VII. Culminate With a Capstone Experience The final semester(s) should focus on a major project and utilize to the fullest the research and communication skills learned in the previous semesters. In order to ensure that the educational experience is drawn together, the student needs a course at the end of the curriculum that corresponds to the capstone of a building or the keystone of an arch. Too many students report a sense of anti-climax in their senior years--just add more to the total of courses, and it is finished! All the skills of research developed in earlier work should be marshaled in a project that demands the framing of a significant question or set of questions, the research or creative exploration to find answers, and the communication skills to convey the results to audiences both expert and uninitiated in the subject matter. When earlier course experience is inquiry-based, the student will be ready for and stimulated by the demands of this course. The nature of the experience will vary widely according to the major discipline of the student, but it should be of value equally to the budding social scientist, bench scientist, artist, humanist, engineer, or business major. The capstone experience needs to allow for collaborative effort whenever appropriate to the discipline, so that undergraduate students can be better prepared for participation in the team projects they will encounter in professional as well as private life. The Culmination of Academic Effort The experience should enable the student to bring to a symbolic conclusion the acquisition of knowledge and skills that has preceded this final effort. It should be conducted under the mentorship of a seasoned scholar-teacher who understands the joys and frustrations of a major project. It should allow the student to understand her or his potential for serious work and develop the aspiration to do it well. Ideally, the mentor for the capstone course may be the student's major advisor or a faculty member already familiar with his or her capabilities and experience. Although each university will find unique embodiments of the capstone concept, ideally the experience will occur within a small community of learners comprising senior researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate peers. This course should be the bridge to graduate education for the holders of research university baccalaureate degrees who immediately enter graduate school. For graduates entering the work force, the course should provide experience in the analysis, team-building, and problem-solving that most professional situations demand. We hope that many students will conduct these research or creative projects in interdisciplinary groups, choosing topics and using techniques that break through disciplinary barriers. The flexibility that should mark the graduate of a research university should be fully developed in this final, culminating experience. Recommendations: Senior seminars or other capstone courses appropriate to the discipline need to be part of every undergraduate program. Ideally the capstone course should bring together faculty member, graduate students, and senior undergraduates in shared or mutually reinforcing projects. The capstone course should prepare undergraduates for the expectations and standards of graduate work and the professional workplace. The course should be the culmination of the inquiry-based learning of earlier course work, broadening, deepening, and integrating the total experience of the major. The major project may well develop from a previous research experience or internship. Whenever possible, capstone courses need to allow for collaborative efforts among the baccalaureate students.

SIGNS OF CHANGE University Case Study Capstone University University of Missouri-Columbia The General Education Program at the University of Missouri, Columbia, mandatory for all students, includes a capstone experience, a senior seminar, thesis, project, performance, internship, or field work, on a topic appropriate to the student's major. The capstone experience is evaluated on both the "quality of the product of the student's investigation and the process of presentation."