Experiential Learning (Active Learning) Research Papers (original) (raw)

Capstone is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary (2009) as a “crowning achievement or final stroke, the culmination or acme”. As the pinnacle of a student’s academic experience they mark a unique opportunity for students to showcase their knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired during their time in an academic program through a comprehensive, intensive, and integrative individualized experience. In a capstone experience, students synthesize, integrate, and/or apply their previous knowledge, in a way that demonstrates mastery while building a deeper level of understanding.The student created products generated from the capstone experience should be designed to help assess crucial learning outcomes of the BMF completer program in which the student is enrolled. Additionally, demonstration of general education and/or interdisciplinary outcomes should also be evident in the capstone such as effective written and oral communication, critical thinking, information accessing and information processing, and problem solving (Buzzetto-More and Pinhey, 2007).

A capstone course is a transformative educational experience predicated on student-centered constructivist pedagogy. In a capstone course, the tutor is not the foci of erudition, rather there is a shift of responsibility as the instructor becomes a facilitator who guides the tutee on their self-charted scholarly expedition (Buzzetto-More, 2013).

Various incarnations of student capstone courses can be found in higher education, most commonly within undergraduate and graduate nursing, education, computing, engineering, and/or or business programs. While still considered an unusual occurrence in K-12 teaching and learning in the United States, recognition of the benefits of capstone experiences has been growing steadily, albeit slowly, during the past fifteen years.

The pioneer of public K-12 capstone experiences is the State of Rhode Island. Under the Rhode Island Diploma System, students demonstrate proficiency through multiple sources of evidence gathered over time. State assessment results count for no more than 10 percent of this evidence. Other factors considered include: portfolios, capstone projects, public exhibitions, and the State's Certificate of Initial Mastery. As the culminating achievement of a student’s K-12 studies, the Rhode Island Capstone Project requires students to focus in-depth on a core question, the product of which plays an essential part in demonstrating that a student can meet applied learning standards, RI Grade Span Expectations, and other content standards (Rhode Island Skills Commission, 2012).

There are many different models for capstone course delivery and conducting these courses is a complex task. Clear, Goldweber, Young, Ledwig, and Scott (2001) addressed the complexity of creating, implementing and delivering a successful capstone experience. They explained that there are a number of important issues that need to be addressed. These questions include: Goals of the Course; Characteristics of Projects; Project Deliverables;Prerequisites and Preparation; Grading and Assessment; Administration and Supervision; and Reflection, Analysis and Review.

Capstone experiences are highly constructivist and almost always project based whereas project, or problem based learning, it is a constructivist form of instruction where students engage in critical thinking, synthesis, evaluation, multilayered decision making, goal setting, problem solving, and collaboration (Page, 2006). Further, the exploratory and inquiry oriented nature of project based learning activities helps to build and/or reinforce information literacy skills (Buzzetto-More, 2009; Kuhlthau and Todd, 2007) where students demonstrate the ability to: plan, select sources, find and locate information, engage in critical analysis, apply multilayered decision making, and generate meaning (Page, 2006).

Teaching a capstone course is an exciting and ever changing experience. It requires an ongoing and
meaningful dialogue to occur between tutor and tutee, the unique nature of which stimulates learning in
a way that is without parallel. As such, an enthusiastic and supporting attitude is paramount.