Publications
Toward a Philosophy for Capstone Courses in Horticulture{1}
Tim Rhodus{2} and James Hoskins{3}
Abstract
Capstone courses generally target undergraduate students who are nearing completion of their studies. They are designed to build on skills acquired in earlier courses and emphasize situations and challenges that exist in the "real world." Specific learning goals and course objectives vary across disciplines and institutions but most capstone courses provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate a range of professional competencies and communication skills. By incorporating computer simulations, case studies, or research projects, students are better able to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, a learning goal frequently adopted following curriculum review. A brief overview of the development, current popularity, and widespread offering of university capstone courses will be presented. The goals and organization of Quality, Ethics, and the Global Environment, the capstone course in the Horticulture major at The Ohio State University, will be compared to other capstone courses.
Critical Evaluations of University Curriculums
The appropriate curriculum to best nurture an undergraduate student and produce an educated graduate prepared to function as a productive citizen is a perennial issue of debate. The current widespread offering of capstone courses arises from the most recent round of intensive evaluation of college curriculums conducted in the early and mid-1980's. One widely publicized report from 1983 was Integrity in the College Curriculum: A Report to the Academic Community (Association of American Colleges, 1983). The report was the product of three years of study by 18 prominent educators impaneled by the Association of American Colleges, working on The Project on Redefining the Meaning and Purpose of Baccalaureate Degrees. The report authors adopted a tone of alarm using somewhat harsh rhetoric to depict "evidence of decline and devaluation in college curriculums...," and characterized the overall condition as one of "disarray" and "incoherence" (Fiske, 1985). While certainly the report emphasized the need for a curriculum to inculcate cultural values for the collective civic good, it also focused attention on "serious weaknesses" within the curriculum and concluded that "the quality of American life is at stake" should universities not graduate students able to demonstrate basic competencies throughout the breadth of disciplinary areas at the undergraduate level. Thus, criticisms of the curriculum were not framed solely as abstract concerns about deficiencies in "classical" education, but carried the warning that inadequate academic preparation for productive work life had implications for both personal and societal well-being. Educators from diverse disciplines have realized that the challenges of the modern workplace require more than technical expertise. There is a need for graduates who have leadership skills, who can work with large teams of workers, and who are able to "assimilate and manage a complex flow of information" (Durfee, 1994). Because only 20% of Americans are college graduates (Census of Population, 1990), the form and content of a college curriculum, and the quality of delivery of course content by university professors, plays a central role in defining the quality of the leaders of tomorrow.
Bringing Breadth to the Curriculum
Integrity in the College Curriculum identified nine "experiences" which an undergraduate curriculum should offer to students. These nine elements should emerge from a coordinated, integrated curriculum in which, for example, goals of logical thinking and inquiry or the requirement of writing and reading practice are infused throughout all coursework, to the degree practical, regardless of discipline. These nine curriculum elements are:
1. Inquiry; abstract and logical thinking, and critical analysis
2. Literacy; writing, reading, speaking, listening
3. Understanding numerical data
4. Historical consciousness
5. Science
6. Values
7. Art
8. International and multicultural experiences; and,
9. Study in Depth.
Study in depth, the final point listed above, is an academic experience closely associated with the offering of capstone courses. As a commentary writer in Science noted, "study in depth should involve an understanding of a discipline's central core of method and theory, its analytical tools, and its complexity" (Norman, 1985). Capstone courses originated in part because students nearing completion of undergraduate studies were given insufficient opportunity to integrate and reflect on the parts of study which constituted their major. The usual undergraduate major, the criticism went, was poorly planned and deficient in execution because it offered students merely an à la carte menu approach to picking and choosing among disparate, non-related course topics, where credit hours would accumulate and ultimately tally up to fulfill a graduation requirement.
