accurately reflected the gaps in leadership learning and development as depicted in students’ capstone projects.

Students, instructors, and administrators alike have much to learn from capstone projects. By examining capstone projects for students enrolled in a four-year leadership studies minor at a large research university in the Midwest region of the United States, the researchers set out to qualitatively address the research question: What areas of leadership development do students seek out through capstone projects for a four-year leadership studies minor? The purpose of the iLEAD project was to mirror how leadership is exercised when there is no authority. Students are asked to self-assess and self-direct their own leadership development. The other research question asked: What can this tell us about the leadership program from an evaluation perspective?

We identified four primary areas of leadership learning with which students engaged through their iLEAD assignments: self-care, application and understanding of leadership, interpersonal skills, and intercultural development skills. The four categories that emerged from the descriptive and pattern coding differed from the initial anecdotal categories. However, those initial categories could easily fall under the four broad categories that emerged from the analysis. There were projects that did not fit into any of these categories, but there were not enough of those other projects to support a new category. Based on these categories, we can see that students finishing a four-year leadership program that involves both curricular and co-curricular activities self-select leadership activities around self-care, understanding and applying leadership, interpersonal skills, and intercultural skill development.

Self-care was the most popular topic with our students. The broad category of self-care had several sub-categories: mental, physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual health; healthy boundaries; self-confidence focused on building the concept of self (e.g. becoming more assertive, speaking out more, and sharing thoughts and opinions); and gratitude focused on being happier and developing a full sense of self. Projects included following meditation and mindfulness routines, exercise and diet routines and journaling, adjusting financial habits, and projects that focused on building self-confidence (e.g. running for an elected position that the student had only been thinking about). One student wrote, “I would like to be more committed to getting help and talking to people when I’m struggling.” Another student wrote, “My leadership development goal for this semester is to shift my focus away from the priority of others and put priority on myself. …I realize that I need to really focus on myself… …Find new ways to manage stress along with exercising each week.” Another example of a self-care project, “My goal is to take care of myself more… …goal to center around self-care.” While the category was broad, the focus of these projects centered on making time to connect with personal needs as a way of caring for oneself.

Application of leadership and understanding of leadership was also a popular, albeit broad, category. Many students were interested in developing their knowledge and expertise around particular leadership topics and content such as CliftonStrengths, personality types, motivation sources, and leadership theories and perspectives. This category also included projects where students actively exercised leadership by working in their community through volunteering, doing service projects, or coordinating events. Other examples and sub-categories included: College to career, professional development, connecting to community partners, leadership development, leadership efficacy, coaching and mentoring projects focused on leadership development, community related projects, community support, non-profit work, event planning, how values impact leadership, time management/organizational skills, and identity based projects. For example one student wrote, “My leadership goal for myself this semester is to be more willing to put time into being a leader, attitude wise. I would use adaptive leadership and servant leadership.” Another student completed and reflected on several personality assessments such as Strengths, Myers-Briggs, and the Big 5 writing, “I would like to better understand and love myself as a leader in order to prepare myself for my future career.” In another project within this category, a student explained, “By the end of the semester I will have read StrengthsQuest and Strengths Based Leadership, then implement what I have learned in my supervisor position at work, and finally reflect on what I have learned about others and myself by focusing on strengths.” Student projects within this category represented a wide spectrum of approaches to understanding and exercising leadership.

Interpersonal skills are an important part of exercising leadership and being an effective leader and many students self-identified that they needed to further develop their interpersonal skills. Project examples include joining clubs to work on those skills and attributes, going for an elected position in an organization, and mentoring younger members of an organization. For example, one student wrote, “I want to make a genuine effort to really connect with those around me; within this semester I hope to form a new, deep, and transparent relationship at work with…” Another student wrote that they wanted to, “Engage and build more personal friendships and relationships. I picked this goal because I didn’t realize how apparent it was that I’m not strong at forming one-to-one relationships.” Interpersonal skills seem to be the kind of skills one develops over the course of their life. No leadership program with a time boundary would ever develop these skills to a person’s capacity. This does reflect some self-awareness from the students who chose projects in this category and indirectly highlights a goal of the leadership program overall (developing a sense of self-knowledge and awareness).  In another project focused on interpersonal skills the student focused on “Developing deeper relationships… learn what vulnerability can be instead of fearing it. Go beyond myself and learn how to trust others.” Other examples and sub-categories included: Self-confidence projects focused on skill building such as public speaking, communication focused projects, and coaching projects focused interpersonal listening.

