Capstone
Experiences in Career and Technical Education
Capstones are
culminating experiences in which students synthesize subject-matter knowledge
they have acquired, integrate cross-disciplinary knowledge, and connect theory
and application in preparation for entry into a career (Fairchild and Taylor
2000). Durel (1993) evocatively describes them as a "rite of passage"
or "liminal threshold" through which participants change their status
from student to graduate. A capstone course should be both a
synthesis—reflection and integration—and a bridge—a real-world preparatory
experience that focuses on the postgraduation future (Fairchild and Taylor
2000; Rhodus and Hoskins 1995). In career and technical education (CTE),
capstones are most often found in postsecondary business, agriculture, and
allied health programs; in their emphasis on integration, experiential
learning, and real-world problem solving, they would be valuable in any CTE
field. This Brief discusses the rationale for capstones, presents evidence of
their effectiveness, and describes ways to use them in CTE.
Why Capstones?
Many types of
work now require more than technical expertise (Fairchild and Taylor 2000;
Magney 1996). In many fields, a wide range of nontechnical skills is now
essential: leadership, teamwork, problem solving, decision making, critical
thinking, interpersonal communication, information management (Fairchild and
Taylor 2000; Rhodus and Hoskins 1995). For example, in organizations with
flatter hierarchies, management responsibilities are now being downshifted to
technicians (Magney 1996). Information technology graduates need not only
specialized technical skills but also project management skills and awareness
of global concerns and business practices (Novitzki 1998). Nurses must be
prepared for change management, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary
collaboration in the volatile health care field (Rains, Richardson, and Fowler
1999).
To achieve these
outcomes, the objectives of a capstone course, project, or experience typically
include the following (Fairchild and Taylor 2000; Rhodus and Hoskins 1995;
Thomas 1998):
. To provide
students an opportunity to synthesize knowledge from formal and informal
learning and
apply it to contemporary issues in the field
. To help
prepare students for a successful career by providing experiences that
enhance their
labor market advantage
. To increase
students' understanding of the big picture, including ethical and social
issues related to
the field
. To help
students understand the relevance of theory and research to practice
How Effective
Are Capstones?
What benefits do
students receive from capstone experiences? Agriculture capstone graduates
(Andreasen and Trede 1998) recognized the application of knowledge from other
courses as the most beneficial outcome. Those who intended to teach felt the
course prepared them for their first professional job. Fairchild and Taylor
(2000) report that students who have completed capstone courses typically
require less on-the-job training. In an evaluation of an agriculture and
applied economics capstone that was selected as a national model
("Outcomes Assessment" 1998), 100% of completers said that it
developed problem-solving, decision-making, critical thinking, and human
relations skills.
In a nursing
capstone, traditional students and registered nurses completing bachelor's
degrees experienced different outcomes (Rains et al. 1999). Registered nurses
viewed the course as an opportunity to rethink and refocus their careers;
traditional students appreciated the holistic view of nursing it provided. The
value of a culminating course was captured in one student's comment:
"Final semester is when we are ready to hear" (p. 54). Sonner's (1999)
research showed that performance in a capstone delivered via distance learning
methods was higher for students who had previously taken at least one distance
course. She speculates that capstone characteristics—integrative, creative,
independent, self-motivating—may reflect the demands made of distance learners.
Hartenian,
Schellenger, and Frederickson (2001) found that students in an integrated
business course were extremely challenged by the demands of developing a
semester-long case study of a manufacturing firm. They felt unprepared for
teamwork and for shifting their perception of course activities from academic
exercises to a real-world project involving an actual business. Their findings,
as well as those of Sonner, Rains et al., and Novitzki (1998)—whose management
information systems capstone worked well with nontraditional adult
learners—suggest that a combination of student characteristics and preparatory
experiences helps make capstones effective.
Using Capstones
in Practice
"When
learning activities and instructional techniques based upon the principles of
experiential learning are applied in the capstone setting, the quality and
benefits within these courses are improved" (Andreasen and Wu 1999, p.
76). Based on their findings, Andreasen and Wu developed an experiential
learning model for capstones that has these components (pp. 75-76):
. Receive: An
activity or experience is received by the learner. This activity or
experience may
be developed by the facilitator, may occur during the capstone
course, or may
have occurred during previous courses.
. Relate:
Relating learned experiences to previously gained knowledge ties
experiential
learning to the capstone course philosophy.
. Reflect:
Reflecting upon the experiences received and relating them to each other
distinguish
experiential learning from other types of learning.
. Refine: The
refinement process causes further contemplation concerning the
applicability of
this knowledge and its association to and with other knowledge.
