Capstone Assessment An Introduction

1
Capstone AssessmentAn Introduction

• Office of Assessment and Accreditation
• Indiana State University

2
What Is A Capstone Course?

• Often a course in which students undergo a
  cumulative experiencethe purpose of the course
  is to apply what has been learned in a course or
  to engage in an experience that summarizes what
  has been learned as a result of successful
  enrollment in a program.
• Student learning goals for a department or
  program are often contained within the course
  objectives.
• Capstone courses take many formsseminars,
  required internship/field experiences,
  application courses, etc.

3
Capstone Courses and Assessment

• Capstone course assessments can assess student
  learning for most (if not all) of a program,
  assuming its content represents a cumulative
  experience.
• As endpoint courses, assessments in capstone
  courses can serve as a forum within which
  standardized testing can occur (GRE subject
  tests, departmental final exams, ETS subject
  tests, etc.).
• Capstone courses contain a convenient forum for
  assessing university general education student
  learning objectives.
• Also provides a convenient forum for assessing
  other university-wide objectives.

4
This Presentations Purpose

• Describe the process of setting up a capstone
  assessment plan
• Introduce some assessment methods used in
  capstone courses
• Discuss methods of using the results of capstone
  assessment to evaluate departmental student
  learning goals

5
Organizing A Capstone Assessment Plan

• Define objectives. These should ordinarily match
  program and student learning objectives
• Integrate program objectives associated with
  other university-level programs. These objectives
  are usually connected with general education and
  other university objectives.
• Integrate program objectives with capstone course
  objectives.
• Include faculty in the process. Faculty need to
  be part of the process to assure smooth
  facilitation of assessment plan. Avoid situations
  where it may appear that this is an
  administrative mandate.

6
Capstone Assessment Methods

• Try to use direct methods of assessment as
  opposed to indirect assessment.
• Direct assessments can be more easily facilitated
  in capstone courses because they can be
  implemented in a specific forum with specific
  studentsthe capstone course.
• Here are some examples

7
Standardized Examinations

• Nationally-normed. Percentiles can be used to
  compare with students outside a department or
  university
• Informative. Sub-scores (if available) can be
  used to assess different skills or content areas
  in the curriculum
• Adaptable. Some test products (i.e., ETS subject
  tests) allow departments to submit their own
  questions.

8
Final Examinations

• Questions can be designed to reflect
  program/student learning objectives.
• Final (departmental) exam questions can be
  divided into sections according to subject area.
• Might contain case studies and essay questions.
  When a standardized rubric is used and assuming
  linkage to specific program objectives, a good
  source of qualitative information for assessment
  and review by program faculty.
• Questions can be embedded into final
  examinations that assess specific assessment
  needs. For example, a question or series of
  questions, essay prompts, rubric elements, etc.
  in capstone courses could be that same as those
  used at 100- or 200- level courses, allowing for
  comparative analyses of novice and senior
  students.

9
Projects and Simulations

• Can be a form of authentic assessmentthey
  challenge students to use what they learn through
  the course of a program in a real-world scenario.
• Rubric averages and sub-score averages might be
  used to connect performance with achievement of
  student learning objectives.
• Outside parties could also function as primary
  evaluators (i.e., real world professionals and
  potential employers could grade students using a
  specific rubric).
• Students could be interviewed to assess impact of
  the experience.
• Faculty could also be interviewed after grading
  students to gather summary statements and
  assessments on the achievement of student
  learning objectives (i.e., structured interviews,
  focus groups, etc.).

10
Caution on Methods

• Make sure to always explicitly link with program
  and student learning objectives
• Try to link to general education student learning
  objectives
• Creating meaningful information is keyif the
  capstone assessment is too complex or cannot be
  easily implemented, other assessments may be more
  effective.

11
Using Capstone Assessment Results

• Summary measures should be elegantthey should
  be easily organized, easily described, and should
  be informative
• Should lead to discussion of the program, not the
  value of the capstone course only
• Good idea If it is possible to use the same
  assessment for students entering a program (such
  as freshmen), then the value added by the program
  might be demonstrated
• It is important to implement capstone assessment
  annually (or at least on a regular schedule) so
  capstone assessment results can be compared by
  faculty over the years.

12
Conclusion

• Implementation of capstone assessments requires a
  good deal of coordination.
• Requires explicit linkage with student learning
  and program objectives.
• A capstone may be best thought of as a forum in
  which student learning at the senior level is
  more readily assessed.
• Choice of which assessments to use is up to the
  faculty.
• If more than one capstone section is taught
  during a given semester, agreement on the same
  assessment method(s) is an important
  consideration prior to conducting the assessment.