Intercultural skills as a category was the least popular of the four categories among students. The leadership program has an intercultural development course as part of the minor. These projects tended to focus on continuing any personal progress made in that course and sometimes restarting that process. Some students wanted to learn about other religions or racial identities and others wanted to engage in work that fostered more inclusion in their community and some students focused on developing their inclusive leadership skills. One student focused on learning about Bennett’s model of intercultural sensitivity and Boas’s anthropological theory of cultural relativism saying, “I would like to become a more inclusive, empathetic leader and seek to understand why others believe what they do, even if those beliefs are different from mine.” Another student said, “I want to improve my ability to engage in tough conversations with those around me, specifically involving the growing need for attention to social justice.” Other examples and sub-categories included:  Going outside one’s comfort zone related to diversity and inclusion, engaging with a campus or community group doing diversity and inclusion work, being more accepting of others, developing more self-awareness from an intercultural context, focus on self and developing skills related to inclusion, and decreasing judgment of difference.

Taken together this research highlights several important themes for leadership classes and programs – addressing the second research question. The project examples and student quotes show how the projects led to the categories. The first theme is that all leadership programs potentially have gaps and assuming gaps exist, students will see those gaps. There are many perspectives and areas in the field of leadership and it would be difficult for any single program to cover them all. The second is that many students struggle and self-care is an important topic that schools and universities and communities should address comprehensively. Giving time and space for students to work on their own mental health and self-care is time well spent. Third, a self-directed and self-authored project gives students an excellent opportunity to exercise leadership without authority. It also provides time and space for students to think critically about their own leadership development while developing important leadership skills like critical reflection and assessing their own performance.

Instructor Reflection

One of the researchers also taught the capstone course. This researcher’s reflections from teaching the class, working with students on their projects, and working on this research project are below.

My reflections in class and experiences with students as they worked on these projects include success stories and failures, both from students and myself. Over the years I experimented with the project by making the instructions more and more specific and then letting the instructions be ambiguous and broad. I wanted the assignment to reflect our program’s perspective on leadership – that leadership can come from anywhere and anyone, often you have to make your own decisions about what needs to be done, and you often have to figure out for yourself what you need to work on. I used coaching extensively to help students figure out what they could do for their projects. Once I started to see students picking similar projects in different classes, sections, and semesters I developed some categories of projects on my own. The instructors of this class had conversations about these categories and there was some agreement and disagreement about the categories chosen and what that meant. For myself, I noticed, in hindsight, that I may have manifested some of the categories by mentioning them to students, e.g. that self-care was a popular project for students. I did try to give a wide variety of examples when students asked for examples, but it is possible I may have inadvertently steered them to those categories I believed existed. Over time I have seen some amazing projects and students make great breakthroughs in their learning and development. I have also seen students treat this project like just another thing to do or task to complete with little learning or development as a result. The categories that emerged in our work feel like a better representation of the projects than the initial and anecdotal categories. The objectivity and expertise of the two other researchers brought a welcomed perspective on this research.

Discussion & Implications

This research started with a few broad questions. What can we learn from capstone projects in leadership programs? What areas of leadership development do students seek out through capstone projects for a four-year leadership studies minor? What can this tell us about the program from an evaluation perspective? This research explored these questions from a qualitative perspective and discovered four broad categories of student capstone projects. One of the major findings was that students select self-care projects more than other projects. The research around the mental health of college students is quite clear (i.e. students are suffering and need help). Good mental health is important for leaders and for exercising leadership. The capstone project offered students a way to make progress on the aspect of well-being most relevant to them. The popularity of this category speaks to a larger issue of well-being and mental health in college and beyond as well as raising questions beyond the scope of this work. Students today are overworked, over-involved, stressed, and anxious (Oswalt, et al., 2018; Pedrelli, et al., 2014). Mental health issues have been and continue to be on the rise among adolescents and young adults (Twenge et al., 2019). For the leadership program, student health is very important and if our students need help we want to help them. This project offered an opportunity for students to address an important side of their lives, without which, they probably cannot effectively exercise leadership. Leaders’ mental health and work-life balance have direct and indirect effects on their leadership behaviors and effectiveness. Leaders with better mental health and more balance in their lives exhibit more positive leadership behaviors and are more effective (Barling & Cloutier, 2017). Work-life balance is important and giving students an opportunity to develop skills to better achieve that balance seems important and relevant. Leaders also need good mental health in order to show empathy, to be perceptive of followers’ needs, and to keep showing up to do their jobs (Brearley, 2019).