Without a curriculum requirement mandating otherwise, many students select an academic major early in their college career, and thereafter venture as infrequently as possible into unrelated disciplinary areas. This is a commonly demonstrated and understandable undergraduate preference. Fulfilling the course requirements of some majors may leave little time for exploration. Moreover, the tendency to not want to leave the major field of study, and its related disciplines, is not illustrative of the bad instincts of a poor student. Such focused behavior can be observed among some of the better students in a department. Genuinely enthusiastic students often concentrate efforts within a major they find compelling. When students become more involved in their chosen major usually they have established a comfortable relationship with an academic advisor and other departmental faculty, and have defined a peer group of other students with common academic interests. A final factor which militates against upper-level undergraduate students pursuing coursework in areas outside their concentration is that, for example, a science major's desire to venture into the philosophy department might mean a return to an "intro" course in a theater classroom with a hundred other less experienced students, multiple choice exams administered by teaching assistants, and fewer opportunities for interaction with the professor. Savvy students realize this, and thus avoid making what could turn out to be, in effect, an educational retreat.
Distribution requirements function within a curriculum to counter the tendency students have toward insularity within a major. It is unusual, however, for distribution requirements to extend into the junior and senior years. David Scott, the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a critic of distribution requirements, has likened the process where freshman and sophomore students fulfill general education requirements to a vaccination: "Now, if you have to take a course in biology and you're an arts major, it's like getting inoculated, so you're immune from doing that again. We have to break that down" (Henderson, 1994). At some universities, broad educational requirements extending into the final years of college have been instituted. At The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill juniors and seniors are required to take "perspective" courses in natural and social sciences, history, esthetics, and philosophy. A senior capstone seminar is also required (Fiske, 1989). Another way universities have attempted to embody the nine educational objectives advocated in Integrity in the College Curriculum within a curriculum has been to redesign content so that, to the extent possible, a science course, for example, requires a writing component or perhaps consideration of its technical subject material in a cultural and historical context.
Defining the Capstone Course
The purpose of the above discussion has been to describe the background of curriculum evaluation and to explain motivations behind the popularity of capstone course offerings. Now, the objective is to define what constitutes a capstone course and present some examples of capstone course offerings. The following is a concise general definition of the philosophy of the capstone course:
The capstone course typically is defined as a crowning course or experience coming at the end of a sequence of courses with the specific objective of integrating a body of relatively fragmented knowledge into a unified whole. As a rite of passage, this course provides an experience through which undergraduate students both look back over their undergraduate curriculum in an effort to make sense of that experience and look forward to a life by building on that experience. In the capstone course students disengage (i.e., separate) from the undergraduate status and existential condition and reemerge (i.e., incorporate) as graduates prepared to assess critically and act responsibly in civil society. Thus, the capstone course provides the liminal threshold at which students change their status" (Durel, 1993)
The above definition is suggestive of two major perspectives in the philosophy of capstone course offerings. We have termed these The Integrative Academic Experience Perspective and The "Real World" Preparatory Experience Perspective. Using the simplest distinction, the former is backward looking, reflective and integrative in outlook while the latter encourages students to focus on their immediate post-college future. A commonality exists between the two approaches because each seeks to encourage students nearing completion of their major course of study to "sum-up" their experiences. While the goals of the two perspectives are not mutually exclusive, the distinction is important because the capstone course experience tends to be defined operationally at a given institution principally one way or the other.
The goal of a capstone course reflecting the Integrative Academic Perspective is to complete the undergraduate experience by providing "broad reflective and critical views of the field of concentration" (Association of American Colleges, 1990). The mandatory capstone course also "serves as a valedictory experience for the senior, requiring the application and integration of skills and knowledge gained through in-depth study in a chosen area of inquiry" (Wattendorf, 1993). Typical goals and learning objectives of this perspective include:
1. A philosophical and historical perspective of the major course of study
2. Inquiry into societal implications of the major
3. Seeks a holistic and synthetic overview
4. Gives students the big picture
5. Often strives for an interdisciplinary perspective
6. Demonstration of mastery of subject material within the chosen major
7. Identification of common bonds between disciplines
8. Identification of the limits of knowledge originating from a given discipline; and,
9. Stretches students beyond arbitrary academic boundaries.
While capstone courses reflecting the Academic Integrative Perspective are varied in structure, the most common form is an intensive senior seminar. It is not unusual for the course to be organized around a specific project (sometimes a group project) or senior thesis. In the capstone course in Horticulture at Ohio State University the focus is on examination and reflection on a required industry internship. An important variant within Integrative Perspective capstone courses, and an alternative to the usual model where the course serves to integrate and sum-up knowledge from coursework within a student's undergraduate major, is the true interdisciplinary capstone course found in some university curriculums. In these courses, senior students from a variety a majors apply their diverse perspectives to the study of a multidisciplinary subject or theme. Examples are the following: a course on AIDS which explored the biological, psychological, and sociological ramifications of the disease; an interdisciplinary course that studied the interrelation of science and art; a course titled The Nature of Science which helped students gain an appreciation for science and develop a continuing nonprofessional interest; and, finally, a course that examined physics, chemistry, and biology by discussing five general topics (Souders, 1993).
