Abstract:

A capstone project is typically a large-scale project that requires students to apply the knowledge, skills and practices that they have gained during the taught modules of their degree programme. In our Software Development MSc programme, the capstone project takes place during the summer months of June to September and involves each student undertaking a significant period of individual research and software development. The resulting project and dissertation are usually a 'deep-dive' into a specific topic or area of interest.

There are, however, a number of reasons which mean that this approach may not be suitable for every student. Students may feel isolated due to the individual nature of the work, can become overwhelmed by the depth of research required, or may struggle with the more complex software development requirements. They may also miss out on exposure to some state-of-the-art computing topics because of the tightly focused nature of their project. There are also disadvantages for staff, as a large student cohort inevitably means that each member of staff will need to supervise many students, increasing their workload and keeping the student-staff ratio high.

In this paper we present an alternative approach to the capstone experience. We offer students the option to take three smaller project modules, which we call ‘mini project modules’, in place of an individual capstone project and dissertation. Each ‘mini project module’ is focused on a state-of-the-art topic in software development, such as Cloud Computing.

This approach has several advantages for both students and staff. Students benefit from exposure to a wider range of topics than they would normally be exposed to on an individual project. They can also work collaboratively with other students taking the same mini project modules which removes the isolation that some students can experience when working on a purely individual project. There are advantages for employability too. Students may have more options for employment as they will have wider breath of state-of-the-art computing experience and can also demonstrate to a prospective employer than they were able to apply themselves to multiple projects concurrently.

Preliminary results from implementing this approach have been positive. Student feedback indicates that they appreciate the opportunity to work on multiple projects and gain exposure to a wider range of topics. Wider feedback suggests that this approach has led to better outcomes for students and increased job satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflective analysis of the authors' and students' thoughts on the development and implementation of mini-project modules as an alternative to the traditional dissertation and project route.

Keywords:

Capstone, project, computing, software.