The next two categories were application and understanding of leadership and interpersonal skills. Some leadership concepts and theories are taught in the minor and some students returned to those concepts to further their learning and application of those concepts. Other students sought to practice exercising leadership through community work or campus organizations. These projects reflect students’ desire to be more effective and knowledgeable leaders and to continue their journey of lifelong leadership development. These two categories and the projects within them are not surprising and reflect a general desire to continue the leadership education and development the minor offers in its courses and programs.

Interpersonal skills and intercultural skills are important topics for any leadership program. The program highlighted in this study spends significant time and effort fostering development on these two areas in all the courses, and one of the courses specifically covers intercultural development for a semester. However, it makes sense that some students will need and want more learning and development on these topics given that everyone’s learning and development in any course or mix of courses is different. Both skills are also complex and difficult to make progress on or master depending on the person and their personality and experiences.

The last category was intercultural skills. The minor and program intentionally promote and teach intercultural skills. As mentioned above, there is an entire course within the minor centered on this topic. Therefore, it makes sense that some students might not feel the need to revisit these concepts. It is also possible that students did not like the course that focuses on these concepts or they were not comfortable exploring those topics and for those reasons did not want to revisit them. That some students still select these projects indicates both some self-awareness about where they need to grow and develop as well as a gap in the program. Other interpretations may be that students in the leadership minor who are coming predominantly from a white racial frame and other dominant cultural perspectives may have compartmentalized intercultural skills as a mere checking off of a proverbial diversity box after having completing the previous course. Since intercultural skills have not historically been incorporated consistently into the leadership minor as a whole, students may not feel the urgency or justification to make it a part of their leadership practice. This could indicate that intercultural skills should be taught more intentionally throughout the minor/program. Recently this program has been attempting to include social justice and inclusion elements throughout the program. That work continues.

This research also highlights a potentially informative way to bring student voices to program evaluation. Student voices in program evaluation are both important and informative (Maldonado-Franzen, 2020). The use of student voices is an important component in program redesign and improvement (Paufler et al., 2020). Through the iLEAD assignment, students highlighted gaps in our curriculum and programming. Students were invited to deeply explore topics that contributed to their leadership learning, and therefore the focus of their project could simply reflect interests. However, instructors were intentional in designing this project as an opportunity to cultivate self-guided leadership learning and to explore the limitations and boundaries of our current programmatic offerings. As such, the assignment specifically asked students to reflect on what they were still needing as they approached the end of their time in the leadership program. While the project topics certainly reflect students’ interests, the strategic framing of the assignment also surfaces gaps in the program and therefore has the potential to serve as a powerful source of program evaluation. We could do more around student well-being and mental health. We could focus more on building interpersonal skills and providing more depth on certain leadership concepts. We could also do more to incorporate social justice and inclusion elements throughout the minor and program. This research revealed some specific gaps in our program, and these types of capstone projects could be used by other leadership programs to evaluate their specific curriculum and program gaps. This method of program evaluation takes student voices into consideration as well as giving those students time and space to fill the gaps in their own learning and development in a manner most relevant to them.

This research suggests that this particular leadership program does have some gaps in its curriculum and programming that could be addressed. Although this was not a formal program evaluation project, the iLEAD assignment suggests gaps around student well-being, various leadership concepts, interpersonal skills, and intercultural skills. Projects similar to the iLEAD assignment could be implemented by other institutions as a way to identify and address these gaps. This type of project also promotes the concept of self-authorship which seems to be important for students to develop as they transition from college to career or graduate school.

This kind of student driven critical program reflection is important for leadership programs by providing student feedback on the program and self-directed learning for students. Additionally, student well-being and mental health are important for leadership development and learning and exercising leadership. Leadership programs should be leaders on this issue and work to foster student well-being and mental health on their campuses and in their communities.

