DRAFT
Parts of the Capstone (youlearn.ca)
Capstone projects include the following components:
| Groundwork for Capstone Project | |
| Proposal | The proposal outlines the project and includes disciplinary and core competency connections,
timelines, and product. |
| Mentor
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this component is not currently a requirement |
The mentor is ideally a shared role that includes teachers and/or community members that provide guidance throughout the culminating
project. |
| Research | The research provides the information needed to
prepare the capstone project. |
| Project and Presentation | |
| Product | The product is the end result of all the work on the capstone project (e.g. video, document,
performance). |
| Presentation
|
You may choose from a variety of presentation methods decided when the product is completed. The audience will consist of teachers, community members and/or others connected to you and/or
your capstone project. |
The Proposal
The first step is to create a proposal that connects the interests, passions and goals from your time at school, that may lead to a potential career path.
A successful capstone project topic should be:
- Something you can research (for example, a career path such as Dentistry or Electronics Engineering)
- Related to your school studies and/or extra-curricular activities (for example, you may have taken a relevant course such as Biology or Physics)
- Consist of a significant visual, oral/audio, or written product that demonstrates your research and skill development in the area of interest
You must be able to research your proposal. It must be related to your career path and be readily usable for a capstone project. The project may include visual, oral/audio, and written presentation that demonstrates the depth of the core 21st century skills learned during your time in school.
A successful proposal should answer the following questions about your capstone project:
- What skill/area of interest have you learned/explored on your educational journey?
- Why are you passionate about this skill/area of interest?
- How will your capstone project allow you to further develop this skill/area of interest?
- How will you demonstrate this learning through a performance, an essay, artwork, a digital medium(audio, video, game), or other medium?
- How will this process make you a better learner?
Your proposal must be supported with an explanation of why you feel it is important. Your proposal must be completed, submitted, and reviewed and approved by your teacher before moving on with the project.
Life-long learning
One purpose of the capstone project is to ensure students are prepared to become life-long learners. When students leave school, they will be responsible for making more decisions about their education. Developing a desire to learn, and enthusiasm for learning, requires connecting one’s own interests to their learning objectives. Successful learners will guide their own learning and make decisions to pursue educational objectives that are meaningful to them. It’s important that your capstone project topic is a topic you will enjoy learning about.
21st Century Skills
21st Century Skills is a term used to describe those skills which are emerging as important to education and workplaces in the 21st Century. A non-profit organization, Partnership for 21st Century Learning, has defined these skills as:
- Critical thinking and problem solving
- Creativity and innovation
- Cross-cultural understanding
- Communications, information, and media literacy
- Computing and ICT literacy
- Career and learning self-reliance
Consider how your capstone project might demonstrate your ability to use these skills. They are an important part of developing as a life-long learner.
Research
The research you do for your capstone project will be highly individualized. You may be planning to open a business and need to research the process of applying for a business license, securing a business loan, and performing market research. You may be composing a piece of music to submit with your application to a music school and need to find software that will let you present your composition professionally. It will be up to you how much, and what kind of research you will need to do. The
research is part of the process of your capstone project, and how successful it is will be evident in your product.
The Product
What you produce is dependent on your topic, the skill or area of interest you are working on/in, and the goal of your learning.
Examples:
- A Powerpoint presenting detailed research into post-secondary institutions, with a final commitment in the form of a submitted application
- A song that demonstrates new work in composition, vocal range, or creative
- An art portfolio that collects prior and new art to be submitted with an application to a Fine Arts
- A robotics project that incorporates skills developed in a school robotics club, with new learning pursued individually.
- An automotive repair on a vehicle that incorporates knowledge of diagnostics, purchasing, installation, and a detailed description of the steps followed.
The depth of learning should be evident in both the product and the presentation. If you have questions about a topic you wish to pursue, contact your teacher.
The Presentation
Some capstone projects will be all about the product. A student may use an off-the-shelf kit to design a self-watering plant system that detects moisture levels and provides water accordingly. While putting together the pieces may not have required much effort or exertion, the student’s presentation will guide the audience through the research, planning, and execution that show their acquisition and application of new learning. Another student may use the presentation to provide details on the Powerpoint presentation they constructed of a tour they took at the University they plan to attend in the Fall. In either case, the combination of the product and the presentation should show they have met all the criteria, but it is up to students to determine on their own which component is of greater importance for their project.
During the presentation, their teacher and other faculty will observe and assess their product and performance. Marks will be given based on the entirety of the project. It’s important to discuss both parts of the project with your teacher in advance, to ensure all criteria will be met.
Timeline (project and presenttaions due between Jan 22-31)
Students should begin working on the capstone proposal as soon as they start CLC12. The capstone proposal should be submitted and approved before work begins on the project, to ensure that the proposal will meet the criteria of:
- An area that can be researched / A skill that can be developed
- Relation to the student’s prior learning
- A product that demonstrates new learning in the area / Development of the skill
- Connection to student’s plans for post-graduation
In the case of a student submitting only a capstone project for completion of CLC12, the student or a mentor should discuss the project regularly to ensure that these criteria can be met at a level that is adequate to meet the Career Life Connections 12 curricular outcomes.
Other tools documents that may clarify what a Capstone is and how to compleate it
Career-Life-30-Hour-Requirement-Form