What You Need to Know About the Liberal Arts Capstone from Thomas Edison State College

Table of Contents
Course Description Course Objectives Choose a Project Type Creative Project Applied Project Course Materials Course Structure Online Discussions Written Assignments Presentation Creative Project Research and Applied Projects Grading Strategies for Success First Steps to Success Study Tips What Students Say

Course Description
Liberal Arts Capstone (LIB-495) provides engagement in a student-centered, content-related learning experience that serves as a summary and synthesis of courses in a student's undergraduate academic career. Students select an area of interest related to their academic studies and engage in an activity leading to a research project, creative project, or applied project reflective of comprehensive knowledge gained in undergraduate studies and demonstrate their knowledge of the outcomes of the Bachelor of Arts degree. A capstone presentation and paper culminate the course. Note: This is a course unlike any other you have taken during your academic career. In this course you will have a great deal of latitude over the direction you wish to take when developing a capstone project. Your course mentor is the facilitator, who will direct you towards your goal. You have the opportunity to follow your passion to explore and create a product or learn something that will add to the body of knowledge in your chosen field.

Course Objectives
When you have successfully completed this course, you should be able to:

Determine an issue, problem, information gap, or creative endeavor in your field of inquiry. Demonstrate proficiency as an independent learner and critical thinker. Apply research and analysis techniques to the explanation and resolution of an information gap,
issue, or problem, by studying or creating a project in your respective field. Design a project based on theory and knowledge from courses in your field of study. Synthesize the parts of research to produce a comprehensive, valid result in a concrete format. Reach conclusions through use of external resources that reflect knowledge. Apply all elements of scholarly activity to a written document, utilizing Standard Academic English and APA or MLA format. Present an ethically responsible final project in an academic, professional format, as a bridge to your future work/employment. Demonstrate a comprehension of globally diverse perspectives.

Choose a Project Type

Depending on your area of interest in your field, you may choose from among the following three types of capstone projects. Research Project Questions and Inquiries: You will select a gap in knowledge in your discipline created by an area that may not have been previously addressed in course content or may have served as inspiration for greater knowledge on the subject matter, idea, or concept. Through systematic inquiry, you will research, collect, organize, and produce an analysis of the information from both primary and secondary sources.

Your research project will conclude with a 25-page (minimum) scholarly report in Standard Academic English and with appropriate APA documentation, which successfully fills your gap in knowledge on the selected topic.

Creative Project
Audience Demonstration and Presentation: If you are a student in visual, performing, or literary arts you have the opportunity to synthesize knowledge by developing a creative product in your respective field of study. It may take the form of developing a film, choreographing a dance, acting in a production, exhibiting paintings, writing a collection of poetry or short stories, writing a play, writing a literary analysis, presenting a photographic essay, or any similar type of creative endeavor.. Your capstone will conclude with an explanatory report relating to the production of your project. It should reveal a synthesis of skills and content knowledge. The length of your explanatory report will be determined according to the nature of your project and subject to approval by your mentor, but it should be a minimum of 15 pages. This type of project will require a demonstration using a either a PowerPoint presentation or a video (CD or DVD) presentation.

Applied Project
Question/Answer: If you are a student in business, education, social work, or public administration you have the option of selecting a problem within the context of your respective field of study and relating it to an organization, community, or institution. Your attempts to answer a real problem will represent your ability to synthesize and apply concepts learned through course content. Your applied project will conclude with a 25-page (minimum) scholarly report, appropriately documented in APA format and written in Standard Academic English, that provides answers to the project question.

Example Topics A Computer Science major may write a piece of software or develop a website as a creative project. A Music major may conduct a Senior recital or document a music ensemble they participated in. A History major may write a paper on Genghis Kahn or create documentary on the Industrial Revolution. A Mathematics major may write a paper on Statistics applied to a political campaign. A Communications major may document Intercultural Communication as related to missions or perhaps record concepts related to teaching elementary students.

Course Materials
Required Textbooks Keys for Writers, 5th ed., by Ann Raimes (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2008). Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation, 2nd ed., by Allan A. Glatthorn and Randy L. Joyner (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2005). Online References, Resources, Learning Materials The OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Recommended Resources, Learning Materials Pocket Guide to APA Format, 2nd ed., by Robert Perrin (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2007). Write for College: A Student Handbook by Patrick Sebranek et al. (Wilmington, MA: Great Source Education Group, 2007). Course Documents You will find documents created specifically for this course in the Course Documents area of the course Web site. Note: If these documents or other instructions in the course contain information that differs from that found in the readings in assigned texts or other sources, please remember to follow the course documents and instructions rather than the texts or other resources.