If leadership educators wish to develop or revise existing capstone projects that are self-authored, they should consider the outcomes they wish to achieve with the projects. Our capstone project began as a way for students to take ownership of their leadership development and promote lifelong leadership learning. Over time the projects became informative about what students need and program gaps. Projects could be outlined in a way that focuses on curriculum and program gaps (e.g. what do you still need after completing our program?). They could also focus on specific learning outcomes such as interpersonal skill development. This research suggests that leadership educators have much to learn from students’ self-guided capstone projects.

The goals of this project were to examine what students need at the end of a four-year leadership program, to examine if the projects could be grouped and if those groupings would provide information for program evaluation. The results of this research suggest that there are gaps in this particular leadership program and that the projects did yield identifiable groupings. Those groupings provided useful information for the instructors of the course and for the program overall. Specifically, the results suggest that students’ well-being (physical, mental, emotional, social, financial health) is important and that many students are lacking in some aspect of their well-being. This is a larger problem than one academic minor program at one institution can fully address. However, this project did seem to help students make progress on their individual well-being and may have influenced other students to consider and address their well-being and overall life balance.

Given that the field of leadership and topics in the field of leadership are varied and deep, it is difficult to cover all the aspects of leadership in four courses. Some students are still looking for more learning on the content that has been delivered in the courses, suggesting that the program could decrease the number of topics covered and increase the depth on those topics. The project could also serve as an open opportunity for students to learn more about topics they are personally interested in, suggesting the iLEAD project is useful for students in this regard.

There are limitations to this research and the results should be taken with some caution. The results may not generalize to other leadership programs or other institutions. Given the qualitative nature of this research, the researcher’s presence and positionality during the data collection and involvement throughout the project could have affected the topics the students chose, thus affecting the results of this research. There was a large number of projects evaluated, however, and those projects happened across several years, several sections of the course and several different instructors. Two graduate students that specialize in qualitative research ran the data analysis portion of this research to provide as much rigor as possible. It should also be noted that these results are a reflection of one specific leadership program and do not represent leadership studies in general.

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55+ Creative Capstone Project Topics For Students In 2023

As a student, one of the most important tasks you’ll face is choosing a capstone project topic. A capstone project is a comprehensive assignment that requires you to demonstrate the knowledge and skills you’ve gained throughout your academic program.

It is a crucial aspect of your academic career as it can help you stand out in the job market, demonstrate your readiness for your profession, and showcase your ability to work independently. In this blog, we’ll explore everything you need to know about capstone projects and provide you with 55+ capstone project topics to help get you started.

What is a Capstone Project?

Table of Contents

A capstone project is a culmination of your academic program. It requires you to integrate and apply the knowledge and skills you’ve gained throughout your academic journey. Capstone projects come in different forms and formats, including research papers, presentations, case studies, and hands-on projects.

Explain Significance of a Capstone Project

A Capstone project is a culminating academic project that is typically required of students nearing the end of their studies. The significance of a Capstone project lies in the fact that it provides an opportunity for students to integrate and apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout their studies to solve a real-world problem or address a specific issue.

Here are some reasons why Capstone projects are significant:

1. Integration of Knowledge

Capstone projects require students to integrate and apply knowledge gained across multiple courses in their program. This integration of knowledge allows students to see the connections between different subject areas and to apply a holistic approach to problem-solving.

2. Real-world Experience

Capstone projects often involve working on a project for a real client or addressing a real-world issue. This provides students with valuable experience in working with real clients and stakeholders, conducting research, and applying theoretical concepts to practical problems.

3. Demonstration of Skills

Capstone projects provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate the skills they have acquired over the course of their studies. This includes critical thinking, problem-solving, research, and communication skills.

Career Preparation

Capstone projects can help students prepare for their future careers by providing them with practical experience, networking opportunities, and a portfolio of work to showcase to potential employers.

In summary, Capstone projects are significant because they provide students with an opportunity to integrate and apply their knowledge, gain real-world experience, demonstrate their skills, and prepare for their future careers.

Elements of Capstone Project

Capstone projects can vary depending on the academic discipline, institution, and level of study. However, there are several common elements that are typically included in a Capstone project:

The Capstone project begins with the selection of a topic, which is often related to the student’s area of study or research interest. The topic should be significant, relevant, and feasible to research and complete within the given timeframe.