The goals of capstone courses reflecting the "Real World" Perspective are less lofty than those of the Academic Integrative Perspective, but perhaps as important. These capstone courses provide students with a culminating experience in preparation for their entry into a career field and engagement with the "real world" (Magner, 1990). Typical goals and learning objectives of this perspective include:
1. Comprehensive examination of knowledge gained from the major area of study in a
manner aimed to assist students in positively responding to their future
employers needs and work demands
2. Focusing the direction of students
3. Enhancing students' interpersonal skills
4. Balancing students' high job expectations with need to "pay dues"; and,
5. Exposure to larger philosophical question of business ethics and civic responsibility.
The development of capstone courses which strive to better prepare college graduates for their first professional employment has been influenced greatly by feedback from prospective employers "who have raised concerns about the quality of the college graduates they are employing for jobs" (Magner, 1990). Siena College in Loudonville, New York, offers a capstone course in Software Engineering which emphasizes teamwork and working together in which students work in small groups to solve software problems. Penn State University offers an elective capstone course titled Workplace Integration Skills for Engineers which emphasizes setting goals, listening, and effective speaking skill development. At Assumption College in Massachusetts The Last Six Weeks is designed for senior students to discuss in an informal setting subjects such as job interviewing and office politics. These examples most closely adhere to the elements of the "Real World" preparatory capstone model designed to assist students with the immediate challenge of entering into the work force. Other "Real World" capstone courses treat in a more traditionally structured academic course issues of ethics and civic responsibility. An example is the required capstone study at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida in which upperclass students examine issues such as biomedical ethics and pollution (Fiske, 1989). The addition of ethics study has been, according to one observer, "spurred by critics who say too many graduates lack a sense of ethics and have unreasonably high job expectations...more colleges are designing courses and programs to prepare seniors for the "real world" (Magner, 1990).
The Capstone Course in Horticulture at The Ohio State University
The required senior capstone course for students majoring in Horticulture is titled Studies in Quality, Ethics, and the Global Environment. The impetus for the course design dates to a university-wide curriculum review conducted during the late 1980's (UPI, 1988). The new curriculum adopted by the Department of Horticulture requires increased emphasis on areas such as writing, data analysis, social diversity, contemporary issues, as well as a "capstone experience" in their major. The course is described in the syllabus as follows:
This course provides students with an in-depth examination of the issues facing contemporary horticultural managers. Students will examine a variety of management principles which affect the ways in which contemporary managers deal with a complex environment, balance ethical considerations with organizational objectives, and deliver a quality product or service. Throughout the course, ethical and global highlights will be presented which complement the topic being discussed. Attention will also focus on organizational characteristics such as: historical development, decision making processes, interpersonal communications, and marketing strategies. A term project, which builds upon first-hand experience gained through the internship will enable students to critically evaluate the practices of horticultural firms within the context of contemporary issues.
The course is designed for juniors or seniors who have completed their second writing course requirement, a university-approved internship, and 10 credit hours in Horticulture at the 400 level or above. Internships are typically completed the spring/summer before students begin their senior year. As part of the internship, students gather background information about their firm which covers the historical development of the firm, its organizational structure, procedures for decision making, and marketing strategies. In addition, students gather information on management's perception of the key issues facing the firm in the areas of quality, ethics, and the global environment. This information is used to develop a term report about the internship firm including a critical analysis of the firm's strengths and weaknesses and recommendations for improvement. Initial drafts of the report are reviewed twice before being assigned a grade.
