capstone project outcomes and content

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Ch. 5 “Organizing is a journey, not a destination.” – Anonymous

When conceptualizing and developing your capstone project design outline, you will be exploring your project components, structuring your outline format and establishing the scaffolding for how the objectives of your concept will be met in your finalized project.

Your project design outline will serve as a planning tool as you move forward with your project work. It will establish a path for managing your project successfully so that you are efficient with your time and effective with your efforts.

At this point, you have a solid project concept, comprehensive project objectives, and relevant resources that you have reviewed. While this is extremely important information, the key to a successful capstone project is putting it all together in a useful, professionally presented manner. This is where a project design outline comes in. I like to think of the project design outline as the framework of a house or the scaffolding of a skyscraper. When you frame out a house, you bring the one-dimensional blueprints to three-dimensional life. You establish the physical framework for where the kitchen will be, you erect walls to indicate where each bedroom will be, and you structure the roof so that everything is solidly connected. This is similar to what the outline of your project will do for your finalized project. It will provide an outlined structure for how your project intends to achieve each of the objectives you have established, and your literature review will inform the best practices that you will apply.

First , you will want to establish your purpose. Why are you completing this project? Secondly , you will want to establish your intended audience. Who will ultimately be reading your capstone project? While your first audience may be your capstone course instructor, you may eventually plan on presenting your work to a manager within your organization. Thirdly , you will want to break out individual objectives and identify the following for each of them:

• The tasks that you must complete to meet this objective
• The application of best practices as they relate to this objective and
• The resources or operational components of the objective

Fourthly , you will be designing a simple timeline which illustrates a date by which each objective should be completed. For those of you preparing your capstone for roll-out in your workplace, your project implementation and evaluation will continue beyond the end date of our course, so many of your dates will be outside the borders of our 10- or 12-week timeframe, which is perfectly fine. For those of you researching a managerial topic such as effective leadership styles, a simple timeline or schedule showing when you will complete each section of your capstone project is sufficient. This section is a mechanism for keeping you on track. Without scheduled deadlines, it is easy to procrastinate. A schedule helps you to identify priorities and keeps you on a clear path to meeting your goals. To read more about the advantages of timelines, read Max Palmer’s article “What are the Advantages of Scheduling” .

There are many tools and software programs available to help you organize your thought when designing a project outline. One tool that many past students have found useful in their capstone work is Mind Mapping. You can find a link to a short video and article focused on Mind Mapping as a tool by visiting MindTools . Also, to visualize the power of a mind map, view Sara McGuire’s blog for some samples and templates.

In the Project Resources section of our Moodle course site, you’ll find examples of past students’ work, some of which include separate files for their project outlines. You’ll notice that in the reference outlines, the students have taken their major project objectives and broken them each down into the tasks that must be completed to meet the objective, the application of best practices as they relate to the objective, and the resources needed to achieve the objective. Purdue offers a useful resource around structuring outlines, which can be found by visiting their website .

MGMT 797 Capstone Guide Copyright © 2020 by Granite State College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Design a Capstone Experience

Designing IDEAL capstone experiences is important for promoting the learning and development of all students and for setting them up for success beyond college.

A capstone experience is the culmination of a student's study in a particular major. A capstone experience at Stanford  encourages students to “integrate knowledge and skills developed in the major and to learn and think independently with the tools of the discipline.” Examples include an honors thesis, senior paper or project, and capstone seminar with individual student projects.

Capstones are considered a high-impact educational practice and have been widely shown to be of integral importance to students’ learning and mastery of course material in a major. They require students to assume agency over their learning, synthesize diverse perspectives, respond to targeted feedback, and approximate the methods and outcomes of experts in authentic, real-world contexts. At the same time, students might come to a capstone experience with varying prior experiences, as well as varying future interests and pathways.

More Team Project Ideas

Steps to consider

In pre-capstone courses: 

• Integrate skills that will be highlighted in the capstone course, such as literature review and synthesis, data collection, recommendations of finding to real world settings (you can use VALUE rubric s as a guide) 
• Use the learning goals established for the capstone course to help individual courses integrate goals earlier in the coursework (Stanford Teaching Commons Learning Outcomes Guide )

Stanford examples and resources

• Designing Capstone Experiences , from CTL.
• Bioengineering capstone
• Human Biology capstone
• Religious Studies capstone
• Urban Studies capstone

The VPUE website on Designing Capstones

Evidence-based Capstone Principles and the Capstone Curriculum website  Guidelines for teachers  published by the Australian Government Office for Teaching and Learning

Reynolds, Julie, Smith, Robin, Moskovitz, Cary, Sayle, Amy (2009). “ BioTAP: A systematic Approach to Teaching Scientific Writing and Evaluating Undergraduate Theses ”, Bioscience , 59(10), 896-903. 

Howe, Susannah, Goldberg, Jay (2019). “ Engineering Capstone Design Education: Current Practices, Emerging Trends, and Successful Strategies ”, In Design Education Today . 

Morreale, Joseph C., Shostya, Anna (2020). “ Creating Transformative Learning Experience Through a Capstone Course in Economics ”, International Review of Economics Education , 35, 100198.

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1. Pre-Planning for Your Capstone Project

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:  

• Explain the capstone experience.
• Identify soft skills that can be developed/refined throughout the capstone experience.
• Describe the importance of capstone projects for academic and professional career development.
• Identify at least two steps you can take to pre-plan/prepare for your capstone project.

This chapter will guide you through the pre-planning phase of your capstone experience. Examples of capstone formats utilized by various schools and universities are included in this chapter.  General educational goals of capstone projects are reviewed and the importance of a capstone experience for academic and professional career advancement is discussed.  Strategies that can help you prepare for your capstone experience are explained.

Introduction

The amount of stress that accumulates over the course of one’s college experience can be overwhelming.  Understanding what a capstone project entails and using strategies and skills that have been acquired throughout your academic career, will help you pre-plan for relevant and meaningful capstone experiences, while reducing stress.

What Exactly Is a Capstone Project?

A capstone project is a multifaceted assignment for professional students that serves as a culminating academic and intellectual experience.  Therefore, capstone projects can also be referred to as capstone

experiences, culminating projects, or senior exhibitions.   Capstone projects usually occur in the final year of professional academic programs and they may or may not be research based.  Constructed by your school, your professional program within your school or university, and learning experience, capstone projects can take a variety of forms (Refer to Table 1-1:  Examples of Capstone Project Formats).  While capstone projects are in some ways like a college thesis, capstone projects are typically long-term investigative projects that culminate into a final product, presentation, and/or performance (Sabbot, 2016).

Table 1-1:  Examples of Capstone Project Formats

Source:  Moore, J. L. (2021, December 2). Capstone experiences . Center for Engaged Learning. Retrieved July 15, 2022, from https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/resources/capstone-experiences/ 

Within health professions, the clinical doctorate has been traditionally driven by innovation in practice and the advancement and evolution of the health profession’s field.  Furthermore, clinical doctorate degrees are meant to provide graduates with the skills necessary to engage in direct clinical practice and leadership endeavors, which may influence healthcare program development and policy changes.  Simply, doctoral capstones provide accomplished students with an opportunity for in-depth professional practice within an area of focus (Kemp, Domina, Delbert, Rivera & Navarro-Walker, 2020).

Capstone projects have long been a hallmark of professional education. Capstone projects aim to help you recognize your own growth and development during your scholarly pursuits.  Capstone projects are also an effective method of showcasing attained and refined skills and competencies (Moore, 2021).  Furthermore, capstone projects are designed to encourage you to think critically, solve challenging problems, and showcase  hard and unique soft skills. (Refer to Table 1-2:  Examples of Hard Skills and Soft Skills for Clinical Professionals and Professional Students)

Table 1-2 :  Examples of Hard Skills and Soft Skills for Clinical Professionals and Professional Students  

Sources:  Benz, C., Johns, S., & Team, the R. G. (2022, February 18). What are hard skills? definition & 51 hard skills examples. Resume Genius. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://resumegenius.com/blog/resume-help/hard-skills; Coombe, T. (2021, February 25). Soft & Hard Skills for occupational therapy students: How to get them. EduMed. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.edumed.org/online-schools/occupational-therapy programs/studentskills/; and Kohler, C. (2021, December 17). What are soft skills? here’s how to showcase them on your resume . TopResume. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/soft-skills-and-how-to-showcase-them-on-resume. 