2. Proposal

The student is required to submit a proposal that outlines the problem or issue they aim to address, the research questions, methodology, and expected outcomes. The proposal is typically reviewed and approved by a faculty advisor or a Capstone committee.

3. Literature Review

Students are required to conduct a comprehensive literature review of existing research related to the chosen topic. This helps to provide a theoretical foundation for the project and identify gaps in existing research that the Capstone project aims to address.

4. Research Methodology

Students need to identify and apply appropriate research methods and techniques to collect data and analyze it. This could involve conducting surveys, interviews, experiments, or analyzing existing data sources.

5. Results And Analysis

Students need to present the results of their research in a clear and organized manner, including data analysis, graphs, and charts, which are used to support their findings.

6. Conclusion And Recommendations

Students need to provide a conclusion that summarizes the findings and recommendations for future research and practice. This is typically presented in a written report or a presentation to a Capstone committee.

7. Reflection

Finally, students are often required to reflect on the Capstone project experience, including the challenges and successes encountered during the project. This reflection allows students to critically evaluate their work and identify areas for improvement.

Here in this section we mentioned more than 55+ capstone project topics for students:

1. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Social Media On Mental Health

This Capstone project could explore how social media use affects mental health, such as depression and anxiety, and investigate possible solutions or interventions to minimize negative outcomes.

2. Investigating The Impact Of Climate Change On The Tourism Industry

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of climate change on the tourism industry, such as the impact on tourist destinations, transportation, and local economies, and propose potential solutions to mitigate the negative impacts.

3. Developing A Business Plan For A Start-Up Company In The Healthcare Industry

This Capstone project could involve developing a comprehensive business plan for a healthcare start-up, including market research, financial projections, and strategic planning.

4. An Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Online Learning In Higher Education

This Capstone project could investigate the effectiveness of online learning in higher education, such as student engagement, retention, and learning outcomes, and propose strategies to improve online learning experiences.

5. Designing A Sustainable Housing Project For Low-Income Families

This Capstone project could involve designing a sustainable housing project that meets the needs of low-income families while promoting environmental sustainability, such as incorporating renewable energy sources, green roofs, and water conservation features.

6. Developing A Mental Health Intervention Program For High School Students

This Capstone project could involve developing a mental health intervention program for high school students that addresses common mental health issues and promotes positive coping strategies.

7. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Job Displacement

This Capstone project could explore how the use of artificial intelligence is affecting job displacement and propose solutions to minimize the negative impact on workers and the economy.

8. Investigating The Impact Of E-Commerce On Traditional Brick-And-Mortar Retail Stores

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of e-commerce on traditional retail stores, such as the impact on sales, employment, and consumer behavior, and propose potential solutions to mitigate the negative impacts.

9. Developing A Marketing Plan For A Non-Profit Organization

This Capstone project could involve developing a marketing plan for a non-profit organization, including market research, target audience identification, and promotional strategies.

10. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Immigration Policies On The Us Economy

This Capstone project could explore how changes in immigration policies are affecting the US economy, such as the impact on GDP, employment, and labor force participation, and propose potential solutions to address any negative impacts.

11. Develop A Website To Promote A Local Cultural Event

This Capstone project could involve designing and developing a website to promote a local cultural event, including information about the event, ticket sales, and promotional materials.

12. Investigating The Impact Of Technology On Sleep Patterns

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of technology on sleep patterns, such as the impact on sleep quality, duration, and sleep disorders, and propose potential solutions to promote healthy sleep habits.

13. Developing A Nutrition And Wellness Program For A Local School District

This Capstone project could involve developing a nutrition and wellness program for a local school district that promotes healthy eating habits, physical activity, and mental health.

14. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Cultural Diversity On Workplace Productivity

This Capstone project could explore how cultural diversity in the workplace affects productivity, teamwork, and innovation, and propose strategies to promote a diverse and inclusive work environment.

15. Investigating The Impact Of Ride-Sharing Services On Public Transportation

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of ride-sharing services on public transportation, such as the impact on ridership, revenues, and sustainability, and propose potential solutions to address any negative impacts.

16. Developing A Mobile Application For A Local Business

This Capstone project could involve designing and developing a mobile application for a local business that enhances the customer experience, such as online ordering, loyalty programs, and promotions.

17. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Social Media On Political Participation

This Capstone project could explore how social media use affects political participation, such as voter turnout, political engagement, and political polarization, and propose potential solutions to promote healthy political discourse.

18. Investigating The Impact Of Automation On The Manufacturing Industry

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of automation on the manufacturing industry, such as the impact on employment, productivity, and safety, and propose potential solutions to address any negative impacts.

19. Developing A Disaster Preparedness Plan For A Community

This Capstone project could involve developing a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan for a community that addresses natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires.

20. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Gender Diversity On Corporate Performance

This Capstone project could explore how gender diversity in corporate leadership affects performance, such as profitability, innovation, and corporate social responsibility, and propose strategies to promote gender diversity in the workplace.

21. Investigating The Impact Of Renewable Energy On The Power Grid

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, on the power grid, such as the impact on grid stability, reliability, and cost, and propose potential solutions to address any challenges.

22. Developing A Cybersecurity Plan For A Small Business

This Capstone project could involve developing a cybersecurity plan for a small business that identifies potential threats and vulnerabilities, and proposes solutions to prevent cyberattacks and data breaches.

23. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Automation On The Service Industry

This Capstone project could explore how automation is affecting the service industry, such as the impact on customer service, employment, and job satisfaction, and propose potential solutions to address any negative impacts.

24. Investigating The Impact Of Music Therapy On Mental Health

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of music therapy on mental health, such as the impact on anxiety, depression, and cognitive function, and propose potential solutions to promote the integration of music therapy in mental healthcare.

25. Developing A Community-Based Recycling Program

This Capstone project could involve developing a community-based recycling program that promotes sustainable waste management and environmental stewardship.

26. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Healthcare

This Capstone project could explore how the use of artificial intelligence is affecting healthcare, such as the impact on patient outcomes, costs, and medical ethics, and propose potential solutions to optimize AI integration in healthcare.

27. Investigating The Impact Of Globalization On The Labor Market

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of globalization on the labor market, such as the impact on employment, wages, and labor rights, and propose potential solutions to address any negative impacts.

28. Developing A Disaster Response Plan For A Healthcare Facility

This Capstone project could involve developing a comprehensive disaster response plan for a healthcare facility that addresses natural disasters, pandemics, and other emergencies.

29. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Mindfulness Practices On Workplace Productivity

This Capstone project could explore how mindfulness practices, such as meditation and yoga, affect workplace productivity, employee engagement, and stress management, and propose strategies to promote healthy workplace practices.

30. Investigating The Impact Of Social Media On Political Polarization

This Capstone project could analyze how social media is affecting political polarization, such as the impact on political discourse, fake news, and political extremism, and propose potential solutions to promote healthy political dialogue.

31. Developing A Waste Reduction Plan For A Local Government

This Capstone project could involve developing a waste reduction plan for a local government that promotes sustainable waste management practices and reduces landfill waste.

32. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Automation On The Transportation Industry

This Capstone project could explore how automation is affecting the transportation industry, such as the impact on employment, safety, and efficiency, and propose potential solutions to address any negative impacts.

33. Investigating The Impact Of Social Media On Mental Health

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of social media on mental health, such as the impact on self-esteem, body image, and social anxiety, and propose potential solutions to promote healthy social media use.

34. Developing A Marketing Plan For A Non-Profit Organization

This Capstone project could involve developing a marketing plan for a non-profit organization that aims to raise awareness and support for a social cause.

35. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Climate Change On Agriculture

This Capstone project could explore how climate change is affecting agriculture, such as the impact on crop yields, food security, and farm income, and propose potential solutions to address any negative impacts.

36. Investigating The Impact Of Virtual Reality On Education

This Capstone project could analyze how virtual reality is affecting education, such as the impact on student engagement, learning outcomes, and accessibility, and propose potential solutions to optimize VR integration in education.

37. Developing A Workplace Diversity And Inclusion Plan

This Capstone project could involve developing a workplace diversity and inclusion plan that promotes a culture of respect, equity, and inclusion, and addresses any systemic barriers to diversity.

38. An Analysis Of The Impact Of Telemedicine On Healthcare Access

This Capstone project could explore how telemedicine is affecting healthcare access, such as the impact on patient outcomes, cost savings, and healthcare disparities, and propose potential solutions to optimize telemedicine integration in healthcare.

