Understanding the Capstone Experience Through the Voices of Students

Capstone Courses: Student Learning Outcomes Indicate Value of Online Learning in Pilot Study

“…These results suggest that regardless of type of course enrolled in, students do not come in to the capstone experience with adequate experience and skills, a finding that corroborates the results of other capstone assessments [29,30,3,4]. Comparisons of first and last papers reveal a demonstrated increase in learning outcomes in all course versions.…”

“…The nature of the online learning environment has been one that has come under extensive scrutiny in an attempt to compare the online learning experience with the traditional on-ground experience [2,31,32]. While some studies have found "no significant difference" in the quantitative learning outcomes of online and onground students, the quantitative data shows something different with online students indicating greater satisfaction and success with "well designed" online course experiences [2,3,31,32,33,34,35]. In this pilot study, these quantitative findings were reflected across the board with student self evaluations given at the end of the semester.…”

“…With the proliferation of technology, the Internet and online learning tools, it is possible to create a richer, more interactive and engaging environment for students to develop writing skills and complete capstone experiences. However, this plethora of resources and new technological advancements require substantial instructional design to integrate structure, course material, increase familiarity between the students and with the tools available [3,6,32,35,36]. This can be effectively translated to online writing courses as well [36] including capstone courses.…”

“…Capstone courses for undergraduate students provide undeniable learning benefits, and are considered among the best high impact learning practices in undergraduate education [1,2,3]. In addition to providing a "springboard for connecting learning to the world beyond campus", [1] capstones are an excellent way to assess the success of student learning in the major [4,3,5,6,7,8], and many institutions increasingly require capstone courses or experiences for senior level, undergraduate students. According to the 2011 National Survey of Senior Capstone Experiences, 268 of 276 responding institutions offer a capstone experience [9], and the effectiveness of capstone experiences at increasing levels of engagement and to create deep learning has been documented in national surveys [1].…”

Realizing General Education: Reconsidering Conceptions and Renewing Practice

“…This may be accomplished through integrative foundations seminars, often targeted to first‐year or sophomore‐level students. Another avenue is to adopt upper‐level capstone courses that ask students to reflect upon and synthesize their learning experiences (McGill, ). These integrative elements may be combined with a pure distribution model, thematic strands model, or a combination.…”