Educational Goals for Capstone Projects

Capstone experiences within some schools and universities are designed to provide students with opportunities to become engaged in some aspect of clinical practice. Consequently, educational institutions will typically have their own capstone-specific goals. Even within a single school or university, the range of capstone-related goals and expectations can differ from program to program. For these reasons, it is important to review your specific program’s capstone project requirements and  capstone syllabi.  By recognizing the general educational goals of capstone projects, you will acquire a better understanding of the capstone process and how it can be used for professional development not only  throughout but beyond your academic career (Sabbot, 2016). (Refer to Table 1-3:  General Educational Goals of Capstone Projects). 

Table 1-3:  General Educational Goals of Capstone Projects

Source:  Moore, J. L. (2021, December 2). Capstone experiences . Center for Engaged Learning. Retrieved July 15, 2022, from https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/resources/capstone-experiences/.

Importance of Capstone Projects

Clinical doctoral programs are rigorous and demanding practice-focused programs that are designed to prepare students to become experts in clinical practice settings.  In this vein, capstone projects are heavily focused on innovative and evidence-based practices that not only reflect your ability to transfer didactic knowledge and research findings into a practice setting but to also evaluate and disseminate new knowledge to advance evidence-based care (Anderson, Knestrick & Barroso, 2015).  For example, in a school or university students are continually working on theoretical assignments, which allows them to acquire basic knowledge that supports their career path.  However, the capstone project extends beyond textbooks and classrooms as you begin to become immersed in real-world cases in real-life environments. Capstone projects can help you to become familiar with some of the issues professionals in your chosen area of study and/or interest may commonly face in the field.  Consequently, the experiential learning you will gain from your capstone experience is invaluable in relation to your entry into, and advancement in, your respective profession (Russel, 2022).

Capstone projects are considered scholarly pieces of work.  The intent of capstone projects is to create an effective and comprehensive product that will provide you with an opportunity to showcase your academic abilities, skills, and competencies.  In this fashion, capstone projects can be viewed as a springboard for career advancement or an entrepreneurial venture.  By taking a few steps to understand and prepare for your capstone experience, you will be able to effectively integrate learned knowledge into a real-world issue in a manner that is purposeful, meaningful, and marketable (Refer to Table 1.4:  Preplanning Strategies Students Can Use for Meaningful Capstone Experiences).

Table 1.4:  Preplanning Strategies Students Can Use for Meaningful Capstone Experiences

Understanding what a capstone project is and why it is an important component of academic and professional development will help you appreciate your capstone experience and maybe even enjoy it.  This chapter provided you with tips and strategies that will help you preplan for your capstone project.  The development of a meaningful and robust capstone experience requires a demonstration of need coupled with a professional area of interest (Bednarski, Bell & DeAngelis, 2020).  Preplanning can help ensure that your capstone project is relevant and impactful.

Case Study:  Examples

Glynn is an occupational therapist, who currently works in a physical disability rehabilitation setting.   Glynn is currently participating in a post-professional occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) program in an urban university setting.  According to Glynn’s OTD program, she will begin her capstone courses next semester.  In order for Glynn to prepare for their upcoming capstone experience, they will do the following:

• Review their resume and update it, as necessary
• Update their biographical information
• Review the educational goals of capstone projects within their program of study (OTD)
• Review the format of capstone projects within their program of study (OTD)
• Self-reflect on their professional career and consider topics of interest that could be potential capstone projects
• Glynn is taking an OTD course, which addresses health literacy initiatives for low-health literate patients. Glynn is very intrigued with this topic and is considering this topic for their capstone project.

Optimizing Your Capstone Experience: A Guidebook for Allied Health Professionals Copyright © 2023 by Virginia E. Koenig is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Write a Capstone Project?

05 May, 2020

7 minutes read

Author:  Mathieu Johnson

Depending on your professor, he or she may define a capstone project as a capstone experience, a senior exhibition, or a culminating project. All of these terms refer to the assignment known as the capstone project. So what is a capstone project? Good question!

If you’ve never had to do one before, don’t worry—you surely have the skills to complete it. According to The Glossary of Education Reform, this particular type of assignment is “…a multifaceted assignment that serves as a culminating academic and intellectual experience…”. Simply put, the goal of this assignment is to integrate a variety of skills and knowledge acquired throughout the length of an entire course.

Still wondering what is a capstone project? Here are a few more defining details. These types of projects are considered long-term and are assigned well before their due date. Students are often asked to select a topic of interest, conduct research, track their process, and create an original final project to share the entire process and findings. Capstone projects rarely culminate in a single paper. They often involve portfolios and/or a multimedia presentation of some sort as well as an oral presentation. Check out these capstone projects at Yale University.

While this type of assignment is for a single class, presentations may be presented in front of a panel of teachers or professors as well as community stakeholders. Capstone projects are long, involved, require a great deal of planning, and are often heavily weighted in a student’s overall grade. In short, they require students to demonstrate a wide variety of skills in a multi-stage assignment.

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Capstone Project Outline

When you first receive this type of assignment, it’s a good idea to sit down and brainstorm a capstone project outline. Taking the time to map out your approach will save a great deal of time later. This type of project requires a broad range of skills including the following:

• Media literacy
• Independent work
• Oral communication
• Interdisciplinary

Identify any weak areas early and develop a plan to tackle them head-on. Most professors allow students to select the best presentation method for their capstone project; therefore, you’ll have the ability to select a final product that you’ll enjoy doing. This could mean creating a public service announcement or perhaps a pamphlet to be distributed at a local event. It could also mean presenting your research at an appropriate local event. The first step in approaching what is a term paper is to consider your final product. Once you’ve determined where you’re going, it will be much easier to plot a path to get there.

Once you’ve determined your final outcome, it’s time to create a capstone project outline. Brainstorm the best sources for research. Consider creating questioners for professionals in the field you’re researching and make appointments to interview them to get primary source information. Consider investigating multiple forms of information including newspapers, magazines, journals, and other informational texts. Consider the problem from various viewpoints to ensure that you’re covering all aspects of your chosen topic.

Next, you’ll need to organize all your research into logical groups to present it in some way. Whether you create a multi-media presentation, give a lecture, create a brochure, or air a PSA, the information will need to be easily accessible to the audience and accurate.

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Capstone Project Format

Your capstone project format can take a variety of different shapes. Since each capstone project format may be different depending on the issue that you’re researching, it is very important to get approval for your idea from the teacher or professor. Before you begin any type of research, be sure that your project is in line with what the professor wants. Set up a meeting during office hours to review your goals, your approach, and your final product. Once you have approval, you’re good to go! Not sure how to approach your capstone project format? Here are some potential ideas:

• Creating a business plan for a product or service that would solve a current issue in the community; the plan will be presented and assessed to local industry leaders and community stakeholders
• Create an air a PSA concerning a local issue
• Write and illustrate a children’s book on an important issue; present the book to age-appropriate children and lead lessons on issues in the book
• Designing an app to help a specific population or address a specific community need

As you can see, a capstone project format can take a variety of different forms. While there is certainly writing involved in the “what is a capstone project”, the emphasis will be on the culminating project.

Capstone Project Writing

Once you’re finished with the capstone project format it’s time to get down to the capstone project writing. Depending on what your capstone project format it will depend upon the type of capstone project writing you’ll need to do. While some students will be focused on scripts and press releases, other capstone project writing will be more along the lines of formal reports or text for multi-media presentations.UTICA College has a great step by step guide for approaching all the parts of capstone projects. Whether you need to write a formal report or many smaller pieces of text for a brochure or oral presentation, the same rules apply. All capstone project writing should be grammatically perfect and well-organized.

Related post: Research paper topics list

Hopefully, this guide has answered basic questions regarding what is a capstone project. Remember: this type of assignment is meant to be a culminating activity. This means that it will rely on all the skills you’ve learned throughout the course to make it a success. Choose your topic wisely; you’ll be spending a great deal of time researching information, organizing it, and presenting it. Planning out your approach and setting milestones for your project will be essential to its success. You’ll need to avoid procrastination and work diligently throughout the duration of the project. Ask your professor and/or mentor for help; they will be invaluable resources during this important assignment.

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CAPSTONE PROJECT: Parts of a Capstone Project

• Parts of a Capstone Project
• Voice in the Capstone Project
• Analysis of Qualitative Data

What a Table of Contents Could Contain

I      Introduction        A     Statement Of Problem/Opportunity (Research Question)        B     Background, Context, And Significance Of Study        C     Project Researcher Identification II     Literature Review        A     Subheadings (Themes Discovered In Review)        B     Notice Of Gaps In Knowledge III    Methods        A     Subjects/Participants        B     Data Collection Approaches/Strategies              1     Advantage Of Strategy              2     Limitation Of Strategy              3     Potential Risk              4     Ethical Issues About Collection Upon The Subjects/Participants        C     Data Analysis Approaches And/Or Software (NOT The Results Themselves, Just How You Are Going To Analyze The Data – Coding Method, Analysis Of Interviews/Recordings, Mathematics And Stats Analysis) IV     Results, Findings, Interpretation, And Discussion V      Recommendations, Application, And Conclusion VI     Reference Pages

What Goes Into Each Section

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What are Capstone Projects?

