Capstone Project Course Syllabus

Capstone Project

HUM680

In order to fulfill your degree requirements for Tiffin University’s Master of Humanities program, you need to complete either a Comprehensive Exam (HUM 681) or a Capstone Project (HUM 680). You’re eligible to register for one of these courses once you’ve completed twenty-‐one hours of coursework at Tiffin University. This course, HUM 680, is the Capstone Project option. Over the course of the semester you will meet weekly with faculty and fellow students on discussion threads to talk about your progress, to seek inspiration, to vent, to get answers to your questions, and to be directed toward some useful sources. You will submit your final project in a single Word, .pdf, or .rtf file to a designated folder in turnitin.com before midnight on the last day of the semester, but if necessary you can take an incomplete for one semester and finish your project before the end of the following semester. Be sure to read the entire syllabus so that you understand what’s expected of you in this course.

The Capstone Project for Your Master of Humanities Degree at Tiffin University

Your project will generally be in the 40-‐60 page range, but it can be longer. It can be an extended academic study, a collection of poems or stories, a novel or novella, or a creative or teaching portfolio.

your project

Your project should also demonstrate writing competence. Successfully written projects will score an average of 3 on the writing rubric provided with this syllabus for writing, content, and thesis measurements.

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HUM680: Capstone Project Syllabus 2

FAQs

Why you shouldn’t fear the project

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Q: How will my project be graded? A. Your writing will be held to "average" or above expectations for graduate student writing, which is about a three out of four on most measures of the WIC rubric. We expect your writing to be coherent, correct, and organized, somewhat polished, but not necessarily publishable at this stage. Rubrics will be posted to the course shell for academic writing, poetry, and fiction. Q: Who will be reviewing my project? A: Each section of HUM 680 will have two instructors assigned to it. We will try to group students and instructors by concentrations when possible. These instructors will be your guides throughout the semester as you work through your project. Both instructors will read and grade your project at the end of the semester. Q: What if I can’t finish my project in one semester? A: Don’t worry, you don’t have to finish at the end of one semester. If necessary, you can take one incomplete and finish by the end of the next semester. If you have significant extenuating circumstances, document them, and inform your instructors as soon as possible. However, you cannot request an incomplete after the final due date.

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Q: What is the difference between a Capstone Project and a thesis? A: The differences are only administrative. The same types of projects, of approximately the same minimum length, are allowed for both with the addition of a portfolio option. The main differences are that you don’t have to find readers, you don’t have to do an oral defense, you have two semesters to complete, and you’re in a class with several fellow travelers for encouragement and support while you’re carrying out your project. Q: What are you looking for in a successful Capstone Project? A: We expect any Capstone Project to be well-written and professionally presented, formatted following MLA style regardless of the type of project carried out. We expect your work to be original, and most of all, we expect it to be reflective of who you are as a scholar, a creative writer, or a professional about to enter a field.

You’ve done this kind of work before…


Semester Workflow 1. After the first week of introductions, you’ll

start by writing your project prospectus for

the class. This prospectus should be five to

seven pages, should describe your project,

what it will accomplish, what methodology

you will follow (if appropriate), will review

literature on the subject, and will be

followed by a bibliography.

2. After that, you’ll spend every week checking

in with the class with threaded discussion

board posts – describing your reading, your

progress, your frustrations, your

accomplishments, etc. And, ask questions.

3. When your project is complete, submit it to

the designated folder in turnitin.com.

General Policies 1. This course will follow this year’s Academic Bulletin for plagiarism policies. Students

who plagiarize significantly will be assigned a grade of XF. Please carefully follow MLA

style for all projects and credit all of your sources, both with inline citations and

properly coordinated works cited entries.

2. Students are advised to complete their project in one semester if possible, but if

necessary, students may take one (1) incomplete for one (1) semester. Students who

need to take an incomplete must inform their instructors at least one week prior to

the last day of class. Students who fail to receive permission to take an incomplete

and fail to submit their project by the end of the semester will be assigned a grade of

F for the course.

3. All projects must be submitted to turnitin.com in order to receive a grade. Projects

are due no later than midnight, December 7th 2012 unless the student has made

arrangements at least one week in advance for an incomplete. All times posted to

this syllabus or on the course shell are Eastern Standard Time (UTC-‐05).

4. Students must create a turnitin.com account (if they do not already have one) and

join the class on turnitin.com in order to receive a grade. In order to join this class,

log in to turnitin.com and join class ID# 5354748 with the password capprofa12.

5. Academic projects and other non-‐fiction prose will be graded following the WIC and

content/thesis rubrics integrated into turnitin.com and posted to eCollege. Separate

rubrics will be provided for fiction, poetry, and portfolios. Students are generally

expected to score a “3” or above on most measures of the rubrics in order to receive

a passing grade.

6. The week will run from Sunday to Saturday.

Policies

the rules we’ll go by


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Weekly Schedule

Week 1, Reading: syllabus and all material under Course Home, including videos. Review of course structure and course policies. Student/faculty introductions. Post an introduction to the appropriate threaded discussion by midnight EST on Monday and respond to at least two of your peers by midnight EST on Friday. See the Threaded Discussion rubric posted to the course page for grading policies on all threaded discussion posts.

Week 2: Post your Capstone Project prospectus by midnight Wednesday and respond to at least two of your peers’ posts by midnight Saturday. Try to evaluate the thesis and methodology of proposed academic projects and the originality of creative projects.

Weeks 3-‐14: Your threaded discussions for weeks 3-‐14 will consist of an initial post by midnight EST on Wednesday describing your progress for the week. Discuss what you’ve read, summarizing your readings in a couple of sentences, and/or what kind of writing you’ve done, even if it’s just notes on your reading. If you have questions, ask them. If you have concerns, share them. Respond to two of your peers’ posts by midnight Saturday.

