Northeastern
State University
College
of Liberal Arts
Department
of Communication, Art, & Theatre
Tahlequah,
OK
COMM
4993 Capstone Experience
(last
updated 12.18.11)
Instructor: Amy Aldridge Sanford,
PhD
Office: 351 SH (Tahlequah Campus)
Ext.: 3608
E-mail: aldridga@nsuok.edu (This is the best way to contact
me)
Office Hours: See Contact Info on webpage.
Facebook: Amy Aldridge Sanford
Class Days &
Times: By arrangement.
Pre-requisites: Completion of 90 hours, including at least 30 in the
major and approval of the faculty committee.
Catalogue Description
of Course:
The student will design and complete a
major project related to his/her option. Required of all majors.
Course Purpose: The purpose of the Communication Capstone is to
provide communication studies majors with the opportunity to integrate the
knowledge and skills they have acquired as well as provide experiences for
students to exhibit competent communication skills learned during their program
of study in order to prepare for a career in communication and/or for graduate
studies.
Student Learning
Outcomes:
The student willÉ
á Meet regularly with the
professor;
á Identify an area of communication
studies that most interest the student;
á Thoroughly research the area
of interest;
á Formulate a research
question;
á Propose human subjects
research;
á Have an IRB form approved
before beginning research;
á Complete the human subjects
research; and
á Turn in a completed paper as
outlined below.
Required Text:
Publication Manual of
the American Psychological Association (APA).
(6th ed.) (2009). American Psychological Association. ISBN:
9781433805615
Assignment Due Dates:
If I agree to be your capstone adviser,
you will be required to meet with me weekly until further notice.
Additionally, this is the progress I will expect you to achieve in order to
finish the research project within the semester:
|
Week |
Progress |
|
1 |
Meet with Amy. Discuss what you
would like to do for a research project with her. You need to propose
original research that will be done with qualitative methods. |
|
2 |
Read journal articles about your
idea(s). Know specifically what you want to do when you see Amy this
week. |
|
3 |
Send in your IRB paperwork (It will need to include your research instrument, your
research questions, and Amy will need to sign the paperwork); start writing
your literature review (LR) |
|
4 |
Begin the research once you have the
OK from Amy and the IRB (Keep notes about how you conduct the
research—You will need it for the methodology section of the paper) |
|
5 |
Continue writing the LR and doing the
research (Amy suggests giving yourself at least 4 weeks to gather data) |
|
6 |
Continue writing the LR and doing the
research |
|
7 |
Continue writing the LR and doing the
research |
|
8 |
Continue writing the LR and doing the
research |
|
9 |
Write up your methodology, research
results, discussion, limitation, and conclusion/future research |
|
10 |
Write up your methodology, research
results, discussion, limitation, and conclusion/future research |
|
11 |
Have other people edit your paper,
especially for grammar and mechanics. We do have a writing lab in Seminary
Hall. |
|
12 |
If you have completed everything, go
ahead and get your paper to Amy early. If not, work to have it to her
by next week. |
|
13 |
Final paper is due to Amy. The
paper can be submitted electronically to AmyÕs email address. The
sooner you give the paper to Amy the more time you have to correct
edits. |
Suggested structure
for the final paper:
Cover Page
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review (This will probably be the longest part of your paper)
Methodology
Research Results
Discussion
Limitations
Future Research
Conclusion
References
Student Evaluation:
You will earn an ÒAÓ if the literature
review is incredibly thorough, includes multiple journal sources and the
research appears to make a nice contribution to the existing scholarly
community. The RQ(s) need to be mature, well thought out, and related to
the discipline of communication. An ÒAÓ paper will not include any
grammar or mechanical errors and will follow APA style thoroughly.
Students who make an ÒAÓ will be at all of their weekly appointments with Amy.
A ÒBÓ paper is similar to an ÒAÓ paper
but has a less thorough LR, which may include less credible sources than
journal articles. The RQ(s) should be related to communication but are
less mature than that of an ÒAÓ paper. ÒBÓ papers will have grammar and
mechanical errors and may miss on APA style. The methodology, research
results, and discussion will not be as well developed as an ÒAÓ paper.
Students who make a ÒBÓ may miss an appointment or two with Amy.
A ÒCÓ paper is very average work and
may be missing some of the final paper components outlined above.
However, they will have a developed LR and RQ(s). Their papers have
multiple grammar, mechanical, and stylistic errors. These ÒCÓ students
may have missed appointments with Amy.
A student making a ÒDÓ has done less
than ÒCÓ or average work.
Students who have done no work at all
will earn an ÒF.Ó
In some cases an ÒIÓ or ÒIncompleteÓ
can be given to a student when they have begun their capstone project but have
not been able to complete it satisfactorily within the span of a semesterÕs
time. This is left to the discretion of the professor.
Administrative
Withdraws:
Students who enroll this course and
have poor attendance and/or poor participation (as determined by the
instructor) may be administratively withdrawn (involuntarily). Students who
are administratively withdrawn will be responsible for payment and repaying
any financial aid received for the course or courses that must be returned to
the provider. If you are concerned about your absences, progress, or
success in a particular course, meet with your instructor immediately.
Please go to http://offices.nsuok.edu/academicaffairs/SyllabiInformation.aspx for required information pertaining to:
Academic Misconduct
American Disabilities
Act Compliance
Inclement
Weather/Disaster Policy
Teach Act
Accessibility
Release of
Confidential Information