Posted: April 22, 2021

Donna A. Gessell is a professor of English. She has long taught the capstone course for students earning the BA in English with Teacher Certification.

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of posts called HIPs Implementation about the ongoing USG-directed effort to document and promote HIPs at UNG.

Capstone Courses and Projects is one of eleven High-Impact Practices (HIPs) described by the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U). HIPs have been documented to produce a wide range of positive outcomes, including increased rates of student retention and engagement. As part of the USG effort to encourage and document the use of HIPs across the system, UNG is tracking four HIPs, including Capstone Projects. Because the capstone is so important for ensuring students' futures, each department at UNG is encouraged to create capstone courses for each of their degree areas.

The definition of Capstone Courses and Projects, according to the AAC&U, is as follows:

Whether they're called "senior capstones " or some other name, these culminating experiences require students nearing the end of their college years to create a project of some sort that integrates and applies what they've learned. The project might be a research paper, a performance, a portfolio of "best work, " or an exhibit of artwork. Capstones are offered both in departmental programs and, increasingly, in general education as well.

As the instructor of the capstone Teaching English course, I'm well aware of the value for my students of the required projects because they consistently compliment the course for its practical value and the applicability of the projects to their careers. They take the course during the Fall semester of their last year as undergraduates and their first semester of a year-long internship in an area public secondary school. It is a time when students are becoming professionals, and a key component of the course is my observation of a class they teach as part of their internship. I ensure that they demonstrate the skills necessary to teach the content of English. This capstone observation not only counts toward their class grade, but also forms the foundation for the professional recommendations I will write for them while they are on the job market.

Students complete capstone projects in addition to making peer presentations in and discussing each of the areas of teaching English, including the pedagogical theories and practice involved in teaching reading, writing, and speaking, using technology effectively, designing curriculum, assessing student work, recognizing and addressing diversity, adapting lessons to meet individual needs, and resolving other challenges that often arise in the English classroom.

The capstone projects are designed to provide tools—both methods and materials—needed by students transitioning into their professional careers. They include developing an English portfolio that involves students' reflection over their college careers as English majors and evaluating assignments in composition, linguistic, and literary courses to track their own development in each area. Also, a résumé and cover letter project ensures that students are able to represent themselves well on paper, with a wide audience in mind, so as to attract an interview. Finally, a two-week teaching unit asks students to focus on a teaching subject they are particularly passionate about. Although the unit fulfills part of the course requirements, it is meant for their own use in the future, when they will need to pull down a ready-made unit that is complete with internal assessments, assignments, and teaching rationale. In fact, the cover essay for that assignment, which addresses the theory underlying their teaching practice, goes through at least three drafts because it helps them focus on their teaching philosophy.

Students are challenged by the semester. During this process of transformation, they are neither fully students nor fully teachers. They value these assignments and the resulting conversations with their peers, mentors, and teachers—both secondary and baccalaureate—that allow them to integrate and apply what they have learned about teaching and learning English, in all of its many forms.

Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics

Capstone project guidance, introduction to the capstone project.

The capstone project is a degree requirement of the Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics Program. Students complete their capstone projects during the last three quarters of their program. Students will use the skills and experience gained during the program to complete a biomedical informatics project with a sponsoring organization. The projects are conducted in groups of two students with mentorship from the student’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), consisting of scientific advisors and capstone sponsor as well as the capstone course instructors.

Students enroll in three capstone classes scheduled in three consecutive quarters. Capstone projects start in either the Winter or Summer quarters.

In the first of the three courses, Capstone Project Proposal, students will develop their project. They document the scope of the project, and turn a problem statement, whether provided by a sponsor or developed independently, into an actionable plan for research. In the second course, Capstone Project Implementation, students will complete the bulk of their research. Even though research may or will have already gotten underway during the first quarter, students will be completing the bulk of their quantitative and qualitative research, data analysis, and other data collection methodologies during the second, Implementation quarter. In the third and final quarter, Capstone Project Writing & Presentation, students may complete their data collection and will write their final capstone paper, finalize any additional deliverables for the sponsor, and develop a presentation that summarizes their work.  They will present their work at the Capstone Showcase scheduled at the end of the third quarter.  All courses will have assignments and students will be assessed quality grades.

All students must meet standards for satisfactory academic progress as outlined in the Graham Student Manual to begin their capstone project. Students must not be on probation, must not have incomplete courses, and must possess at least a 3.00 cumulative GPA. Because the capstone sequence involves university-industry partnerships, a high degree of professionalism is expected of students during all phases of the capstone project.

Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) Mentorship

The SAC provides mentorship and guidance to student teams throughout the capstone process. The SAC comprises 1-2 MScBMI instructors 1 , who serve as scientific advisors, and at least one representative from the capstone sponsor organization. Even though the scientific advisor and capstone sponsor are both on the SAC and may share certain competencies, they have distinct roles in the guidance and oversight they provide students.

Scientific Advisors

Program staff match MScBMI instructors as scientific advisors to capstone projects based on their subject matter expertise in an area of biomedical informatics. Scientific advisors should be regularly updated on progress of the project throughout the capstone process because they will grade the final capstone paper and presentation. In addition, they can advise students on appropriate sources, methodologies, and perspectives for their projects so that they can produce professionally relevant and rigorous research. 

Primary advisors should be available for every meeting to provide guidance and feedback. Secondary advisors will attend meetings if their schedules allow.  Both advisors should be included in meeting invites, progress update emails, etc.  Both advisors will be grading the final paper and presentation at the end of the Capstone Writing and Presentation quarter.

Meetings with scientific advisors should be held each quarter as follows:

• Proposal Course : meet at least three times or approximately once per month to share finalized project scope and solicit feedback and subject matter advice.
• Implementation Course : meet at least three times or approximately once per month to discuss data collection methodologies and preliminary analyses to ensure that high quality research is being conducted.
• Writing & Presentation Course : meet at least three times or approximately once per month to discuss the final analyses, conclusions and recommendations derived from the research to ensure that the final capstone paper and presentation are thorough and rigorous.

Capstone Sponsor

The capstone sponsor provides direct oversight and supervision of the student team by guiding the goals and scope of the project. Typically, sponsors are seeking solutions to specific problems or aim to gain an understanding of issues of particular importance and relevance to their work. To ensure that student teams are working according to the expectations of the sponsor, student teams should connect with the capstone sponsor throughout the year. The meetings should occur as follows:

• Proposal Course : two to three times to discuss and set project goals, scope, and deliverables.
• Implementation Course : weekly or bi-weekly to report on findings and progress in data collection and to adjust the goals and scope of the project if necessary.
• Writing & Presentation Course : two to three times to discuss findings and conclusions; and to confirm the structure of the final deliverable for the sponsor 2 .

Capstone Instructors

The capstone instructors and instructional assistants will also work closely with students. The instructional team will help match students to projects, provide guidance on the research process (generally) including research methods, the structure of the written work, the logic of the analyses and writing. The instructors are there to address questions about the process, set expectations for the level of work that is required, explain the principles of research, help student teams work together and organize their work, provide advice on how to address the concerns of the SAC and teach principles of writing. Capstone instructors may also meet with students between quarters. Students will meet with capstone instructors as follows:

• Proposal Course : during weekly course meetings and by student team, at least once a month. Student teams are invited to meet with the capstone instructors whenever they have questions.
• Implementation Course : during weekly course meetings or lab sessions, and by student team, at least once a month. Student teams are invited to meet with the capstone instructors whenever they have questions.
• Writing & Presentation Course : during weekly course meetings and by student team, whenever necessary. Student teams are invited to meet with the capstone instructors whenever they have questions.

Finding a Project

MScBMI staff curate a catalog of projects for student teams and match students to these projects based on their preferences, skills, and professional experience. Even though matching to a project from the catalog is preferred, students may suggest a project idea. Please see below for details on matching to a project and requirements for proposing a project.