Week 14: Same as Week 3. This week is the last day to request an incomplete for the semester.

Week 15: Unless you contracted for an incomplete grade by Week 14, you need to submit the final draft of your Capstone Project by midnight EST August 18th, this Sunday tonight.

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Grading Final project: 1000 pts. Prospectus: 100 pts. Threaded Discussions: 14 at 20 pts. each, 280 pts. total. Total: 1360 pts.

Your Capstone Project will demonstrate your

mastery of and engagement with your

fields of study.

Incomplete Grades We recommend that all students try to finish their Capstone Projects in a single semester. Don’t think of your Capstone Project as your definitive work or your magnum opus; you might better think of it as an early draft of this future definitive work. Don’t think about your project as the end of your educational career either; it represents a milestone in your progress, but not the end point. Even if you never go back to school you will continue to learn and grow. Because the Capstone Project is reflective of your educational achievement and professional identity at this stage in your progress you do want to do the best work possible, but the best work possible in the time frame that you have.

This time frame is, at most, two semesters. If you can’t complete in a single semester, you must apply for this incomplete to both instructors by email no later than midnight EST on the Sunday of Week 14. If you do not request an incomplete by this date and time, we expect you to submit a completed project by the last day of the semester. If you are granted an incomplete, you must submit a completed project by the last day of the next semester.

Even if you request an incomplete, we expect you to participate in weekly threaded discussions as assigned. They are part of your grade. If at any point you disappear from the course it’s very likely that your request for an incomplete will be denied. Don’t neglect your work all semester, or even for a significant part of it, expecting to be able to do it all the following semester. We expect you to make progress in your first semester even though we allow you to complete it in a second.


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Writing Rubric, Non-‐Fiction Prose Characteristics of an A paper: The A paper is a highly sophisticated paper that supports an original thesis with a complex argument that skillfully and correctly integrates substantial outside research. The A paper demonstrates not only substantial understanding of primary and secondary reading but the ability to advance knowledge with its insight into the material. It has few or no grammatical or punctuation errors -- no more than three or four for every five pages of writing -- and maintains a highly academic tone that correctly and effectively employs field-specific language. Paper is insightful, thought-provoking, and complex, and it is carefully argued, developed, and supported. Thesis is specific, significant, arguable, and well-written; it gives the reader a "roadmap" to the paper and leads the reader to think differently about the subject. Characteristics of a B paper: The B paper fulfills all requirements of the assignment. It meets or exceeds research requirements effectively, demonstrating comprehension of all sources. It properly documents its sources with no more than two or three citation errors. It is almost free of grammatical or punctuation errors, having no more than one or two errors per page, but while highly competent, the B paper lacks the insight and linguistic competence characterizing the A essay. Paper is very thoughtful and engaging but may not rise to the "superior" level in complexity, argumentation, development, or support. Thesis

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is promising but could be more specific, significant, and/or better written. The importance of thesis may need to be better explained and its implications more fully drawn out. In these papers, the conclusion simply restates the thesis suggested at the beginning of the paper rather than developing its thought. Characteristics of a C paper: The average college-level paper will receive a grade of C. This paper is written well enough to be easy to follow, but could benefit from some restructuring or additional paragraphs. It meets minimum assignment requirements for research and other elements and integrates sources correctly following the most basic requirements of the assigned documentation style; in-text citations are clearly keyed to the references, bibliography, or works cited page. It demonstrates basic reading comprehension of both primary and secondary sources. It may have some minor punctuation, capitalization, grammatical, or spelling errors or some use of informal language but is generally appropriate and correct. Paper meets all requirements, but ideas are basic, obvious, and/or overly generalized; they may lack careful explanation and support. It may have one promising idea that may need to be more carefully thought out or developed. Thesis is adequate but may not demonstrate a high level of critical thinking or provide an adequate blueprint for the paper. It may be significantly lacking in one of the three qualities of being specific, significant, or arguable.

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Characteristics of a D paper: The D paper is deficient in one or more of the following areas: structure/organization, research, reading comprehension, documentation, word choice, grammar, or punctuation, capitalization, or spelling. The grade of D indicates below-average achievement in organizing ideas, expressing ideas, understanding sources, writing correctly, or following documentation style. Most D papers contain serious errors in usage and fail to present a central thesis or to develop it adequately. Paper is limited in some way: (1) fails to meet all requirements; (2) lacks focus; (3) lacks insight, is unconvincing or underdeveloped; (4) does not successfully argue a thesis that fulfills the assignment. Paper may be limited in more than one of these ways. Thesis is weak; makes only a generic claim, an obvious claim, or an insignificant claim. The paper may be summarizing sources without stating any thought beyond its sources. These essay standards summarize the Writing Intensive Class rubric created by Dr. Jim Rovira and Dr. Sherry Truffin in the summer of 2011. The rubric itself is integrated into turnitin.com and will be used to score your papers.

Contact Information and Grade Scale

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GRADE SCALE A 93-‐100 A-‐ 90-‐92 B+ 87-‐89 B 83-‐86 B-‐ 80-‐82 C+ 77-‐79 C 73-‐76 C-‐ 70-‐72 D+ 67-‐69 D 63-‐66 D-‐ 60-‐62 F 59 or below

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Tiffin University, Office of Graduate Student Services 155 Miami Street Tiffin, OH 44883 (800) 968-‐6446 [email protected]

INSTRUCTORS Instructor 1: Dr. James Rovira [email protected] 419-‐448-‐3586 Associate Professor of English Tiffin University

Instructor 2: Dr. Stavroula Kalogeras [email protected]

Documents

Capstone Project Course Syllabus