Students also analyze seven cases which relate to the major topic being presented each week in class. As a supplement to the written case in the textbook, students will see and hear top executives as they share their thoughts and insights on their management practices and their industries. Edited from CNN's "Pinnacle" program, each 10-12 minute video segment is directly related to a CNN Video Case in the text. Discussion of the case also includes student perceptions of the applicability of the case to various horticultural enterprises. The required textbook for the course is a comprehensive management text titled, Modern Management by Samuel Certo (1994). The class meets three times a week for 90 minutes of lecture and discussion. Final course grade is determined by: internship case report (20%), written responses to video cases (30%), in-class discussion of video cases (10%), and examinations (40%).
Specific learning objectives of the course include:
1. Develop an appreciation of the importance of quality
2. Acquire knowledge about management skills that relate to achieving quality
3. Gain an appreciation for the arguments both for and against businesses assuming social responsibilities
4. Develop an understanding of how ethics can be incorporated into management practices; and,
5. Gain insights about contemporary issues facing horticultural managers.
By combining a review of basic management functions, highlighting their application to horticultural industries, and presenting techniques for solving problems that managers frequently face, the capstone course is positioned midway between the Integrative Academic and "Real World" Preparatory perspectives. Overall, students are being asked to integrate with basic business principles disciplinary knowledge gained from their Horticulture major and the insights and experiences from their 10 week internship and begin to "think business."
Conclusion
Horticulture graduates face unique challenges when they first enter the job market. In most cases they will be competing directly with technical school graduates for advancement and increased responsibilities. For them, their greatest initial challenge will be related to hands-on or practical skills. Unless they are able to demonstrate this competence, their chances for successful employment are slim at best. As they mature, they will probably find more and more opportunities to apply what they have learned in college but probably not under the controlled environment that one usually experiences in college labs and lectures. Eventually, our graduates exhaust their "cookbook" recommendations and solutions faithfully recorded in notebooks long since dogeared from frequent searching and utilization and begin to develop their own expertise. In essence, the undergraduate curriculum must impart the technical skills students need to compete successfully as they begin their careers as well as exposing them to diverse areas of study which will be invaluable as they advance and assume significant leadership roles. The capstone course figures importantly in achieving this goal.
Bibliography
Association of American Colleges. The Project on Redefining the Meaning and Purpose of Baccalaureate Degrees. "Integrity in the college curriculum: a report to the academic community." Association of American Colleges, 1818 R Street, NW, Washington, D.C., 20009. 1985
Association of American Colleges, Series on Liberal Learning and the Arts and Sciences Major. "The challenge of connecting learning." 1990. Cited in: Durel, Robert J. "The capstone course: a rite of passage." Teaching Sociology, Vol 21, (July:223-225), 1993.
Durel, Robert J. "The capstone course: a rite of passage." Teaching Sociology, Vol 21, (July:223-225), 1993.
Certo, Samuel C. Modern Management: Diversity, Quality, Ethics, and the Global Environment, 6th edition, Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights, MA, 1994.
Durfee, William K. "Engineering education gets real." Technology Review. Vol. 97; No. 2, February, 1994.
Fiske, Edward B. "Three-year survey finds college curriculums in U.S. in 'disarray'" The New York Times, February, 11, 1985.
Fiske, Edward B. "Education; lessons." The New York Times, September 20, 1989.
Henderson, Keith. "New chancellor plans to build bridges between campuses and private industry. The Christian Science Monitor, January 10, 1994.
Magner, Denise K. "Many colleges design courses and programs to prepare seniors to live in the 'real world.'" The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 21, 1990.
Normal, Colin. "College curricula in disarray, study says; Association of American Colleges." Science, March 1, 1985.
Souders, John C. "Powers of ten: a model of an interdisciplinary capstone course for the basic sciences." Journal of College Science Teaching. March/April 1993.
United Press International. "A new OSU curriculum is approved." Regional News, June 11, 1988.
United States Bureau of the Census. "Census of population, social and economic characteristics. Table 31; School Enrollment and Educational Attainment, 1990.
Wattendorf, John M. "The sociology capstone course in a professional school." Teaching Sociology, Vol. 21 (July:229-232), 1993.
FOOTNOTES********************************
{1} Salaries and research support provided by State and Federal Funds appropriated to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University. Manuscript number _____.
{2} Associate Professor
{3} Research Assistant
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