MScBMI project catalog

The MScBMI program has academic, industry, and non-profit partners that sponsor projects. Descriptions of these projects will be shared prior to the start of the Capstone Proposal Course. The capstone administrator, program staff and MSBI 39901 instructional team will facilitate the matching process between organizations and students and initiate introductory communication between the student teams and sponsors. The final decision on whether the student will be matched to the project will rest with the sponsor organization.

Student proposed project

If a student has a relevant project from an employer or professional network that could be submitted as a capstone project, it must be approved by the MScBMI program staff, capstone administrator and instructional team. The proposed project is required to be different from day-to-day work duties and must have a detailed scope and goals that address the needs of the sponsor and the field of biomedical informatics. The student (or student team) must identify a capstone sponsor who would provide adequate supervision and must work with the sponsor to decide on a final deliverable for the sponsor. If a student is interested in moving forward with an independently proposed project, the project problem statement and description must be submitted in advance of the start of the Capstone Proposal quarter by the deadline communicated by the capstone administrator. 

Capstone Courses

During the first quarter of the project students will develop a capstone project proposal. In this graded course, students will complete different sections of the proposal as assignments and will revise their work to produce a strong draft by the end of the quarter. In addition, students will be required to meet with scientific advisors and sponsors on a regular basis. (See below.) All assignments are set by the MSBI 39901 instructor and are included in the syllabus on the Canvas course site. Note: Peers may be asked to provide feedback on the work of their partner. Sponsors may also be asked to provide feedback on the work of the student teams.

Sections of the Proposal

The project proposal may include any or all of the following sections. (These should be reviewed with your SAC before collecting data in the Implementation phase.)

• The problem statement should include a brief description of the specific biomedical informatics problem or research question.
• Research questions should indicate the goals of the research.
• Introduction, Background and Significance  should provide context for the problem that will be addressed. This could include descriptions of the organizations that may be part of the focus of the research, history of laws that are pertinent to the problem, discussions of biomedical informatics concepts and considerations that are relevant to the problem, and the like. The precise content of the background section will depend on the problem being addressed in the research. Again, the background section establishes the context and the relevant information that would make the problem intelligible.
• The Literature Review includes a review of the relevant literature pertaining to the proposed problem/project. The purpose is to establish what is already known about the focus of research and to determine if there are gaps in the research. The literature review also presents controversies and debates. The literature review can provide the rationale for the research that the MScBMI student team is undertaking. The precise content will depend on the project.
• The methodology section lays out the anticipated methods that will be used for data collection. It will also include the type of analyses that will be conducted and what type of data will be needed. Methods that have been previously used include, but are not limited to, surveying and interviewing professionals in the field, conducting a case study, reviewing media reports, and analyzing quantitative data.
• A timeline of dates by which each step and milestone will be accomplished should be included, along with a description of any potential obstacles.

Note : Proposals should present a well-defined project, but projects continue to evolve. A proposal cannot anticipate all the insights and challenges that would cause the project to change. However, the proposal still helps to guide the project. As the project progresses, sections of the proposal may be revised, and changes reflected in the final paper.

A project that involves human subjects must be reviewed by the University of Chicago Institutional Review Board (IRB). According to the UChicago Social and Behavioral (SBS) IRB office, human subjects research includes but is not limited to:

• Studies that collect new data through intervention or interaction with individuals (e.g., interviews, surveys) and yield information about the individuals including their opinions, views, and thoughts on various topics (e.g., surveys about alcohol consumption, interviews on experience with active shooter situations),  
• Studies that produce generalizable knowledge about categories or classes of subjects from individually identifiable information, or
• Studies that use human beings to evaluate environmental alterations, for example, weatherization options or habitat modifications to their living or working space or test chamber.

Projects which are not currently covered under existing IRB protocol and involve human subjects must be submitted for IRB review. Students must submit project details to the capstone instructors by the deadline established and no later than the start of month 2 of the Capstone Proposal course, see supporting document “MScBMI IRB Review.” The instructional team will aggregate project information and submit to the director of the SBS IRB who will determine whether each project must submit an application online via AURA.

During the second quarter of the capstone process the student team will execute the research plan outlined in the capstone proposal. Student teams are expected to spend at least 100 hours on the project throughout each quarter (equivalent to the time spent on a typical 100-unit course), but research can be unpredictable, and more time may be required. To ensure that students stay on track with their data collection and analyses, the MSBI 39902 instructor will require assignments requesting students share preliminary data collection results and project status. These assignments will be included in the syllabus and on the Canvas course site. Note: Peers may be asked to provide feedback on the work of their partner. Sponsors may also be asked to provide feedback on the work of the student teams.

During the Capstone Implementation course, students are expected to adhere to the following: 

Regular Communication with the Sponsor

The project proposal should include a timeline and description of communication with the sponsor, including how and when check-ins will occur. Students should be checking in with their sponsors on a regular basis, whether that means weekly or biweekly, and in-person or virtually. Students should report any obstacles to fulfilling this requirement to the capstone instructor and program staff.

Regular Communication with Scientific Advisors

The project proposal should include a timeline and description of communication with scientific advisors. Regular communication with the scientific advisor about progress, course corrections, and challenges will help manage uncertainty. Regular meetings with scientific advisors will also help address unexpected outcomes, will help avoid errors in the analysis, and will help strengthen the methods and results. Weekly, bi-weekly or at a minimum 3x quarter meetings are recommended depending on advisor availability. Students should report any obstacles to fulfilling this requirement to the capstone instructor and program staff.

Professionalism

All students must abide by the sponsor and University of Chicago standards for professional behavior, appearance, and communications during the capstone sequence. When students are working on their capstone project, they are representing themselves, their group, and the University of Chicago as biomedical informatics professionals. If the expectations are unclear regarding onsite business attire, the sponsor should be contacted before visiting the site. Because capstone projects involve crucial communications with the sponsor and/or with the MScBMI team, UChicago email should be used for all official interactions. Voicemail should also be checked regularly for sponsor communications.

Even though student teams may still be finalizing data collection and reporting results, the final course of the capstone process focuses on writing the final paper and developing a presentation. Students will be graded on assignments created by the MSBI 39903 instructor. Assignments mainly consist of drafts of various sections of the paper. Due dates are included in the syllabus and on the Canvas course site. Note: Peers may be asked to provide feedback on the work of their partner. Sponsors may also be asked to provide feedback on the work of the student teams.

Course requirements include:

Capstone Final Paper

At the end of the final quarter of the capstone process, student teams will submit a research paper as a capstone course and MScBMI degree requirement. The final paper may also be submitted to the capstone sponsor for their review.

All final papers will have the essential components of an academic paper as outlined by the instructor in the syllabus and Canvas course site (e.g., abstract, introduction & background, methods, results, discussion/conclusion, literature review, references, and appendices) and should be no more than 50 pages in length (not counting references and appendices). 

Even though every team must submit a final academic research paper as a degree and capstone requirement, the project sponsor may request additional, written deliverables different from the capstone paper. The scope and format of additional deliverable(s) should be predetermined with the sponsor during the Capstone Proposal course and discussed with the capstone instructional team. The following are examples of deliverables which may be requested by a sponsor: 

• White Paper - A white paper advocates for a certain technical position or solution/tool (e.g., best practices or guidelines) to address a particular problem.
• Data analysis, research summary and report on results – The specific format should be discussed with the sponsor.
• Other – Defined by the sponsor organization.

Capstone Final Presentation

All capstone students are expected to develop a presentation of their work and provide a project summary at the MScBMI Capstone Showcase.  All team members are expected to speak during their presentation.

Presentation Format and Help

Students will develop the presentation using a PowerPoint template that is accessible on the Canvas capstone course sites. Students are expected to reach out to their SAC to solicit feedback, practice, and fine-tune the presentation. Students should be prepared to rehearse their presentations before the showcase.

Elements of the Presentation

Presentations must include key elements from the project proposal and final paper as noted below.  Requirements will also be outlined by the instructor in the syllabus and Canvas course site:

• Statement of the problem.
• Methodology, data, and resources used.
• Results and findings.
• Recommendations that emerged from the research.
• Limitations and potential next steps.

Capstone Project Grading

The grade for MSBI 39903 Capstone Writing & Presentation will comprise the following elements:

Written document

The final academic research paper will account for a major percentage of the final grade. It is graded by the scientific advisor(s). The final paper may also be shared with the capstone sponsor in addition to any deliverables specifically requested by the sponsor.

Capstone Showcase Presentation and Q&A

Scientific advisors will score presentations of projects assigned to them during the capstone showcase and provide written feedback. All scores will be averaged and included in the final course grade.

