Curricular Convergence and Campaigns: Learning Outcomes in the Capstone Course

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the student learning outcomes (SLOs) for a sustainability major, evaluate faculty incorporation of the SLOs into the courses in the sustainability major curriculum and measure student performance on the SLOs from entry into the major to the senior capstone course. Design/methodology/approach Through an iterative approach with a faculty advisory committee, SLOs were developed for the sustainability major. Curriculum mapping followed by evaluation of course syllabi were used to determine the extent to which each course addressed the SLOs. Student performance on most SLOs was measured through student assessment in an introductory and capstone course to evaluate the change in performance over time. Findings The core courses of the sustainability major were more likely to address the SLOs of the major than that of the elective courses. Where measured, student performance on the SLOs increased from the introductory course to the capstone course. Sustainability majors participated in an average of almost ten experiential learning opportunities focused on sustainability. Originality/value This research provides a longitudinal assessment of student learning in an undergraduate sustainability major. Because undergraduate sustainability degrees are generally new, this research can serve as a base upon which to continue to improve sustainability curriculum design.

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Perceived Usefulness of Learning Outcomes Predicts Ratings of Departmental Helpfulness

Teaching of Psychology ◽

10.1080/00986280802374245 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 35 (4) ◽

pp. 335-342 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Patricia A. Marsh ◽

Dennis L. Poepsel

Keyword(s):

Student Learning ◽

Learning Outcomes ◽

Skill Development ◽

Student Learning Outcomes ◽

Perceived Usefulness ◽

Capstone Course ◽

Self Confidence ◽

Perceived Helpfulness

Psychology seniors at a Midwest university reflected on the student learning outcomes (SLOs) for the major. This study examined the relations among students' perceived usefulness of the SLOs, measures of learning, ratings of self-confidence in their knowledge of psychology, and evaluations of the department's helpfulness in students' skill development. Correlations showed few significant relations between usefulness of the SLOs and measures of learning and no relations with ratings of self-confidence. Perceived usefulness of the outcomes was a significant predictor of the department's perceived helpfulness in students' skill development. However, students' perceptions of the department dropped significantly by the end of the capstone course. We discuss implications related to activities teachers might use to enhance learning.

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Assessing Student Learning Outcomes and Documenting Success through a Capstone Course

Political Science and Politics ◽

10.1017/s1049096510000764 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 43 (03) ◽

pp. 523-531 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Paul E. Sum ◽

Steven Andrew Light

Keyword(s):

Best Practices ◽

General Education ◽

Student Learning ◽

Learning Outcomes ◽

Resource Constraints ◽

Student Learning Outcomes ◽

Skill Sets ◽

Capstone Course ◽

Essential Knowledge ◽

Science Departments

AbstractColleges and universities are increasingly intentional about meeting well-articulated and consistent general education goals and documenting substantive learning outcomes. Institutional imperatives to document the successful teaching of essential knowledge and skill sets frequently fall to faculty and departments, posing new challenges in an environment of time and resource constraints. A capstone course is an increasingly common method to measure student learning and assess programmatic and institutional success. We provide concrete suggestions to design a capstone course and assess student learning outcomes. After describing the structure of the course and four innovative assignments, we present the results of assessment conducted through the capstone. We further the conversation on the development of best practices and how political science departments can align institutional and programmatic goals and lead the way in university assessment.

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Diagnostic and Value-Added Assessment of Business Writing

Business Communication Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1080569905279405 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 68 (3) ◽

pp. 290-305 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Linda Fraser ◽

Katrin Harich ◽

Joni Norby ◽

Kathy Brzovic ◽

Teeanna Rizkallah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Learning Outcomes ◽

Core Competencies ◽

Value Added ◽

Business Communication ◽

Grading Practices ◽

Business Writing ◽

Capstone Course ◽

The Core ◽

Measuring Outcomes ◽

Specific Learning

To assess students’ business writing abilities upon entry into the business program and exit from the capstone course, a multitiered assessment package was developed that measures students’ achievement of specific learning outcomes and provides “value-added” scores. The online segment of the test measures five competencies across three process levels; the in-class writing segment measures the same five competencies across higher process levels. The data can then be cross-referenced for multitiered measurements. The learning outcomes are derived from the grading rubric used in the business communication classes, thus bringing classroom grading practices into assessment at the program level. The core competencies, rubric, writing prompt, and sample questions are provided. The process of designing the assessment, engaging faculty participation, and measuring outcomes are detailed.