. Reconstruct:
Learners synthesize the subject-matter content and integrate it into
their knowledge
base. They should then be able to apply what was learned to other
situations.
Within such a
framework, capstone objectives should be matched with appropriate methods and
activities, taking into consideration such contextual factors as student
background, instructor's teaching style, and available resources (Thomas 1998).
Common methods include case analysis, multiple role play, living cases, storytelling,
and simulations and games.
Case Analysis.
The case method has a long tradition of use in business education.
Well-developed and appropriate cases can engage critical thinking and
communication skills, bridge theory and practice, and expose learners to
true-life problems (Thomas 1998). However, traditional cases can be static and
dated, are read passively, and rely on text alone. In a business administration
capstone designed around adult learning principles, Mundell and Pennarola
(1999) applied a model that avoids these problems. Students are given an
abundance of raw information sources; using groupware, teams reconstruct cases
themselves from the data. They actively engage in interpretation and synthesis.
The information sources are in interactive multimedia formats, including video.
This model works best when students are, as in this example, adults with prior
experience of teamwork, or when students are given training in group dynamics
and the use of groupware.
Multiple Role
Play. In this experiential method, students assume different roles in a
hypothetical organization. In the semester-long case described by Hartenian et
al. (2001), students were assigned roles in a fictional manufacturing company
that were not the same as their major and were placed on cross-functional
teams. In addressing case incidents, students had to consider the impact of
their decision choices on their own function as well as others. They drew on
their expertise (their majors) but also had to learn how to research and
perform in other functions, in a realistic setting.
Living Cases. In
a variation on case analysis, student teams work with local organizations to
develop strategic plans or conduct projects. This approach develops research
skills and fulfills the goals of integration and appreciation for the big
picture. In a nursing capstone course, students attended seminars on
leadership, assessment, and goal setting (Mellon and Nelson 1998). Then a
self-directed student team created a health fair project for pregnant teens in
collaboration with community agencies. They developed research skills through
the collection of baseline data on their population. The project was actually
implemented and evaluated as it would be on the job.
Storytelling.
Storytelling is a part of organizational culture, communicating values, traits,
and dynamics. Organizations use storytelling to make sense of their situation,
induct new members, and bring about change (Thomas 1998). A capstone student
teaching course in business education was conducted concurrently with the
student teaching assignments (Keil and Olivo 1996). A primary function of the
course was to provide student teachers a place to tell their practice stories,
share ideas, discuss problems, and give and receive moral support. The capstone
thus began the teacher induction process, fulfilling the bridging function of
transition to professional careers.
Computer
Simulations and Games. Widely used in business capstones, computer-based
simulations "create an environment in which investigation can occur and
students develop and use skills in hypothesis formulation, development, and
testing" (Thomas 1998, p. 494). Fairchild and Taylor's (2000) agribusiness
capstone uses The Business Strategy Game: A Global Industry Simulation by Thompson
and Stappenbeck, in which students develop and implement a strategic business
plan for a hypothetical firm and evaluate its financial impact on the
organization's success. "The business strategy simulation makes business
decisions and their consequences a reality, seriously challenges students in a
team-based competitive framework, brings everything they have learned in the
curriculum together in a meaningful manner, and creates new understanding from
old material never before fully appreciated" (ibid., p. 13).
Successful
capstone experiences depend upon the choice of activities and methods as well
as characteristics and preparation of participating students. Some of the most
effective teaching practices are requiring intensive writing and speaking,
focusing on group work and team cooperation, using critical thinking to solve
real-world problems, and involving real clients or representatives from
business and the community (ibid.). Some hindering factors may include time
constraints for both students and faculty; lack of retention of previous course
material; lack of computer, team, writing, or communication skills; and
difficulty developing or locating appropriate, high-quality projects, case
materials, or activities (ibid.; Novitzki 1998).
In a capstone,
which requires demonstration of mastery and self-direction, the instructor
clearly takes the role of facilitator. However, "instructors sometimes
have trouble becoming facilitators, and students very often have a great deal
of trouble becoming self-motivated, self-directing learners" (Fairchild
and Taylor 2000, p. 14). Capstones will best achieve their goals when the
issues of student and instructor preparation for facilitation, teamwork,
self-direction, and other requirements are addressed throughout the curriculum
leading up to the culminating experience. Then students will be ready to bring
together all their fragmented knowledge and skills into a coherent whole and to
negotiate a successful passage from "the relative safety of the well-defined
college learning environment" (ibid.) to the relative ambiguity associated
with the world of work.