Course assignments as outlined in syllabus by instructional team

Note : Rubrics used for grading the final paper and presentation and the weighting of each component will be outlined in the syllabus and/or on the Canvas course site.

MScBMI Capstone Project Timeline

Before capstone courses begin.

• Attend or review a capstone information session.
• Update resumes.

Pre-Quarter Capstone Proposal

• Review capstone project catalog.
• Complete the Capstone Preferences Survey.
• Complete all pre-quarter assignments as outlined by MSBI 39901 instructor and capstone administrator.
• Prepare for the IRB process by completing CITI training and applying for an AURA account.

Capstone Proposal

• Finalize project and student match.
• Student teams host introductory meeting with SAC – sponsor, advisors, and instructional team member(s).
• Complete all assignments as outlined by MSBI 39901 instructor.
• Regularly meet with the sponsor to finalize project scope, goals for the project and any additional deliverables for the sponsor.
• Regularly meet with scientific advisors to receive feedback on the project proposal.
• Submit project information to capstone instructors for determination of IRB application.
• Submit final capstone project proposal.
• Complete peer evaluations if required.

Capstone Implementation

• Complete all assignments as outlined by MSBI 39902 instructor.
• Execute project plan: conduct research, collect data and follow expectations defined in the capstone proposal.
• Check in (weekly or bi-weekly) with sponsor contact.
• Check in (weekly, bi-weekly or at a minimum 3x quarter) with scientific advisors.
• Share assignments with scientific advisors.

Writing and Presentation

• Complete all assignments as outlined by MSBI 39903 instructor.
• Check in with SAC while writing the final paper and presentation.
• Complete peer evaluations.
• Submit final capstone project paper.
• Develop capstone project presentation.
• Present at the MScBMI Capstone Showcase.
• Share final paper with project sponsor.
• The program may also approve non-MScBMI faculty as a scientific advisor under special circumstances.
• It is possible that the sponsor will request a deliverable that is different from the capstone paper. If questions arise, please consult with the capstone instructional team.
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MPH Capstone experiences: promising practices and lessons learned

Associated data.

The data analyzed in this study is subject to the following licenses/restrictions: The data were collected for internal program evaluation. We did not request permission at the time of data collection to disseminate these raw data. Requests to access these datasets should be directed to ude.cnu@deirfdnal .

To ensure workforce readiness, graduate-level public health training programs must prepare students to collaborate with communities on improving public health practice and tools. The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) requires Master of Public Health (MPH) students to complete an Integrative Learning Experience (ILE) at the end of their program of study that yields a high-quality written product demonstrating synthesis of competencies. CEPH suggests written products ideally be “developed and delivered in a manner that is useful to external stakeholders, such as non-profit or governmental organizations.” However, there are limited examples of the ILE pedagogies and practices most likely to yield mutual benefit for students and community partners. To address this gap, we describe a community-led, year-long, group-based ILE for MPH students, called Capstone. This service-learning course aims to (1) increase capacity of students and partner organizations to address public health issues and promote health equity; (2) create new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that promote health equity; (3) enhance student preparedness and marketability for careers in public health; and (4) strengthen campus-community partnerships. Since 2009, 127 Capstone teams affiliated with the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have worked with seventy-nine partner organizations to provide over 103,000 h of in-kind service and produce 635 unique products or “deliverables.” This paper describes key promising practices of Capstone, specifically its staffing model; approach to project recruitment, selection, and matching; course format; and assignments. Using course evaluation data, we summarize student and community partner outcomes. Next, we share lessons learned from 13 years of program implementation and future directions for continuing to maximize student and community partner benefits. Finally, we provide recommendations for other programs interested in replicating the Capstone model.

Introduction

Responding to public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic requires a public health workforce skilled in community partnership ( 1 , 2 ). Schools and programs of public health are thus charged with designing community-engaged learning experiences while also satisfying accreditation criteria ( 3 ). The accrediting body for schools and programs of public health, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), requires Master of Public Health (MPH) students to complete an Integrative Learning Experience (ILE), which represents a culminating experience near the end of their program of study. The ILE must yield a high-quality written product (e.g., “program evaluation report, training manual, policy statement, take-home comprehensive essay exam, legislative testimony with accompanying supporting research, etc.”) that demonstrates synthesis of a set of competencies ( 2 ). Such products may be generated from practice-based projects, essay-based comprehensive exams, capstone programs, or integrative seminars ( 2 ). CEPH guidelines suggest ILE written products ideally be “developed and delivered in a manner that is useful to external stakeholders, such as non-profit or governmental organizations” ( 2 ).

Within this paper, we describe promising practices employed within a community-led, group-based, year-long, critical service-learning course, called Capstone, for MPH students within the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health (Gillings) at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) ( 4 ). We explain the specifics of Capstone's staffing model; project recruitment, selection, and matching processes; course format; and assignments, all of which are designed to promote mutual benefit for students and community partners. Using internal and school-level course evaluations, we present findings on student and community partner outcomes. Next, we reflect on lessons learned from 13 years of implementation experience and suggest future directions for Capstone programming. Finally, we share recommendations for other programs interested in replicating Capstone. We hope the information presented in this paper will benefit other programs interested in ILEs that have mutual benefit for students and community partners.

Pedagogical framework

By design, Capstone is a critical service-learning course. Service-learning pedagogies and practices vary widely. Essential elements of service-learning include community-engaged activities tied to learning goals and ongoing reflection ( 5 – 7 ). The literature documents wide-ranging benefits students gain from service-learning programs such as improved critical thinking skills as well as stronger leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills ( 5 , 8 ). Participation in service-learning courses promotes program satisfaction ( 9 ), academic achievement ( 5 , 8 – 10 ), and job marketability ( 9 , 11 ) among students. Finally, service-learning experiences enhance students' civic engagement ( 2 , 4 , 7 ), cultural awareness, and practice of cultural humility ( 8 , 12 ).

Despite these benefits, service-learning implementation challenges are well documented. Service-learning courses require significant resources to cover program expenses and staffing dedicated to developing and maintaining community partner relationships ( 7 , 12 – 15 ). In addition, the academic calendar may not align with community partners' timelines ( 5 , 14 , 16 ). Students and community partners have additional responsibilities and competing priorities outside coursework, thus creating variable levels of engagement across program participants ( 13 – 15 , 17 , 18 ). In cases where students have nascent project management skills and limited professional experience ( 9 , 10 , 13 ), it can be difficult to achieve mutual benefits among students and community partners.

A prominent debate within the field is the degree to which service-learning projects perpetuate the status quo or facilitate social change. Specifically, researchers question which elements of service-learning best create the conditions for student learning and positive community transformation ( 5 , 19 – 21 ). To provide a framework for this debate, Mitchell ( 5 ) differentiates between “traditional service-learning” and “critical service-learning.” Traditional service-learning is often critiqued for prioritizing student learning needs over benefits to the community ( 5 , 21 ). In contrast, critical service-learning is explicitly committed to social justice ( 5 ). Key elements of a critical service-learning approach include: (1) redistributing power among members of the partnership; (2) building authentic relationships (i.e., those characterized by connection, mutual benefits, prolonged engagement, trust, and solidarity); and (3) working from a social change perspective ( 5 ).

Most service-learning program descriptions within public health training do not reference either a traditional or critical service-learning framework ( 8 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 22 , 23 ). Several published programs align with a traditional service-learning model, due to the exclusive focus on student benefits and the absence of an explicit commitment to power sharing, authentic partnerships, or social change. For example, Schober et al. ( 24 ) underscore service-learning as an effective means to train a younger workforce to address complex public health issues. Gupta et al. ( 8 ) describe the importance of self-reflection activities for personal growth and skill development, structured within a service-learning program for undergraduate students enrolled in a community nutrition course. While these courses contain many of the best practices in service-learning, including reflection, they discuss student outcomes without promoting or evaluating social change ( 6 ).

The literature also cites programs and courses that include elements of critical service-learning but do not use critical service-learning terminology. For example, a service-learning program at the University of Connecticut outlines how students contribute to structural changes and social progress through policy development and implementation as part of their applied practice experience, which culminates with a presentation to the state legislature ( 23 ). Additionally, Sabo et al. ( 12 ) describe a service-learning course at the University of Arizona oriented toward social justice, as the course is “modeled on the reduction of health disparities through exploration, reflection, and action on the social determinants of health” through strong community-academic partnerships across urban, rural, and indigenous settings. These examples highlight commitment to social progress, community impact, and equitable collaboration without overtly applying the language of critical service-learning.

