Capstone Preparation


Capstone work gives students a chance to pull together learning that has been important to them in their time at CPCS and to produce something of value both for themselves and for the larger community. Ideally, planning for the capstone competency begins early in a student’s career and builds on competencies demonstrated at earlier levels.As a students being work on Level 3 of the Core Knowledge and Skills curriculum, they should determine which capstone competency they plan to demonstrate and look at the electives they select to make sure that they are well matched and that they reflect students’ current interests and future plans. This is a good time to meet with for students to meet with an advisor to review Learning Plan choices. The advisor can help the students determine whether the capstone choice makes the most sense, given where the student wants to head. The advisor can also help the student determine which Level 3 electives are the best pathway to the capstone work.

How to prepare for work on the Capstone

The Capstone competency is designed to build upon competencies demonstrated at earlier levels of the curriculum -- Core Knowledge and Skills, Major, and Concentration competencies. It is intended to be a student’s culminating piece of work and to reflect the knowledge and skills the student has gained in work at earlier levels of the curriculum. Thus, it is a good idea to make a capstone choice early so that a student can prepare herself as adequately as possible. It is particularly important to make a preliminary choice of the capstone competency at the beginning of work at Level 3 so that a student may choose appropriate Level 3 electives.

Prerequisites:

Before beginning work on any capstone, students must have demonstrated the Level 1 writing requirement and should be well underway toward completing the Communication Portfolio. Specific recommendations as to how best to prepare for each Capstone competency are listed below:

Doing Social Research: Quantitative Reasoning (Level II) and Social Research (Level III) must be completed before beginning the capstone.

Public Advocacy: Either Debating Policy Issues (Level III) or Influencing Policy Making (Level III) is strongly recommended.

Reflective Action: Models of Change (Level 3) and Action Learning (Level 3) and an appropriate Critical Readings competency, such as the history of social movements are strongly recommended.

Critical Analysis: At least one Critical Readings competency on a topic which provides background and context for the Capstone is strongly recommended. It is important to keep in mind that work on a critical readings competency, or any other Level 3 competency, is not intended to serve as a means to complete readings required for particular capstone projects, which require their own literature searches and reviews. Rather, this preparatory work is a way to broaden and deepen your understanding of the issues and context involved in your capstone.

Depending on your choice of a capstone, specific competencies in Majors or Concentrations, such as the Advocacy or Organizing competencies, may also be particularly useful. Be sure to look at the individual Capstone competency statement for complete information on required and recommended competencies.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I demonstrate my Capstone competency on the basis of prior learning?
While prior learning can serve as the foundation for work on a capstone competency, it must be supplemented by at least two additional ingredients: 1. You must write a reflective essay which looks back on the project in light of your current understanding. 2. You must give an oral presentation on the project to an appropriate audience.

May I do a Capstone linked to my major or concentration area?
You may do your capstone on a theme linked to your major or concentration area, but you are not required to make that linkage. Some of the majors and/or concentrations may recommend specific capstones as being particularly appropriate, but this is only a suggestion, not a requirement.

Can I work on a Capstone competency with other students?
The College values collaborative work and encourages students to work on group Capstone projects. These may either be faculty or student-initiated. Evaluators will detail specific requirements for individual demonstration in the case of any given group project but there are some general guidelines for all collaborative work on capstone competencies:

Collaborative capstone projects will be more substantial in scope than individual projects.
Students will take major responsibility for developing the capstone project. While projects may be faculty-initiated, virtually all significant project decisions will be made by the student group. Thus, for instance, in the case of a research capstone, the student group will search the literature, formulate research questions, design the instruments, gather and analyze data, write the final report, and plan and deliver the oral presentation.  The roles of individual students will be clearly delineated in the planning phase of the project. Each individual will document his or her contribution, both to the project and to the final presentation. Every member of the group will sign off on the individual documents. Every individual member of the group must contribute to both the written paper and the oral presentation of the project. The size and scope of individual contributions to the written product and oral presentation must be negotiated with the evaluator.

Pathways to the Capstone:

Increasingly faculty are offering instructional activities that may start at Level II or III and build toward the capstone. These activities allow students to follow a content area through different competencies and to apply that work toward developing a capstone project. These “streams” are noted in the course descriptions in the Instructional Activity book that is produced for registration.