A Guide to the Capstone Experience
September 2006
This guide is intended to assist students in preparing their capstone proposals and projects. Students majoring in Communication who are planning to graduate in or after December of 2003 must complete a satisfactory Capstone Project.
All students seeking a baccalaureate degree from Emporia State University with a major in Communication must complete a satisfactory Capstone. The Capstone has three purposes:
- To enable students to demonstrate that they have achieved the goals of the Communication major, and
- To allow students to reflect on their learning experiences as a Communication major and to make suggestions for improving these experiences, and
- To enable the faculty to evaluate the curriculum and other educational experiences provided to students majoring in Communication.
Typically, a Capstone Project includes three components: a tangible composition (e.g., a research paper, an exhibition, a portfolio, a video tape), an oral presentation, and a web Web page.
The University Academic Dishonesty applies to all the Capstone components. Any student who knowingly uses another person's work as though that work was his/her own, or any student who knowingly permits another student to use her/his work will fail the Capstone requirement. Students need to give appropriate credit to persons who made significant contributions to any of the Capstone components.
The primary audiences for the Web pages are the ESU department faculty, potential employers, and graduate/professional school faculty. The pages should look professional.
All three components should be complete by the end of the fourth week of the student's last semester in residence. A committee drawn from T the Communication faculty serves as a committee of the whole to review s the compositions. The presentations are made at a public seminar during Capstone week (fifth week of the semester). All students, staff, and members of the faculty are encouraged to attend these seminars. The web Web pages are linked to the Department of Communication and Theatre web Web site.
Students should seek to develop topics for their Capstones through a series of brief proposals submitted to one or more members of the faculty. These topics may be drawn from any undergraduate learning experiences, including academic courses, internships, and independent studies. They should permit students to demonstrate achievement of the nine Basic Program Goals for All Communication Students. Normally, a topic will be approved early in the students next to last semester of residency. The faculty members who approve the topic are also willing to review drafts of the projec ts and make suggestions for improvement. Regardless of the topic, each Capstone project should include some commentary on the student's overall learning experiences as a Communication major.
After Capstone Week, the faculty will meet to evaluate all the Capstone Projects at the same time. At this meeting the faculty will discuss the all the Capstone components of all the students. committee reviews of the compositions and as well as their own individual evaluations of the presentations and web pages. Based on these discussions, each student's Capstone Project will be categorized as Commendable, Acceptable, or Unacceptable. Students whose Capstones projects are assessed as Commendable or Acceptable have met this requirement for graduation. Students whose Capstones projects are assessed as Unacceptable will be encouraged to make the necessary revisions in order to earn an Acceptable rating before the end of the semester. In some cases, students whose Capstones projects are assessed as Unacceptable likely will have their graduation delayed for at least one semester.
Capstone FAQs
Q: Can I get credit for my capstone project?
A: Yes, you may enroll for credit in Independent Study classes with the approval of a faculty member.
Q: Can I use an assignment for a class as the basis for my capstone?
A: Yes, some Communication classes have assignments which can be enhanced and developed as capstone projects.
Q: How do I get started?
A: Here is one way. Review the "basic program goals" and reflect on the projects and papers you have completed in your classes. What have you done that demonstrates best that you have achieved the goals? Assuming that you have a project or paper, this can be a starting point for your capstone project. You might want to have a discussion with the faculty member for whom you did this work. Of course, you can also develop new project. You should certainly review the capstone examples listed below.
Q: Do I have to demonstrate that I have achieved all nine "basic program goals" in each of the three components of the capstone?
A: No, each component should demonstrate attainment of one or more goals. Achieving the nine goals can be demonstrated by the capstone project as a whole.
Q: Does the capstone have to be a "paper"?
A: No, but it must be something tangible (e.g., a research paper, an exhibition, a portfolio, a video tape).
Q: Do the three components have to be related to each other?
A: No, this is recommended, but not required.
Capstone Examples
Go to the Students page to see the latest Capstone Web pages. Many of these Web pages also contain links to the tangible objects and presentations.
Appendix A
Basic Program Goals for All Communication Students
(Approved 01/31/2001, Last revised 12/14/2005)
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Students should have an understanding of the foundations of the Communication discipline.
These foundations include rhetorical theory and criticism, communication theory, and speech pedagogy. Students should evidence general knowledge of the roles speech played in various time spans, starting with antiquity and moving forward to present day. "Roles" is interpreted broadly to mean both social and political consequences of speech.
Students should be able to explain the roles that speech and speakers played in significant social and political movements, and have a sense of the historical context of these movements.
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Students should have an understanding of contemporary issues in communication.