A small number of service-learning practitioners define their programs explicitly as critical-service learning. Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ) document the benefits of a critical service-learning experience for undergraduate public health students, endorsing it as a “feasible, sustainable” high-impact practice. In their model, students partner with community organizations to address social determinants of health; analyze and challenge power dynamics and systems of oppression; and gain skills. As evidence of power sharing and social change, the authors document that communities have continued their partnerships with the university due to the expansive reach and impact of their collaborations. Authentic relationships were also developed as students gained a stronger sense of commitment to communities. Derreth and Wear ( 25 ) describe the transition to an online critical service-learning course as universities grappled with changing instructional formats with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this course, public health students collaborated with Baltimore residents to create evaluation tools while participating in reflective activities. As evidence of critical service-learning, they documented students' changed perspectives, ongoing commitment to collaborate with residents after the course, and development of strong connections with faculty. These courses show the possibilities of critical service-learning ILEs. Detailed descriptions of program structures are needed for interested faculty to replicate best practices. To assist others with adopting or adapting elements of critical service-learning ILEs, this paper provides specifics about Capstone programming.

Learning environment

Program overview.

Community-Led Capstone Project: Part I and II (Capstone) is a graduate-level course situated within UNC-CH's Gillings' Department of Health Behavior (Department). The Department developed Capstone in response to faculty concerns about the variable investment in and quality of master's papers ( 26 ), coupled with a desire to design a practice-based culminating experience driven by community partners' needs, interests, and concerns. Capstone satisfies CEPH ILE requirements and serves as the substitute for UNC-CH's master's thesis requirement for students in the Health Behavior (HB) and Health Equity, Social Justice, and Human Rights (EQUITY) MPH concentrations. The overwhelming majority of students in these two concentrations are full-time residential students pursuing an MPH within a two-year time frame, though there are a few students who are enrolled in a dual degree program to earn their MPH alongside a Master of Social Work (MSW) or Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) within 3 years.

During this year-long course, which occurs during the second year of the MPH program, students synthesize and apply their MPH training to community-designed public health projects. Supplementary material A , B include a list of HB and EQUITY required courses and their sequencing. The specific competencies applied and assessed during Capstone are listed in Supplementary material C . Each team of four to five Capstone students works with a partner organization and its constituents to produce a set of four to six deliverables (i.e., tangible products). Deliverables are based on the partner organization's self-identified needs. This community-led approach prioritizes partners' interests and gives students an opportunity to do applied public health work on a range of topics with a variety of organization types. Figure 1 details the tasks and timelines entailed in this programming. Table 1 presents information from selected projects that showcase the range of partner organizations, activities, and deliverables present in Capstone. Capstone's specific objectives are to (1) increase capacity among students and partner organizations to address public health issues and promote health equity; (2) create new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that advance health equity; (3) enhance student preparedness and marketability for public health careers; and (4) strengthen campus-community partnerships.

Gantt chart illustrating major Capstone activities and timeline.

Sample projects.

Personnel and resources

Capstone involves numerous constituents and requires dedicated resources. Each partner organization is represented by one or two preceptors (i.e., main points of contact from the partner organization) who provide a vision for, direct, and supervise the project work. Preceptors spend 2–4 h per week meeting with students, providing guidance on the work, and reviewing deliverables. Student teams are responsible for managing Capstone relationships, processes, and tasks and producing deliverables that enhance their skillsets while meeting their partner organization's needs. They are expected to spend 6–9 h per week, outside of class time, on Capstone. One faculty adviser per project provides technical expertise and ensures that each team's project deliverables meet UNC-CH's master's thesis substitute and CEPH ILE requirements. Faculty advisers spend 30 min to an hour a week providing feedback and guidance on the project work. Advising a Capstone team every other year is a service expectation for Department faculty. The teaching team, which is comprised of course instructor(s) and teaching assistants (TAs), recruits the partner organizations and oversees and supports the Capstone experience. Each instructor manages ten to eleven teams (typically between forty and fifty students) and receives coverage equal to twenty percent full-time equivalent per semester. TAs, who are HB or EQUITY MPH alumni and/or HB doctoral students, each work with five to six teams and are expected to work 18 h a week on Capstone. TAs provide feedback on draft deliverables, direct students to resources, and help problem solve. Departmental administrative staff provide additional support to coordinate expenses associated with the program such as project-related travel, equipment, services (e.g., transcription, interpretation, translation), books, software, incentives, postage, and other costs. Capstone students pay a one-time $600 field fee to cover a portion of the expenses associated with Capstone. This fee was approved by the University and is paid when a student enrolls in the first semester of the course.

Project recruitment, selection, and matching

Recruitment.

The process of setting up Capstone projects takes 9 months of advance planning (see Figure 1 ). The Capstone teaching team solicits project proposals in December for the upcoming academic year. They send email solicitations with Capstone overview information ( Supplementary material D ) and the project proposal form ( Supplementary material E ) to current and former Capstone partner organizations, hosts of other experiential education experiences, and department listservs. The Capstone teaching team encourages recipients to share the solicitation information with their networks. Prospective partners' first step is to have an informational interview with a Capstone instructor to discuss their project ideas and to receive coaching on elements of successful proposals. These interviews are also an opportunity for the teaching team to assess an organization's capacity to support a student team and gain insights on the prospective preceptors' communication, work, and leadership styles. The teaching team invites prospective partners to submit draft proposals for their review prior to the proposal deadline. Prospective partners submit their finalized project proposals and a letter of support from their leadership to the teaching team by email in early February.

The teaching team typically receives twenty project proposals. To determine which projects will be presented to incoming Capstone students, a committee consisting of the teaching team and student representatives from the current Capstone class reviews and scores proposals based on the criteria listed in Table 2 . Reviewers score each criterion on a scale of one through five with one being the lowest score and five being the highest score. The fifteen community partners with the highest scoring proposals are invited to share their ideas with students via a recorded seven-minute project overview presentation.

Project selection criteria.

Incoming Capstone students have 1 week in March to review the proposal materials and rank their top five project preferences. Based on student rankings, the teaching team assembles project teams using the following guiding principles: (1) give as many students as possible their top-ranked project; (2) promote diversity of concentrations and experience levels within student teams; and (3) ensure the number of students per team is appropriate for the proposed scope of work. Once the student teams are assembled, the teaching team matches faculty advisers to projects based on faculty's interests and expertise. The teaching team announces final team composition in early April. The course instructor(s) facilitates an initial meeting with each student team, their preceptor(s), and their faculty adviser in May to build community, clarify expectations, and orient the student team to their project work and partner organization. Project work formally begins in August of the following academic year.

Course format

Capstone spans the fall and spring semesters (fifteen weeks per term) and is three credits per term. To help students, preceptors, and faculty advisers become familiar with expectations for Capstone, the teaching team reserves the first 4 weeks of the fall semester for onboarding. As part of the onboarding process, each team cocreates a team charter ( Supplementary material F ) to promote authentic relationships between students and their community partners and to clarify expectations for working together. They also produce a workplan ( Supplementary material G ), which elaborates on the partner's project proposal, to outline the team's scope of work. After the onboarding weeks, the teaching team meets with each student team during class three times per semester to receive project updates and provide support. The teaching team facilitates two whole-class reflection sessions per semester to help students make meaning of their experiences. All other Capstone class sessions are protected time for student teams to meet and work on their projects.

Course assignments

Capstone assignments are designed to ensure a mutually beneficial experience for students and community partners. They are also intended to facilitate critical reflection, yield high-quality written products, assess synthesis of selected competencies, and evaluate how students steward the relationships, processes, and tasks associated with their projects. To share power and collect their unique perspectives, preceptors and faculty advisers participate in the grading process. Tables 3 , ​ ,4 4 summarize course assignments, their descriptions, whether they are completed and assessed at the individual or group level, and the party responsible for assessing the assignment.

Capstone assignments for the fall semester.

TT, Teaching Team; P, Preceptor; FA, Faculty Adviser.

Capstone assignments for the spring semester.

Program evaluation

This study was exempted by UNC Chapel Hill's Institutional Review Board (IRB 21-0510) as it fell under the exemption category of “educational setting,” which includes research on instructional approaches and their effectiveness. To abstract and analyze data on the number of students who have completed Capstone, hours they dedicated to Capstone activities, and deliverables they produced, two authors referenced course records starting in 2009. The teaching team collects students' and preceptors' perspectives on Capstone through mid- and end-of-semester evaluations using Qualtrics. Gillings administers end-of-semester course evaluations that provide additional insights into student outcomes.

