HomeAnnotated BibliographiesCapstone Experiences Where There's a Will, There's a Way: Implementing a Capstone Experience for General Education Share: Section NavigationSkip section navigationIn this sectionAnnotated Bibliographies Capstone Experiences Conditions for Meaningful Learning Global Learning Internships Learning Communities Mentoring Service-Learning Student-Faculty Partnership Undergraduate Research Work-Integrated Learning Writing Transfer In and Beyond the University Reference List Entry:Van Zile-Tamsen, Carol , Janet Bean, Christina Beaudoin, David I Lewis, and Tania von der Heidt. 2023. "Where There's a Will, There's a Way: Implementing a Capstone Experience for General Education." In Cultivating Capstones: Designing High-Quality Culminating Experiences for Student Learning, edited by Caroline J Ketcham, Anthony G Weaver and Jessie L Moore, 73-82. Elon, NC: Elon University Center for Engaged Learning.About this Book Chapter:In a sample of institutions from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, only 9.1% of institutions with universally required capstone experiences approached the capstone from a general education or core curriculum approach. The other 91.0% were either exclusively disciplinary or combined disciplinary knowledge with more general learning across various disciplines. This chapter provides a case study analysis of a universally required general education capstone at University of Buffalo in the United States. This particular capstone requirement is unique because it is part of the general education program (not a disciplinary capstone) and implemented at a large, research-intensive public institution where a program of such scale is typically not expected. In addition, the signature work product is an integrative portfolio based on general education coursework. Drawing on document analysis and interviews, this chapter describes the context of the institution, the structure of the capstone experience, the drivers for and conception of this program, the detailed goals of this capstone experience, and the benefits and challenges of this general education capstone course.