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Taking a Case Method Capstone Course Online

10.28945/2229 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Grandon Gill ◽

Matthew Mullarkey

Keyword(s):

Learning Outcomes ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Popular Science ◽

Online Course ◽

Science Fair ◽

Capstone Course ◽

Face To Face ◽

Information Technology Education ◽

Online Tools ◽

The Face

A capstone course is normally offered at the end of a program of study with the goal of helping students synthesize what they have learned in the courses preceding it. The paper describes such a course, —the undergraduate capstone course for MIS majors, —that was built around the case discussions and projects and originally offered in a face-to-face format. Over the course of the study, an asynchronous online version of the course was developed that was intended to be as faithful as possible to the classroom version. The pa-per examines the design, delivery and learning outcomes of the online offering, contrasting it with the classroom version. The transition to an online course required many adaptations. Among the issues that we needed address: 1) moving the highly synchronous face-to-face discussions of each case study to an asynchronous format without losing fidelity and energy, 2) changing how “student participation” was defined and evaluated, 3) adapting the project component of the course—which ended with a very popular “science fair” activity at the end of the semester in the classroom version—to a delivery mechanism where students never interacted with each other face-to-face, and 4) evaluating the relative learning outcomes of the two approaches. The results of the conversion proved to be consistent with some of our expectations, and surprising in other ways. Consistent with expectations, the online tools that we employed allowed us to create an online design that was relatively faithful to the original version in terms of meeting learning objectives. Also consistent with our expectations, student perceptions of the course—while quite positive overall—were more mixed for the online course than for its face-to-face predecessor. The course offering produced two surprises, however. First, the online approach to the project component of the course actually seemed to result in higher quality projects and presentations than the face-to-face version. Second, when results were compared from the instrument we used to evaluate student learning gains, the classroom and online versions of the class proved to be nearly indistinguishable. Given the very different delivery mechanisms employed, we had anticipated far more differences in student perceptions of what they had learned over the course of the semester. Given the challenges of taking a highly interactive class online, we viewed this surprise to be a very pleasant one. A revised version of this paper was published in Journal of Information Technology Education: Research Volume 14, 2015

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Business and Industry Project-Based Capstone Courses: Selecting Projects and Assessing Learning Outcomes

Industry and Higher Education ◽

10.5367/000000009788146647 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 91-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Reza A. Maleki

Keyword(s):

Learning Outcomes ◽

Real World ◽

Key Factors ◽

Capstone Course ◽

Knowledge And Skills ◽

Capstone Courses ◽

Capstone Project ◽

Engineering And Technology ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

Project Life

This is the first of two articles in which the author shares experiences gained from the development and delivery of a business/industry project-based capstone course. The course integrates research, proposal development and design experience based on knowledge and skills acquired in earlier coursework. The course also incorporates standards and realistic constraints. Preparing students for ‘real world’ practices is an integral part of the curriculum for many engineering and technology programmes. Such preparation can involve numerous approaches to simulate realistic experiences, including engaging students with real-world external clients who might use their work. These practices offer the challenge of identifying and selecting suitable projects as well as developing the means to evaluate effectively the learning outcomes related to students' participation in such projects. This paper has two main parts. Part 1 concerns the process of project solicitation and communication with clients during different phases of the capstone project life. The difficulties encountered and the means of reducing their negative impacts are also addressed. Part 2 includes the development of the students' learning outcomes and the tools used to measure them. The second paper, also published in this issue of Industry and Higher Education, addresses some of the key factors in enhancing student learning in teams.