Core aspects of Capstone (e.g., program aims and our staffing model) have remained constant over the past 13 years. However, a variety of lessons learned and external conditions have led to program changes. Use of class time and project recruitment, selection, and matching processes have evolved to further promote health equity and maximize mutual student and community partner benefit. The EQUITY concentration joined Capstone in 2020, which led to changes in team composition. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a transition from in-person to a remote course format in academic years 2020 and 2021, introducing the opportunity to work with organizations across the nation.

To present qualitative findings that reflect our most current programming, two authors analyzed data from academic years 2020 and 2021. Ninety-eight students and twenty-two preceptors participated in Capstone during that time. The teaching team received a 100 percent response rate to their mid and end-of semester evaluations completed by students and preceptors and a seventy-two percent response rate to the Gillings-administered student course evaluations during academic years 2020 and 2021.

To identify key outcomes for students and preceptors, two authors completed a thematic analysis of evaluation responses ( 27 , 28 ). For students, they analyzed eighty-eight qualitative responses to the Gillings' course evaluation question, “What will you take away from this course?” Next, the two authors familiarized themselves with the data and inductively created a thematic codebook. To ensure consistent code use, they simultaneously coded approximately twenty-five percent of transcripts, coded remaining transcripts separately, and flagged any transcripts that required further review. To identify key preceptor outcomes, the two authors analyzed the twenty-two responses to the spring end-of-semester evaluation question, “Please describe how, if at all, your organization benefited from hosting a Capstone team.” They reviewed the responses to inductively create a codebook and then worked together to apply codes to all quotations to identify thematic groups.

Student outcomes

Since its inception in 2009, 574 students across 127 teams have completed the Capstone program, provided over 103,000 h of in-kind service, and produced more than 635 deliverables with our partner organizations. Between 2020–2022, ninety-eight students completed the current version of Capstone, provided 35,280 h of in-kind service, and produced eighty deliverables. Through our thematic analysis of course evaluation data, we identified two overarching themes for student outcomes: skill development and satisfaction.

Skill development, students' greatest takeaway from Capstone, was reflected in fifty-three percent ( n = 47) of students' qualitative evaluation responses. Students directly named interpersonal skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, collaboration, conflict management, facilitation, community engagement, coalition building) the most. They also commented on acquisition of technical skills (e.g., project management; content development; and data collection, analysis, and reporting). In most cases, students named a mix of skills in their responses. For example, one student said they will take away:

Skills developed on the project, including survey design and implementation as well as strategies for engaging with community advisory board authentically and successfully. Shared skills among team will stick with me as well – project management, inter–team communication, strategies for setting clear expectations and holding each other accountable.

Skill development helps achieve Capstone's course aims of increasing students' capacity to address public health issues and promote health equity while enhancing their preparedness and marketability for public health careers.

Twenty-four students commented on their satisfaction with the experience when sharing key takeaways. Seven students expressed dissatisfaction, primarily with course assignments, while seventeen others remarked on their satisfaction with the experience, particularly the applied format of the course. For example, one student shared,

This Capstone project really was special. Having a community partner that demonstrated how helpful these projects would be and work with us to shape the deliverables was such a unique process. I wish we had more community–focused classes like this one.

In alignment with Capstone's objective of strengthened campus-community partnerships and CEPH ILE goals, these Capstone partnerships afford students the opportunity to see the impacts of their learning and create meaningful work that benefits external constituents.

Community partner outcomes

Over the past 13 years, we have partnered with seventy-nine organizations representing a variety of sectors including healthcare, social services, education, and government. Twenty-five (31.6%) of our partner organizations have hosted multiple Capstone teams. Based on the twenty-two preceptor responses analyzed for this paper, two authors identified four major themes within community partner benefits: deliverable utility, enhanced capacity, broad impacts, and more inclusive processes. Sixteen (72.7%) preceptors said that they benefited from the deliverables (e.g., toolkit, communication tool, datasets, evaluation plan, report, oral history products, protocols, presentation, report, curriculum, manuscript, engagement plan) produced by their team. These findings reflect Capstone's course aim of creating new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies.

Fifty-seven percent ( n = 12) of preceptors noted that project outcomes would not have been possible without the support of a Capstone team. The resources teams developed increased partner organizations' capacity to further their work. For example, a preceptor shared:

The Capstone team provided us with SO many hours of highly skilled person power that we would not otherwise have had. We now have a draft of a thorough and high quality [toolkit], which I don't think could have been created without their labor, given the resource constraints of [our organization]. This toolkit will serve as a tool to start conversations with many […] stakeholders in the future. I think it will also serve as a model for other states.

Not only can students' in-kind service and the work they produce help increase the capacity of our partner organizations, but also the Capstone project work can have long-term and far-reaching impacts for public health practice at large. Indeed, preceptors ( n = 8) reported impacts that extend beyond the partner organization. For example, another preceptor noted,

[Our organization] will use the presentation and report that the Capstone team produced for the next decade. Not only will [our organization] benefit from advancing our strategic priorities and deepening our partnerships, but we believe this report will be used by other agencies across the county to advance behavioral health priorities in need of support.

This is an example of how Capstone can yield new and improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that have lasting impacts beyond those directly benefiting our partner organizations.

A final theme that emerged was organizations' increased ability to implement more inclusive processes. Four preceptors commented on expanded commitment to equity initiatives as illustrated by the following quote:

The work the team did for [our organization] is work that we've talked about doing for several years - but we never had the time. The protocols are important for injured children, so we're grateful for the team's work. We also have never addressed social equity as a group. Working with this team has prompted us to take a look at our practices. The evaluation plan the students developed will provide a mechanism for us to assess and trend our implementation of the protocols and our efforts to reduce inequities in trauma care.

This example demonstrates how Capstone's commitment to working from a social change orientation can impact our partner organizations' cultures. Overall, these findings illustrate the myriad community partner benefits present within Capstone.

These results show that Capstone mutually benefits community partners and students. Overall, students gained skills in collaborating with communities and contributed to collective capacity to improve public health practice and tools for promoting health equity. Our finding that skill development was a key student outcome aligns with Mackenzie et al.'s ( 13 ) and Gupta et al.'s ( 8 ) evaluations of similar service-learning courses. Among skills developed, both studies cited teamwork and professional development skills as key components ( 8 , 13 ). Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ), Derreth and Wear ( 25 ), and Sabo et al. ( 12 ) also report additional student outcomes that were not explicitly measured in our evaluation, including a deeper commitment to work with local communities, a deeper commitment to engaged scholarship, and stronger relationships with faculty.

In our evaluation, community partners benefitted through useful deliverables, enhanced capacity to do more public health work, impacts beyond the scope of the project, and more inclusive and equitable processes. Like our study, Gregorio et al. ( 23 ) found that their students' work products were very useful. Moreover, the Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ) study cited that students were able to offer additional capacity to organizations by “extending the[ir] reach,” which reinforced our main findings of enhanced capacity and impacts beyond the scope of the project. While not all service-learning course evaluation studies included data from community partners, our results aligned with those that did.

Lessons learned

After 13 years, we have identified several lessons learned about implementing a critical service-learning ILE. First, despite proactive planning efforts, the teaching team has learned to expect challenges related to project scope and relationships. The solicitation and refinement of projects and partnerships starts 9 months before the beginning of Capstone. Through extended individualized support and engagement, the teaching team hopes to build trust with community partners and collaborate in shaping and strengthening their project proposals. While there are benefits of this level of engagement, no amount of planning completely insulates projects from the unforeseen challenges of community-engaged work. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted how Capstone could engage with community partners, their priorities, and their staffing. In particular, preceptor turnover creates numerous challenges for team morale and project ownership, satisfaction, and impact.

Second, Capstone course assignments are designed to maximize positive experiences for students and community partners and to uphold the principles of critical service-learning, but students are often frustrated with them. The teaching team refers to the workplan and team charter as the “guardrails” of the Capstone. They exist to clarify expectations, promote power sharing and authentic relationships, and reinforce Capstone's commitment to social change. The teaching team has observed that teams who invest deeply in these documents are the least likely to encounter significant interpersonal and logistical setbacks during the experience. Despite the teaching team's messaging about the importance of these structures for mutually beneficial experiences, students routinely assert that the start of Capstone contains too much “administrative” work. While the teaching team continues to respect and incorporate students' critical feedback, they have learned to expect a certain amount of student dissatisfaction at the start of the experience.

