Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects and

the Student Experience

Mick HealeyUniversity of Gloucestershire, UK

www.mickhealey.co.uk

“new models of curriculum … should all … incorporate research-based

study for undergraduates” (Ramsden, 2008:10-11)

“A new masters programme has scrapped its dissertation requirement. Is this a one-off or is the end of the dissertation upon us?” Guardian Professional, 1 June 2011

Are predictions about the end of the dissertation any more accurate than those about the end of the world? Photograph: Alamy

Is the end of the dissertation nigh?

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects The initial impetus

behind the Research-Informed Teaching Initiative was to preserve the ‘gold-standard’ of honours dissertations and protect the international competitiveness of UK universities.

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects Bachelor's degrees with honours are awarded to students who have demonstrated:“a systematic understanding of key aspects of their field of study, including acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge, at least some of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of a discipline” (QAA, 2008, FHEQ, 18)

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects “… academic disciplines should be free to choose what is appropriate to measure independent, advanced learning for their students … having a uniform approach to demonstration of honours-level achievement is arbitrary”

(Huggins, 2005).

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects

Alternative or additional projects, some of which may be employment or community-based, are required to meet the needs of all honours students regardless of background, discipline or life goals.

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects We value highly the traditional dissertation as a potentially transformational experience, but do feel one size does not fit all.

Argue need for greater choice in the form the dissertation may take, the nature of the end product, and the ways in which it is assessed.

Additional or alternative experience?

“Projects, which are wider than the traditional honours dissertation, that students undertake towards the end of their undergraduate degree, usually in their final or senior year, in which they engage in a significant amount of independent research or inquiry.”

Capstone – term commonly used in North America and Australasia to refer to integrative final year projects

Our working definition

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects Draw on wide range of literature

• Linking research and teaching• Undergraduate research and inquiry• Employment and community based projects • Capstone projects and integrative learning• Independent, creative and transformational

learning• Equity and widening participation issues • Graduate attributes and standards• Assessment of individual and group projects• Disseminating and celebrating

undergraduate work

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects Our focus is on students undertaking research at honours level, but it is wider in its conception, function, form, location and how it is disseminated than the traditional dissertation.

Wider in their:

• conception (e.g. collaborative projects as part of a research group; consultancy projects);

• function (e.g. synthesising capstone projects; preparatory projects for transition into a profession);

• form (e.g. student group projects); • location (e.g. employer and community based projects);

and/or • how they are disseminated (e.g. through exhibitions,

undergraduate research conferences and other forms of public engagement)

Contrast with traditional honours dissertation

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone ProjectsAlternative research-led projects in Biosciences at Durham

a) Laboratory-based project

b) Biology enterprise

c) Biology into schools

MIT@Lawrence is a university-community partnership that connects faculty, students and staff at MIT with community-based organizations and civic leaders in the City of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects

British Conference on Undergraduate Research

Additional to honours project Alternative to honours projectCampus based Employer / community basedUndertaken at the University Distance learningResearch preparation Professional / employment preparationStudent learning centred Outcome product centredDiscipline based Multi- or interdisciplinaryStudent initiated Teacher / supervisor initiatedIndividual GroupOriginal to the student Original to the disciplineUniversity audience Professional / public audienceIn-depth analysis Synthesis of knowledge/skills Assessed by academics Assessed by peers / professionalsIndividual supervision Group / peer supervisions

Dimensions of final year and capstone projects

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects Recognise that some

disciplines (e.g. art & design and some professional subjects) and some institutions (e.g. Leeds Met) have long track records of diversifying what counts as an Hons Project, but this is a new area for many.

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects

Research question:

‘How can final year undergraduate projects and capstone projects be designed and assessed to help students prepare for an uncertain world?’

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects

Initially 5 Subject Centres: • Art, Design and Media; • Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance;

• English; • Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism;

• Sociology, Anthropology and Politics.

Now all subjects

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and Capstone Projects Outputs and events:

• Lessons from literature;• Resource bank of examples;• Student experiences;• Debate within UoG; • Ten case studies;• Showcase event – 22 June;• Develop alternative & additional

hons projects at UoG;• Guide on creative solutions;• Presentations, briefings &

publications;• Grand findings national event.

Student experiences of the dissertation

We asked some broadcast journalism students what they thought about traditional dissertations and whether some 're-thinking' was due.

Student experiences of the dissertation

We asked some broadcast journalism students what they thought about traditional dissertations and whether some 're-thinking' was due.

Rethinking Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations and

Capstone Projects Let’s be creative and go beyond the traditional dissertation

THE END