This includes introducing students to issues of rights and responsibilities of speakers in the public arena. Students should develop knowledgeable positions on issues such as the ethics of negative campaigning, use of propaganda by advertisers, and freedom of expression.
In the area of freedom of expression, for example, students need to know laws and issues pertaining to defamation and libel, obscenity, sedition, and hate speech. They should be able to articulate arguments for and against the thesis that the First Amendment is absolute in granting freedom of expression.
The advent of modern technology has changed in dramatic ways how information is disseminated and retrieved and has created new sets of problems in information property rights. Students must understand the basics of modern copyright law, especially as it applies to current methods of information dissemination/retrieval.
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Students should be highly skilled communicators.
Students are expected to demonstrate the following: the ability to deliver effective public speeches; considerable skill in listening; the ability to write clear, correct English prose; and competence as a communicator on the interpersonal level as well as in small and large groups.
Students are expected to organize ideas, to adapt ideas to particular targets, to support ideas with evidence that is credible and clear, and to present ideas in a clear and appealing manner, including the use of technology for exposition or persuasion. Students are expected to master additional speech skills that foster healthy communication in dyadic and small group communication. Students are to be far above average in listening ability. A good communication student should be able to suppress biases and listen objectively. A good communication student is a critical listener and distinguishes fact from opinion and themes from supporting materials. Students understand that active listening demands responses to speakers.
Students will understand the nature of language as a symbol system and be able to explain how meaning is negotiated and how the use of language shapes our perceptions and is a major part of the transactional nature of communication among speakers, writers, listeners, and readers.
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Students should understand and learn to deal with the diversity of the persons with whom they must communicate.
A recent U.S. Labor Department SCANS report listed the top job skills needed in the 21st century, and the ability to work with a diverse group of people was rated among the top skills employers are seeking.
Diversity comes in manyforms--ethnic backgrounds, disabilities, lifestyles, and religious and social affiliations. Students must learn to understand and accept diversity, and this knowledge will affect significantly their success in presenting messages to various audiences.
The SCA Policy Platform states: "communication that promotes dialogue is the first, best, and only acceptable vehicle to address social strife." Students should value the right to free and open communication for all people and groups.
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Students should understand the structure and function of organizations, both large and small, and how communication helps and hinders organizational functions.
Most of our students will work within the context of some type of organization, and students should understand that communication within an organization can lead to considerable job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Good communication is a sign of a healthy organization. A student's chances of maintaining a successful relationship with an organization is partially related to his/her communication skills and understanding of how communication works in an organizational context.
All students should to be able to analyze and suggest corrective measures when presented with examples of dysfunctional organizational communication.
Students should to be able to provide leadership within organizations in building and maintaining organizational relations with external agencies/publics.
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Students should be able to demonstrate proficiency in retrieving and disseminating information, making use of recent developments in data bases and the Internet.
Some have named this time the "Age of Information," and it is no longer deniable that electronic dissemination and retrieval have made irrevocable changes in the ways we come to learn and to share information. The ability to use technological developments may well be the #1 job skill for years to come.
Students are expected to be able to use communication technology to retrieve and to disseminate information. Students must be able to operate computer keyboards, do word processing and simple graphics, conduct data base searches and Web searches, and should be able to communicate information to both individuals and groups through electronic means. Students should be able to design elementary programs using technology to assist them in the execution of their jobs or other pursuits.
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Students must be skilled in the role of the media and ways in which mediated messages affect the culture.
Every person is inundated with mediated messages daily. Manipulation of news events by participants, observers, and the mass media affects the world view of our culture. All persons are targets of persuasive messages, and many of our daily decisions are based upon our reactions to messages obtained through the media.
All communication students should have a basic understanding of media as a dominant player in culture. Further, all communication students should have basic critical/evaluative tools to analyze mediated messages and understand their place in the communication process.
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Students should be skilled in the use of critical thinking, reasoning and evidence.
Public concern about the basic competencies of college graduates has focused attention on critical thinking and reasoning. Critical thinking researchers agree that critical thinking involves more than knowing the validity conditions for the syllogism. Effective thinkers know how to systematically defend their positions on issues, how to anticipate and respond to possible objections, and how to adapt their presentation of claims and evidence to the beliefs and expectations of their audience.
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Students should be familiar with opportunities for further training and learning.
No bachelor's degree is an end in itself but is a milestone in a person's lifelong education. Students will understand opportunities for post-baccalaureate learning, including graduate school and employee development programs.
Students should know that many companies provide in-service training and development and our students should be exposed to in-service training and be prepared upon graduation to assist a company with offering in-service training Capstones.
Last Updated July 5, 2007