course project prt 1

Capstone: Master's Project Overview

Over the next eight weeks, this course will guide you through the major phases of your Capstone: Master's Project. Each week's activities are designed to keep you on track and productive with assignments that will result in a completed Capstone Project. The course textbook is intended to provide helpful models and guidelines for project planning. Other than this information, no new course material is presented. You should use your previous course material and research new scholarly resources to support your plan or proposal. The weekly Discussions also focus on the development of your Capstone Project and provide a forum to share progress, ideas, and feedback with your colleagues.

Your Capstone Project begins with a problem statement and rationale. Whatever type of plan or proposal you create for your project, it should be designed to respond to a local need or problem within a particular institution. This could be the institution where you currently work, one where you aspire to work, or another with which you are familiar. Examples of problems include:

· Low student retention or persistence, overall or for a particular demographic group

· Lack of evidence of student learning, overall or for particular programs or student populations

· Low levels of faculty or staff engagement in learning-centered teaching or student support activities

· Inefficiency or low productivity in certain programs or services

The plan or proposal that you will develop for your Capstone Project may address one or more of these types of problems in one or more ways, such as:

· A plan for a program or initiative to increase student retention, engagement, or learning

· A proposal for a policy or process change

· A proposal for a faculty or staff development program

· A position paper on institutional change with regard to a particular issue or problem

The intent is not to actually complete and implement your plan or proposal within the timeframe of this course, but to complete a sufficiently detailed plan or proposal that could be implemented later. You will also share your plan or proposal with a real-world stakeholder audience, get feedback, and incorporate that feedback into your project.

Week-by-Week Assignments

Week 1: Project Problem Statement Week 2: Literature Review Week 3: Project Outline and Stakeholders Week 4: Project Draft PowerPoint Presentation (submitted for peer review only) Week 5: Revised Project Draft Presentation Week 6: Stakeholder Review Week 7: Capstone: Master's Project