39. Investigating The Impact Of Globalization On The Environment

This Capstone project could analyze the effects of globalization on the environment, such as the impact on climate change, biodiversity loss, and natural resource depletion, and propose potential solutions to address any negative impacts.

40. Developing A Mental Health Awareness Campaign For A College Campus

This Capstone project could involve developing a mental health awareness campaign for a college campus that promotes mental health resources and support, and reduces stigma surrounding mental health issues.

Some Other Capstone Project Topics Ideas For Students In 2023

Here are some other capstone project topics ideas for students in 2023 :

41. Sustainable Energy Solutions for Rural Communities

42. Enhancing Cybersecurity Measures in Small Businesses

43. Analyzing the Impact of Social Media on Mental Health

44. Designing an Automated Irrigation System for Agricultural Efficiency

45. Investigating the Effects of Virtual Reality in Education

46. Developing a Mobile App for Personal Finance Management

47. Exploring Machine Learning Algorithms for Predictive Maintenance in Manufacturing

48. Assessing the Effectiveness of E-Learning Platforms in Higher Education

49. Creating a Smart Home Automation System for Energy Conservation

50. Investigating the Use of Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management

51. Analyzing the Impact of Social Media Influencers on Consumer Behavior

52. Designing a Medical Diagnosis Support System using Artificial Intelligence

53. Exploring the Applications of Augmented Reality in Retail Shopping

54. Developing a Smart Traffic Management System for Urban Areas

55. Evaluating the Efficiency of Renewable Energy Sources in Power Generation

56. Investigating the Effects of Gamification in Employee Training and Engagement

• Capstone Project Ideas for Civil Engineering
• Mini Project Ideas for ECE Students

How to find Capstone project topics?

Finding a Capstone project topic can be a challenging task. Here are some tips on how to find Capstone project topics:

1. Identify Your Interests

Start by identifying your interests and passions. Consider the courses that you have enjoyed in your program, the topics that have sparked your curiosity, and the issues that you are passionate about. This can help you narrow down your focus to a specific area of research.

2. Consult With Faculty

Talk to your faculty advisors or professors in your area of study. They can provide guidance on potential Capstone project topics, identify gaps in existing research, and suggest resources for your research.

3. Browse Academic Journals

Browse academic journals in your field to identify current research topics and areas that have not been fully explored. Look for research articles, case studies, and review articles related to your area of interest.

4. Attend Conferences And Seminars

Attend conferences and seminars in your field to learn about current research, trends, and challenges. You can network with other professionals, identify research gaps, and get feedback on potential Capstone project topics.

5. Look For Real-World Problems

Consider real-world problems or issues that you could address through your Capstone project. This could include issues in your local community, industry, or a global problem that you are passionate about.

6. Brainstorm With Peers

Brainstorm potential Capstone project topics with your peers or classmates. You can bounce ideas off each other and provide feedback on potential research questions, methodology, and expected outcomes.

Finding a Capstone project topic requires identifying your interests, consulting with faculty, browsing academic journals, attending conferences, looking for real-world problems, and brainstorming with peers.

Tips To Choose the Best Capstone Project Topics For Students In 2023

Here are some tips to choose the best capstone project topics for students in 2023 :

1. Choose A Topic According To Your Interest

This will make the project more enjoyable and less daunting. If you are not interested in the topic, you will be less likely to put in the hard work required to complete the project successfully.

2. Choose A Topic That Is Relevant To Your Subject

This will help you to develop your skills and knowledge in your chosen area. Your capstone project should be an opportunity for you to showcase your skills and knowledge in your field of study.

3. Choose A Topic That Is Challenging But Achievable

You should not choose a topic that is too difficult or too easy. A challenging topic will allow you to learn and grow, but it should not be so difficult that you become discouraged.

4. Talk To Your Professors And Advisors

They can help you to identify topics that are relevant to your field of study and that are within your skill level. Your professors and advisors can also provide guidance and support throughout the project.

5. Look At Previous Capstone Projects Completed By Students In Your Program

This can give you some ideas for your own project. You can also get a sense of the scope and complexity of previous projects.

6. Do Some Research Online

There are many websites that list capstone project ideas. You can also find information about specific topics and how to approach them.

