Title: Using Student-Managed Projects to Enhance the Capstone Experience
Abstract: Capstone courses are the culminating experience for graduating students. Typical capstone courses in the geosciences consist of senior theses or field camps. In this capstone course, the whole class works as one team assessing the environmental impact (EIA) of a real project requested by a client outside the university. The course is divided into thirds, with the last third devoted exclusively to the project. The other two thirds cover the legal aspects and methodology of EIA. The students carry out, organize, supervise, and assess all work related to the project. The course instructor only serves as a consultant to the students. Students' performance on the project constitutes a large part of the final course grade. The students find the course engaging and challenging, and the client many times actually chooses the alternative for the project based on the students' findings. This course provides several pedagogical benefits such as experiential learning, engagement, and development of professional skills.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 5
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