Course Structure
Module 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in six (6) graded online discussions; take the ETS Proficiency Profile (formerly known as the MAPP Test); complete six (6) written assignments designed to help you incrementally prepare and submit a paper on your research project, creative project, or applied project.

Capstone Topic Selection and Draft of Chapter 1 (Introductory Chapter) Draft of Chapter 2 (Literature Review and Annotated References) Research Design and Draft of Chapter 3 (Methodology) Chapter 4: Results of the Study Chapter 5: Summary and Discussion Putting it All Together: Finalizing and Submitting Your Capstone Project

The course is divided into six assignment modules, each of which which contain the study assignments, discussion activities, and written assignments. Study assignments consist primarily of readings in the course textbook(s) and in course documents and supplemental research.

Online Discussions
Liberal Arts Capstone requires you to participate in periodic discussion activities These graded discussions take place in graded forums on the class Discussion Board. In addition you are required to participate in an ungraded "Introductions" forum in Module 1. Communication with the mentor and among fellow students is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online discussions involves two distinct activities: an initial response to a posted activity and subsequent comments on classmates' responses. Meaningful participation is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered valueadding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate, the reading, or your mentor, state and support your agreement or disagreement. You will be evaluated on the quality and quantity of your participation. Responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, professional, and respectful.

Written Assignments
Follow the directions given for each written assignment in the Assignment Modules area of the course Web site. Click this link for some techniques about how to write sentences with impact: Working with Words. Assignments must be prepared electronically using whatever word processing program you have on your computer. Include your name at the top of the paper, as well as the course name and code and the semester and year in which you are enrolled. Before submitting your first assignment, check with your mentor to determine whether your word processing software is compatible with your mentor's software. If so, you can submit your work as you prepared it. If not, save your assignment as a rich-text (.rtf) file, using the Save As command of your software program. Rich text retains basic formatting and can be read by any other word processing program.

Presentation
Creative Project
If you choose to produce a Creative Project you must showcase your work in either a PowerPoint presentation or a video (CD or DVD) presentation.

Research and Applied Projects

Although it is NOT a requirement for the Research and Applied Projects you may wish to prepare either a PowerPoint presentation or a video (CD or DVD) presentation about your work to share with your mentor and classmates.

Grading

Online Discussions Written Assignments ETS Proficiency Profile Capstone Project

23% 45% 2% 30%

Strategies for Success

First Steps to Success
To succeed in this course, take the following first steps: 1. Take the time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course, how to schedule exams and arrange for proctors, and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State College. Familiarize yourself with the Blackboard environmenthow to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time. If you are not familiar with Web-based learning, or specifically with the Blackboard platform, be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting assignments before class begins.

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Study Tips
Consider the following study tips for success: 1. To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the course Calendar. The calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments, and posting discussions. For details on each assignment module and a complete listing of learning activities, go to the Assignment Modules area of the course Web site. Check the Announcements page and class Discussion Board regularly for new course information.

2.

What Students Say

I'm a communications major, and I chose a topic on the educational system From personal experience, I would recommend doing this course with as little along with it as possible. I was trying to do it while coping with 3 other classes and 2 TECEPs most of the time. I don't recommend putting that all on your plate at once if you don't have to Also, this might have been mentioned earlier in the thread, but keep in mind that you'll want to be able to do some primary research on your topic (interviews and whatnot). I guess I'm not positive if it is exactly a requirement, but it would have made my paper easier if I could have done more primary research. Also: I imagine that a creative project would be easier. (a couple of people in my class did creative projectsone on a childrens book about manners, and one did a tourist guide to her hometown). Researching ahead of time won't hurt either!!!

Here's a website I found helpful for the pesky literature review: http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ Review ... ature.html

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You write the paper in smaller sections throughout the course, which is much more manageable than trying to write it all at once. Take heart! This course can be very interesting (and even fun) once you get into your subject. Just choose

a topic you're passionate about, and the motivation will come.

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They do encourage you to choose a topic related to your degree. My professor was pretty flexible about topic choices.

All information as provided in this document is public domain and was sourced from the TESC syllabus, public forums, and the authors personal experience.