Starting a Capstone Revolution at York—One Cup of Coffee at a Time
By Danielle Robinson
Ever wondered, what in the world is a capstone course?
Or, while teaching a capstone, why is this so hard?
Or, after teaching one, why can’t every York student have access to such a transformative experience?
These are just some of the questions that were mulled over on January 29th when the very first Capstone Café was hosted by the York Capstone Network, led by myself, Danielle Robinson (Dance), and Franz Newland (Engineering).
Over coffee, tea, and treats—generously provided by AVP Teaching and Learning Will Gage—professors from seven different faculties joined forces to quietly start a capstone revolution at York. We began by establishing some common ground, by mapping out what all capstone courses share no matter their program or faculty. What we discovered was that capstones require exceptional qualities of their students: independence, initiative, self-direction, and leadership.
Yes, capstones are all designed to culminate a degree, but they also challenge students in crucial ways before they leave York. They can pull an uncertain and distant future a little closer by asking students to question how ready they are for the career they want, develop new transferable skills, and do projects and activities that connect to the “real-world” and have actual impact on people’s lives.
Through such challenges, any capstone experience is a journey of professional, academic, and personal self-discovery. By taking strategic risks, which might lead to (constructive) failures, capstone students have an unparalleled opportunity to find out what they are passionate about, good at, uncomfortable with, and ready for—before they graduate.
But, this was just the beginning of our caffeine and sugar fueled conversation. We quickly moved on to identifying our most pressing capstone issues, so we could triage them in small groups. Grading emerged as a major quandary at one table. Many of us have found it challenging to assess collaborative work and were hungry for some best practice guidelines in that regard. Others of us honed in on rubrics and how they can inadvertently promote qualities that are the opposite of our classroom values, such as effort, process, and student responsibility.
Another small group focused on issues in the classroom—specifically, how to encourage every student to participate fully and how to adjust expectations to the varied depth of knowledge each student gained through the program to this point. A capstone course is a culmination of learning in the program of study it resides in, but our expectations of what students should know and be able to do doesn’t always match our students’ experiences. We discussed ways to pre-assess our students’ knowledge to help us design our capstones so everyone can participate fully while also being challenged along the way.
At the first Capstone Café, professors came together from the far corners of York, including Glendon, to initiate a supportive and critical conversation around capstone courses—a primary access point for experiential education, community engagement, and industry partnership within our curricula. And, that conversation will be continuing throughout this term and into the future.
Please join us for our next Café, which will be Tuesday, February 26th from 2-4pm in DB 1009. Whether you are an expert or novice capstoner, you are most welcome. Invited speakers include Carolyn Steele (who will discuss Career Center support for capstone teaching) and Stephen Childs (who will synthesize the latest NSSE data on capstone courses).
Come to the Next Capstone Café: Tuesday, February 26, 2019: 2-4pm (DB 1009)
Join the York Capstone Network, our listserv, and website by emailing: yorkcapstones@gmail.com
The York Capstone Network, founded in 2018 by Professors Danielle Robinson and Franz Newland, is a community of capstone professors, students, and their allies. We host monthly Capstone Cafés where we develop best practices, offer support, build resources, and collaborate on capstone initiatives. Our mission is to provide the support, infrastructure, and expertise needed to ensure equitable access to capstone experiences for all York students.
Danielle Robinson is as Associate Professor of Dance (Studies) and cross-appointed with the graduate programs in Theatre and Performance Studies (AMPD) and Communication and Culture (LA&PS). She has taught capstone courses in the Department of Dance since 2006, for which she was awarded an AMPD Teaching Award in 2009.
Franz Newland is an Assistant Lecturer (teaching stream) and UPD for Space Engineering, where he has also co-directed the Engineering capstone course for the past 3 years.