Capstones in General Education
The capstone is a culminating experience for the major. To be part of the general education curriculum, the capstone must address UA’s core baccalaureate learning goals: communication, critical reasoning, integration and application of broad and specialized knowledge, and ethical and social responsibility. This course must be at the 400-level and must include an assignment designed to meet general education learning outcomes, specifically the following:
- Effective communication
- Critical thinking (interpretation, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, inference, and/or metacognition)
- Integration and application of broad and specialized knowledge
- Ethics or social responsibility within the context of their capstone work
Assessment Assignment
The general education program learning outcomes address broad educational goals for all undergraduate students; therefore, the general education assessment assignment should ask students to consider their disciplinary capstone project from a broad perspective that includes ethical or social responsibility.
This assignment should require students to satisfy the following learning outcomes:
- Communicate with clarity of purpose, depth, and precision to a general audience
- Demonstrate critical thinking and synthesis
- Consider the ethical or societal contexts of their capstone work
The general education assessment assignment must be an individual, not a group, assignment. It will likely be an ancillary, written statement (recommended minimum, 500 words). Examples include a professional statement, reflection essay, interpretive statement, impact statement, or ethical/social statement about the project.