1. Designing research into capstone units
Angela Brew &
Margot McNeill
Learning and Teaching Centre
Tuesday, 1st December 2009 1

2. Session outline Why encourage student research?
A brief look at characteristics of capstones
Examples of MQ practice
Ideas for your units

3. Ten ways to change undergraduate education
1. Make Research-Based Learning the Standard
2. Construct an Inquiry-based Freshman Year
3. Build on the Freshman Foundation
4. Remove Barriers to Interdisciplinary Education
5. Link Communication Skills and Course Work
6. Use Information Technology Creatively
7. Culminate with a Capstone Experience
8. Educate Graduate Students as Apprentice Teachers
9. Change Faculty Reward Systems
10.Cultivate a Sense of Community
(Boyer Commission 1999)
A report from the Carnegie Foundation for the advancement of higher education that has been enormously influential in the US, examined the nature of higher education in research universities and made 10 recommendations. [LIST]
The report suggested that, and I quote,
“research universities must be willing to approach the issue of undergraduate education free from the blinders of past practice, to ask basic questions and be prepared for answers that require radical reformation of methods of operation…. The commitment to dramatic change, not half measures, must be made now and action must respond to the urgency of the issue”.

4. “What is required is not that students become masters of bodies of thought, but that they are enabled to begin to experience the space and challenge of open, critical inquiry (in all its personal and interpersonal aspects)”
This is echoed by Ron Barnett writing in the UK. He argued that vital elements of a university education need to become more focused on preparing students to solve a range of unforeseen problems; problems that we cannot yet imagine. That the demands of today’s society require higher education to open up to creative solutions, to the generation and acquisition of new kinds of knowledge; to new kinds of thinking.
‘What is required’ he says, ‘is not that students become masters of bodies of thought, but that they are enabled to begin to experience the space and challenge of open, critical inquiry (in all its personal and interpersonal aspects)’
In other words, in order to cope with the demands of today’s society, higher education needs to become inquiry-based.
(Barnett 1997: 110)

5. The nature of society speed of change;
increasing complexity and ambiguity;
global interdependency;
ways in which technology is changing how people communicate with each other;
huge problems requiring multi-disciplinary, global solutions (climate change, deforestation, coral bleaching, terrorism, poverty, violence to name just a few).
You don’t need me to tell you about the challenges of 21st century society and the ways in which it is changing. Commentators have talked about the speed of change; about increasing complexity and ambiguity; about globalisation and global interdependency; about the ways in which technology is changing how people communicate with each other; and about the huge problems requiring multi-disciplinary, global solutions (climate change, coral bleaching, terrorism, poverty, obesity, to name just a few).

6. The demands of employers
Analytic skills; reflective thinking skills (Association to Advance Schools of Business)
Ability to design/conduct scientific experiments; to analyse & interpret data; to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology)
Thinking critically, critical analysis and reasoning; developing higher order problem solving and critical thinking skills; interpreting and using quantitative data (American Assoc of Colleges of Nursing)
Ability to think both critically and creatively – independently and cooperatively (Boeing Corporation)
Scientific and quantitative reasoning; understanding multiple modes of inquiry; deriving meaning from experience as well as gathering information from observation, interpreting, evaluating and using information discerningly from a variety of sources etc. etc.
A project of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, asked agencies that were accrediting professional programs in engineering, business, nursing and education, what outcomes they expected from an undergraduate degree. Here are some of the outcomes that they mentioned.
They indicate that work is increasingly enquiry based.
Professions are increasingly enquiry-based. Professionals need to be able to take decisions on the basis of always incomplete evidence, to make informed judgements; to discriminate good information, to think creatively, and to work collaboratively often with other professionals in other professions.
So employer demands also point to a research-based higher education

7. But what of the students?
A study by (Zamorski 2000, 1) concluded that: While students value being close to research, and to the idea of a university as a research community, there are many ways in which they feel excluded.
Jenkins, and colleagues reported that many students don’t see themselves as stakeholders in staff research – university research was seen as quite separate from them.
A study in two UK and a Canadian university found that (Turner et al., 2008) students at the more research intensive universities were more aware of the research that went on in their institutions, but there was no significant difference in the experience they had of undertaking research themselves.
So many students do not consider themselves part of the academic community. Indeed we are witnessing perhaps increasing disengagement as students juggle their personal lives and their need to take on paid employment with their academic study.

8. Pedagogical drivers An overcrowded curriculum stuffed with content
Large classes
Disengaged students who don’t see the relevance of higher education for their current and future lives
Bored students who just want to get the degree and leave because they are not intellectually challenged
All too often we are seeing evidence of huge class sizes, an overcrowded curriculum stuffed with content in which student engagement has become a key concern.
Students often don’t see the relevance of higher education for their current and future lives.
Numerous students just want to get the degree and leave because they are not intellectually challenged or bored.