7. Develop A Detailed Project Plan

This project plan will help you stay on track and make sure your project is completed on time. A project plan should include a timeline, a budget, and a list of tasks.

Significance Of Choosing The Right Capstone Project Topics

Choosing the right Capstone project topic is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it allows students to demonstrate their understanding and application of the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout their program of study. 

Choosing a topic that is relevant to their field of study and interests can also motivate students to produce their best work and achieve their academic goals.

Secondly, a well-chosen Capstone project topic can provide students with valuable professional experience and skills. Many Capstone projects involve working with real-world clients, collaborating with professionals in their field, and conducting independent research. 

This can provide students with the opportunity to develop important skills such as project management , critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving, which are highly valued by employers.

Finally, a well-designed Capstone project can make a meaningful contribution to the student’s field of study or community. Choosing a topic that addresses a real-world problem or gap in knowledge can result in a project that has a positive impact beyond the academic setting. 

This can increase the student’s sense of purpose and contribute to their personal and professional development.

Overall, choosing the right Capstone project topic is important because it can motivate students to produce their best work, provide them with valuable professional experience and skills, and make a meaningful contribution to their field of study or community.

In conclusion, a Capstone project is a culminating academic experience that provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of knowledge and skills in their field of study. Choosing the right Capstone project topic is crucial for students to achieve their academic and professional goals, as well as contribute to their community. 

With the right capstone project  topic, students can develop valuable skills and experience, create a positive impact in their field of study, and make a meaningful contribution to their community. As such, it is important for students to carefully consider their Capstone project topic and select one that aligns with their interests and program learning outcomes.

Q1. What are some trending capstone project topics in the field of computer science?

Some trending capstone project topics in computer science include artificial intelligence in healthcare, blockchain technology applications, and cybersecurity advancements.

Q2. How can a capstone project in business management contribute to real-world success?

A capstone project in business management allows students to apply theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios, develop problem-solving skills, and gain hands-on experience, thus contributing to real-world success by preparing them for the challenges of the business environment.

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Transportation Capstone 2024 Team #4

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The objective of this project was to recommend a transportation route to complete the Eastern Inner Loop Project in State College, PA.

Sponsored by: Civil Engineering

Team Members

Gerik Urban    Michael Hirowski Jr    Schyler Rose Keller    Anmoal Singh                  

Instructor: Brian St. John, Prakash Poudel

Project Poster

Click on any image to enlarge.

Project Video

Project Summary

Our design team has been tasked with finishing the East Inner Loop Project located in State College, PA and giving a final route recommendation. The purpose of this task is to increase the mobility within the State College area. In order to give an accurate recommendation, several different alternatives were to be analyzed and considered with the best alternative being recommended.

· Develop several different potential alternatives for the East Inner Loop Connection.

· Consider the Environmental Impact, Safety Evaluation, Operational Evaluation, and the Benefit-Cost Analysis of each alternative to determine the best recommendation.

· Create and in-depth design recommendation for the chosen alternative consisting of a final plan, traffic signal warrants, pavement design, roadside design, superelevation profiles, and a final construction cost estimate.

· LOS of each alternative was determined through the use of HCS software.

· Design Controls and Criteria were determined by comparing nearby and connecting roads as well as predicted road usage.

· Environmental Ranking was determined through referencing of the U.S. DOT FHWA Environmental Review Toolkit, focusing on the Impacts of different land usage zones.

· Safety was Evaluated using crash prediction analysis and design consistency analysis.

· Cost Benefit was Evaluated through the use of travel time savings and cost estimates for each alternative.

· Each result for the criteria evaluated was compared for each alternative with a score of 3 for the best result, 2 for the middle result, and 1 for the worst result. These were added and considered in the final recommendation.

· Civil 3D CAD software was used to draw out and create profiles and cross sections of the recommended alternative.

· The chosen alternative when compared to the other alternative provided the best LOS, and the highest Travel time savings.

· Driver will save 5 minutes going from University Drive to the Giant Food Stores located on Blue Course Drive, and will save 8.5 minutes going from University Drive to the Vairo Development.

· This route results in a Total User Benefit of $ 301,923,332 over the test span of 20 years.

· Safety of this route was higher with only around 15 predicted crashes over 10 years when using our recommended alternative compared to 80 predicted crashes over 10 years using the existing roads.

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