Capstone: Part 3

Sean Cornell, Shippensburg University, srcornell@ship.edu

This material was developed and reviewed through the InTeGrate curricular materials development process.

This material was developed and reviewed through the InTeGrate curricular materials development process. This rigorous, structured process includes:

team-based development to ensure materials are appropriate across multiple educational settings.
multiple iterative reviews and feedback cycles through the course of material development with input to the authoring team from both project editors and an external assessment team.
real in-class testing of materials in at least 3 institutions with external review of student assessment data.
multiple reviews to ensure the materials meet the InTeGrate materials rubric which codifies best practices in curricular development, student assessment and pedagogic techniques.
review by external experts for accuracy of the science content.

This page first made public: Dec 7, 2016

Summary

Part 3 of the capstone (Stage 3) requires students to demonstrate progress toward completion of the Coastal Vulnerability Audit using additional sections of the CVAT that focus on human systems, engineering, and infrastructure of coastal zones (i.e. human landscape elements as shown in Figure 1 below). Students at this point in the semester (after completion of Modules 1 to 9) should have not only completed the physical system assessment components of their audit, but will have made significant progress toward providing details on the human systems and engineering infrastructure that have been applied. Students will not submit their updated CVAT for review by the instructor, but they should carefully reconsider any feedback from their instructor on Stage 2 progress and make sure to adopt/adapt any changes noted by their instructors at this junction. Thus by weeks 9–10 of the course, students should have completed well over 50 percent of the CVAT, and they should be previewing and anticipating completion of the final sections (i.e. Stage 4). As shown in Figure 2 (below), students will center their efforts on the essential question. Sub-stage criteria (F1 to J1) are outlined in Figure 2. Students should be able to address each of these in their CVAT.

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Learning Goals

As outlined in the capstone overview (Stage 1), Capstone Part 3 (Stage 3) provides a benchmark to support student learning. Instructors should check in to see if the students are making progress, but nothing will be submitted at this point for assessment.

In addition to meeting learning goals associated with earlier stages, at this juncture students should be able to characterize the human landscape (i.e. coastal population and demographics, built infrastructure including commercial, residential, recreational, transportation, utilities, cultural resources, etc.) and assess existing approaches to mitigate risk through shoreline traditional and non-traditional engineering and flood control strategies. They should also evaluate where possible any non-structural approaches including regulation and insurance/risk reduction incentives.

The essential question (and related sub-questions F1 to J1 as shown in Figure 2) that students should be able to answer is: " What elements of the human landscape are most at risk for your location, and what range of natural and engineered defense options are currently used to mitigate hazard impacts? "

Context for Use

See Capstone Part 1 for details.

Description and Teaching Materials

See Capstone Part 1 for details. Student materials for Capstone Stage 3 are also available.

Teaching Notes and Tips

In week 9 or 10 of the course (i.e. after Module 9 is completed), the instructor should check in with the students with reminders and ask if guidance is necessary. Continue to encourage students to use benchmarks and set project deadlines for themselves as only three modules remain before students need to complete their capstone. At this juncture, students should be about 75 percent through their CVA (i.e. bad file id should be filled with research data). Students should be encouraged to begin developing outlines for their scripts for the final capstone submission. Figure 2 above is intended to be used as a guiding/planning document. Students should be given Figure 2 (Capstone Stage 3: Human Systems & Engineering Infrastructure Assessment) as a benchmark document, and should be engaged in self-assessment using the individual benchmarks (F1 to J1). The instructor should inform students that if they are having difficulty answering or completing any of the five sections of the CVAT, they should revisit the module readings and assessments as necessary.

Assessment

No assessments have been formally planned for this stage of the capstone. Unless the instructor prefers, there are no graded submissions at this point in the course. However, simple status updates in class time or through a discussion board generally suffice. The instructor should especially pay attention to students who struggled with Stage 2 to see if they are still having difficulties. The instructor might also ask students to bring their CVAT to class for a quick check to see how up-to-date they are. At the least, checking the CVAT briefly during class time will encourage students to continue to work on them.