Third, the Department has learned that having the appropriate amount of staffing and material resources to support projects is essential to ensuring positive impacts. Limiting partners to only those with material resources is one way that funding models both within public health and the non-profit sector often exclude organizations with more explicit social change agendas. Therefore, to maximize student learning and community partner benefit while minimizing community partner burden, Capstone has a high university-staff-to-project ratio and covers project expenses. To fund Capstone, the Department uses a combination of state resources and field fees. There is an enduring tension, especially because resources are scarce, to scale back spending on courses like Capstone. For experiences like these to sustain and grow, additional resources, not fewer, are needed.

Finally, programs like Capstone must adapt to shifting social, political, economic, and educational landscapes to ensure sustained positive impacts. For example, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the teaching team limited the eligible pool of Capstone community partners to those within a forty-mile radius of UNC-CH. The pandemic resulted in the teaching team broadening community partner eligibility criteria and now Capstone works with community partners across the nation. Capstone's expanded reach is aligned with the new vision for Public Health 3.0 where public health professionals are expected to “engage multiple sectors and community partners to generate collective impact” while improving social determinants of health ( 29 ).

Future directions for Capstone

Public Health 3.0 ( 29 ) looks to promote health, equity, and resilience. With more community partners working on projects that explicitly tackle upstream factors like education, housing, and poverty in addition to health, Gillings will need to update its MPH training program to ensure that students enter their ILEs with the skills needed to meet these challenges. Below we describe ongoing quality improvement efforts internal to the Capstone program to strengthen outcomes for students and partner organizations.

The teaching team hopes to continue to enhance student preparedness and marketability for careers in public health. Much like other experiential learning models that report benefits to career readiness, professional leadership, and confidence ( 15 , 18 ), students report a host of positive outcomes from their Capstone experience that imply preparedness and marketability. Students note the breadth and depth of technical and interpersonal skills gained, as has been reported elsewhere ( 13 , 30 ). These reports of enhanced preparedness align well with findings that among undergraduate seniors seeking employment immediately after graduation, students whose course history included service-learning and capstone courses experienced greater odds of starting a new job compared with those who did not engage those high-impact practices ( 31 ). In recent years, the teaching team has offered skill-building workshops, as replicated in other programs ( 3 ), to coach students on how to present their Capstone work on résumés and how to talk about their projects during interviews using sample scripts. To simulate job applications and increase engagement with partner organizations, the teaching team will consider inviting preceptors to review and provide feedback on students' résumés and project description scripts.

The teaching team also aims to further strengthen community partnerships. One way to maximize Capstone's benefit for community partners is to adapt recruitment strategies so that the teaching team reaches more organizations for whom the Capstone experience would be most impactful. This may mean further refining the application process to lessen the time burden on potential partners and disseminating the call for Capstone projects through different channels. To enhance the experience of selected community partners, the teaching team plans to implement more preceptor-specific programming such as check-in meetings and skill-building workshops to build community and encourage collaboration among community partners.

Finally, there is a clear need for a comprehensive Capstone evaluation. The teaching team has yet to administer surveys, interviews, or focus groups that explicitly evaluate course aims and the elements of critical service learning. Furthermore, our understanding of the long-term impacts of Capstone is currently limited to anecdotal information from exchanges with former students and preceptors. By conducting a strategic evaluation, including modifications to existing course feedback opportunities and an additional alumni survey moving forward, we can better assess how Capstone is achieving course aims, operationalizing the elements of critical-service learning, and having long-term impacts.

Recommendations for program replication

Capstone's model can be adopted or adapted by individual faculty or by schools of public health. We welcome faculty members or program and school leaders to contact us to further discuss what this might look like. In general, though, we recommend that the following core components remain consistent:

• Program staff invest effort to ensure community partners understand the overarching goals of the experience, general timelines, logistics, and roles and responsibilities of all involved parties prior to submitting a project proposal.
• Community partners are selected using clearly defined criteria, including equity.
• Community partners lead the development of, and direct, students' scope of work and have flexibility in determining deliverables.
• The experience spans two semesters (vs. something shorter like one semester or a summer).
• Students have ample time during their assigned class time to make progress on their projects.
• Course assignments (e.g., workplan, team charter, weekly updates) provide “guardrails” for the project experience to help ensure mutual benefit.
• There are robust staffing supports in place to recruit and maintain community partnerships, minimize community partners' burdens, and maximize student learning. Such supports are especially important when students have nascent project management skills and limited professional experience ( 10 , 13 ).

As shown in Figure 1 , program staff work on Capstone activities year-round and recruit new community partners while managing a current cohort of preceptors. Clear job descriptions with timelines will be helpful in negotiations and will assist with sustainability as different faculty and staff cycle through leading this kind of experience.

Our description and analyses have many strengths. First, the detailed and transparent information contained in this paper will allow interested faculty to replicate and benefit from best practices found in Capstone. We openly share our course materials in the Supplementary material section and invite others to adopt or adapt these resources for their own use. Second, our results illustrate the benefits of Capstone and highlight mechanisms for ILEs to be transformative for students and community partners alike. Lastly, all authors on this paper have been members of the Capstone teaching team, students enrolled in the course, or both. This uniquely qualifies us to write this paper and share lessons learned with others in the field to advance public health training and practice.

Limitations

As noted above, our evaluation of Capstone has some limitations. First, we designed our evaluation and analyzed data retrospectively. Therefore, evaluation tools were not explicitly aligned to our four program objectives or the elements of critical service-learning. Second, we narrowed in on qualitative data from the past 2 years instead of the past 13 years because of changes implemented in 2020. To present reflections and feedback on the current version of Capstone, we had limited data to analyze.

By applying elements of critical service-learning to an ILE, Capstone is uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of public health leaders and positive community change. Community partners' project visions undergird the project selection and the course structure, which emphasizes authentic relationships, mutually beneficial processes, and practical synthesis of applied public health competencies. Through 13 years of experience, we have developed an ILE that is nimble enough to benefit community partners and rigorous enough to satisfy accreditation requirements. Capstone is a promising culminating experience practice for training skilled, collaborative public health practitioners and effecting community-driven public health change.

Data availability statement

Author contributions.

ML developed the course and its content along with peer colleagues, wrote the abstract along with the learning environment, program evaluation, and results sections. ML and LS conducted the thematic data analysis. MC and LS completed a literature review, drafted the introduction and pedagogical framework section, and provided continual editing. EC wrote the discussion section and provided overall guidance for manuscript preparation. DE provided guidance, structural editing, and formatting. BP provided line edits. All authors contributed to the conception of the paper, manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the 579 students and seventy-nine community partners we have learned from and with over the past 13 years. Many thanks to the editors and reviewers of this article for their comprehensive and helpful feedback including Laura Linnan, Beth Moracco, Kelsey Accordino, and Naya Villarreal. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Jo Anne Earp.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1129330/full#supplementary-material

Capstone Projects

The Capstone Project (HSR 500; 1.0 Course Unit) serves as a culminating experience and summative product of students’ experiences in the master’s program. It provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate their research development, data gathering and management, analysis, interpretation and dissemination skills. The Capstone Project is conducted as an independent study. Students spend their first several quarters in the master's program developing an original and independent research proposal under the guidance of faculty advisers. Students gather data and complete analysis before enrolling in HSR 500. While enrolled in HSR 500, students draft their project manuscript, receive feedback from advisers and prepare a final manuscript that is suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

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Empower Minds: A Multimodal AI-Powered Mental Health Service

Description.

This project aims to revolutionize youth mental health support by integrating advanced AI with psychoanalytic theory to enhance the capacity of educators and mental health professionals in providing scalable, personalized, and effective interventions.

Problem & Motivation

The increasing prevalence of mental health issues among youth and the critical gap in accessible and affordable mental health services, especially in educational settings, underscore the urgent need for innovative solutions. Our project is motivated by the desire to bridge this gap and offer early, insightful, and accessible psychological assessments.

Data Source & Data Science Approach

Our approach leverages books and references on projective drawing analysis, synthetic data generation (hand-drawn and AI-generated), and extensive exploratory data analysis (EDA) to train and fine-tune multi-class image classification models and large language models for analyzing children's drawings.

The project employs an ensemble of models to enhance performance across various drawing characteristics, with continuous assessment and refinement to ensure accuracy and reliability in mental health signal analysis.

Key Learnings & Impact

The integration of AI technology in mental health assessment has shown potential in improving accessibility, affordability, and personalization of care, particularly for children. Our project demonstrates the effectiveness of multimodal AI in early detection and intervention, offering a promising direction for future mental health solutions.

Acknowledgements

We extend our gratitude to the educational institutions, mental health professionals, and AI research community for their support and insights. Special thanks to our mentors and advisors for their invaluable guidance throughout this project.

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Gustavo Almeida Correia

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