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Assessment of Nursing Student's Learning Outcomes and Employment Choice after the Implementation of a Senior Capstone Course

International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship ◽

10.2202/1548-923x.1775 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Lisa Rebeschi ◽

Barbara Aronson

Keyword(s):

Learning Outcomes ◽

Capstone Course ◽

Employment Choice

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Taking a Case Method Capstone Course Online: A Comparative Case Study

Journal of Information Technology Education Research ◽

10.28945/2171 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

pp. 189-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Grandon Gill ◽

Matthew Mullarkey

Keyword(s):

Learning Outcomes ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Popular Science ◽

Comparative Case Study ◽

Online Course ◽

Capstone Course ◽

Face To Face ◽

Online Tools ◽

The Face

A capstone course is normally offered at the end of a program of study with the goal of helping students synthesize what they have learned in the courses preceding it. The paper describes such a course—an undergraduate capstone course for MIS majors—that was built around case discussions and projects and originally offered in a face-to-face format. Over the course of the study, an asynchronous online version of the course was developed that was intended to be as faithful as possible to the classroom version. The paper examines the design, delivery, and learning outcomes of the online offering, contrasting it with the classroom version. The transition to an online course required many adaptations. Among the issues that we needed address are the following: 1) moving the highly synchronous face-to-face discussions of each case study to an asynchronous format without losing fidelity and energy, 2) changing how “student participation” was defined and evaluated, 3) adapting the project component of the course—which ended with a very popular “science fair” activity at the end of the semester in the classroom version—to a delivery mechanism where students never interacted with each other face-to-face, and 4) evaluating the relative learning outcomes of the two approaches. The results of the conversion proved to be consistent with some of our expectations and surprising in other ways. Consistent with expectations, the online tools that we employed allowed us to create an online design that was relatively faithful to the original version in terms of meeting learning objectives. Also consistent with our expectations, student perceptions of the course—while quite positive overall—were more mixed for the online course than for its face-to-face predecessor. The course offering produced two surprises, however. First, the online approach to the project component of the course actually seemed to result in higher quality project presentations than the face-to-face version. Second, when results were compared from the instrument we used to evaluate student learning gains, the classroom and online versions of the class proved to be nearly indistinguishable. Given the very different delivery mechanisms employed, we had anticipated far more differences in student perceptions of what they had learned over the course of the semester. Given the challenges of taking a highly interactive class online, we viewed this surprise to be a very pleasant one.

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A Proposal to Establish Standardized Learning Outcomes for Resonance Across Graduate Programs in Speech-Language Pathology

Perspectives on Speech Science and Orofacial Disorders ◽

10.1044/ssod24.1.21 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 21-26

Author(s):

Helen M. Sharp ◽

Mary O'Gara

Keyword(s):

Learning Outcomes ◽

Training Programs ◽

Graduate Training ◽

Graduate Programs ◽

Core Knowledge ◽

Speech Language Pathology ◽

Entry Level ◽

The Public ◽

Language Pathology ◽

Graduate Training Programs

The Council for Clinical Certification in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CCFC) sets accreditation standards and these standards list broad domains of knowledge with specific coverage of “the appropriate etiologies, characteristics, anatomical/physiological, acoustic, psychological, developmental, and linguistic and cultural correlates” and assessment, intervention, and methods of prevention for each domain” (CCFC, 2013, “Standard IV-C”). One domain in the 2014 standards is “voice and resonance.” Studies of graduate training programs suggest that fewer programs require coursework in cleft palate, the course in which resonance was traditionally taught. The purpose of this paper is to propose a standardized learning outcomes specific to resonance that would achieve the minimum knowledge required for all entry-level professionals in speech-language pathology. Graduate programs and faculty should retain flexibility and creativity in how these learning outcomes are achieved. Shared learning objectives across programs would serve programs, faculty, students, accreditation site visitors, and the public in assuring that a consistent, minimum core knowledge is achieved across graduate training programs. Proficiency in the management of individuals with resonance disorders would require additional knowledge and skills.

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