Teaching Methods: Capstone Courses

The capstone course is a method of summative evaluation in which the student is given an opportunity to demonstrate integrated knowledge and growth in the major. The course may assess a student's cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning in the major and also the overall collegiate learning experience. The links below provide guidelines for designing these courses and examples.

"The Capstone Course," Robert C. Moore (Elizabethtown College). In Assessing Media Education: A Resource for Educators and Administrators, ed. by William G. Christ, Erlbaum, 2005.
This well-documented article covers all aspects of capstone courses from rationale through design, course goals, possible requirements, and assessments.
Link: http://users.etown.edu/m/moorerc/capstone.html

Capstone Courses (Skidmore College).
Contains advantages and disadvantages, varieties of capstone courses, designing and evaluating a capstone course, and a bibliography.
Link: http://www.skidmore.edu/administration/assessment/H_Capstone_courses1.htm