9. What the AUSSE measures…
Six engagement-focused scales
Academic Challenge
Active Learning
Student and Staff Interactions
Enriching Educational Experiences
Supportive Learning Environment
Work Integrated Learning
Six outcomes-focused measures
Higher-order Thinking
General Learning Outcomes
General Development Outcomes
Average Overall Grade
Retention Intention
Overall Satisfaction
Around 100 items that measure key process and supports, demographics and contexts
So one of the pedagogical drivers is concern about how levels of student engagement can be improved.
The new survey of student engagement (the AUSSE) that is being introduced into Australian universities is designed to measure this.
The AUSSE measures [LIST] 9

10. High impact educational practices
First year seminars and experiences
Common intellectual experiences
Learning communities
Writing-intensive courses
Collaborative assignments and projects
Undergraduate research
Diversity/global learning
Service learning, community-based learning
Internships
Capstone courses and projects
The AUSSE is an Australian version of the US National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) which has been recording levels of student engagement in the USA for the past 10 years. George Kuh analysed the NESSE data and identified the factors that had consistently contributed to high levels of student engagement. He came up with this list. Note that some of these are similar to the Boyer list.
What is noticeable for our purposes is how many of these involve students in activities that mirror those of academics. They lend additional weight to the idea that students need to be involved in the academic project of the university.
(Kuh, 2008)

11. Business Capstone (Curtin University)
The Capstone unit is largely a problem based learning activity that encourages you (as a team member and also individually) to apply your business knowledge within a competitive simulated business environment. Your team will be assigned to manage a company operating within an electronic sensor industry. Companies will have to consider what is happening in their industry, why changes take place and make decisions that lead to successful outcomes. Managing the company will require your team to make a wide range of decisions, including: Which markets to emphasise? What types of research and development to conduct? How to effectively market products? How to manage production facilities and a sales force? How to contract and implement team roles and responsibilities? How to effectively manage information that will support critical decisions? How to finance operations?

12. Characteristics of capstone units
reviewing the scaffolding of the degree, including integrating major course material
reflecting on the development of the graduate capabilities and how these have been achieved within the degree
preparing a portfolio or diploma supplement; in professional degrees undertaking a professional preparation program
Applying theory to practice

13. Typical focus of learning outcomes
appreciation of complex, competing issues in graduate jobs
extension of analytical and strategic thinking
application of theory into practice
development of career networking capabilities
consolidation of higher-level applied communication skills (written, oral, interpersonal, professional presentations)
application of employment-related teamwork
demonstration of early professional dispositions and ethical stance

14. Design considerations
1. Knowledge, skills and capabilities – try to avoid introducing new content
2. Professional or industry links – networks, WIL or design guidance
3. Scaffolding during the unit – dispersed access
4. Assessment – holistic and authentic
A program-wide approach will be easier to deliver and may help tick a few boxes at once!

15. Biggs, (2003) The Presage, Process, Product (3P) Model
The space bordered by this line represents
the ‘external’ factors impacting on learning and teaching
Learner Characteristics
Motivation.
Orientation to learning.
Conceptions of learning.
Prior knowledge.
Learning style etc.
Feedback:
Beliefs about attributes for success and failure
Learning & Teaching Actions
Approaches to study.
Learning events.
Assessment.
Outcomes
Quantitative.
Qualitative.
Affective.
Perceptions & Expectations
Influences on Teaching
Teacher conceptions of learning and teaching.
Aims and objectives.
Climate.
Philosophy.
Feedback:
Efficacy beliefs about teaching & learning
Biggs, (2003) The Presage, Process, Product (3P) Model

16. Assessment of process and product
a case study based on a ‘real-world’ situation (the ‘living case method’)
a research grant proposal or plan based on an authentic professional or industry need
a feasibility study report on a proposed initiative addressing issues of relevance to a particular professional or industry need
a research report on the group project
a plan for a program of activities for an authentic task
a series of communiques and presentations addressed to those working in the authentic professional or industry setting
an integrated portfolio of the student’s key learning outcomes

17. Learning and Teaching Centre Resources
Visit Macquarie University’s Learning and Teaching Centre website for other resources on developing and assessing capstones, including MQ examples

18. I would like my students to be able to…
Now, over to you:
I would like my students to be able to…

19. Assessment technologies to:
Scaffold learning by providing feedback early in the semester, for example assessment rubrics available online
Support socially constructed learning for example discussion forums for asynchronous communication
Document collaboration processes for example wikis for capturing individual contributions to group work
Chronicle reflective journeys for example blogs for recording individual reflections in learning journals
Store learning artifacts such as portfolios for storing drafts of assessment tasks and sharing assessment products with peers, assessors and employers

20. Tips
Be specific about outcomes and assessment and provide grading criteria for students early in the unit
Provide structure for less motivated and goal-oriented students – scaffolding towards independent and self-directed
Establish regular monitoring, even if it is not for grades
Be pragmatic and realistic about expectations
Target a range of assessment types, for example presentations and reports
Agree procedures for mediating problems and failures
Plan for requirements such as ethics clearance, OH&S or IP