Incorporating an
Experiential Learning
Capstone Project Course
into a Curriculum
Kathy Weaver, PhD
Tetyana Bezbabna
Associate Director
Program Coordinator
Master of Information Management Master of Information Management
University of Maryland
University of Maryland
keweaver@umd.edu
mimcoordinator@umd.edu
Capstone Experience Agenda
Capstone
Experience
Capstone
Experience
Objectives
Capstone
Experience
Varieties
Capstone
Experience
Examples
UMD MIM
Capstone
Experience
Capstone
Experience
Activities
Capstone
Experience
Summary
Capstone Experience
 Professional experience based on real-world issues
 Students work with organization outside of classroom
 Projects are chosen based on student interest
 Showcase talents gathered in program
 Incorporate previous experience
Capstone Experience Objectives
 Synthesize knowledge and engage in life-long learning
 Communicate as professionals
 Understand the value of interpersonal skills
 Collaborate with clients
 Produce high-quality and significant products
 Improve professional skills
 Gather professional connections
Capstone Experience Varieties
 Full program research
 Final Presentation to committee
 Senior capstone courses
 Last semester sequence
 Master’s Report
 A substantive, publishable-quality paper
 Team Project
 Student teams
 An online simulation
 Simulation-game using real-world contexts
Capstone Experience Examples
 Carnegie Mellon University, BXA Intercollege Degree Programs
 Final year
 Humboldt State University, Biology
 Self-designed student project throughout full program
 University of Maryland, Smith School of Business
 An online simulation
 University of Texas, Austin School of Information
 Master’s Report
 University of Washington, Computer Science and Engineering
 Team Project
UMD MIM Capstone Experience
 Information management (IM):
 Brings together technology, information, and management
 Increases efficiency and promotes innovation
 Examples of IM careers:
 CIO, CTO, CKO, Director of IT/IT Services, Business
Intelligence Analyst, Business Analyst, IT Consultant, Project
Manager, Information Architect, Data Scientist, User
Experience Specialist
MIM Program Overview
MIM Students backgrounds:

Computer Science and Engineering
 electrical | computer | mechanical

Business
 marketing | accounting | operations | finance

Communication
 media | journalism

Information technology and Information science

Health professions
Capstone Experience Project Types
 Research
 Student conducts extensive research producing technical report
or white paper
 Analytical
 Student analyzes information offering detailed strategy
 Technical
 Student develops usable tools
Gathering Capstone Projects
 Campus and department
speakers
 Capstone projects website
 Student submissions
 Internship sponsors
 Past project clients
 UMD faculty
Capstone
Project
Database
Capstone Experience Project Cycle
Project Proposals
Students work on
projects 10 hours / week
Professional Profiles
& Project Preferences
Client
Submission
Student
Preferences
Project
Completion
Project
Assignments
Match needs of client
and skills of student
Gathering Capstone Projects
 Example 1: Information Architecture (Analysis)
 Analyzed current information repositories
 Proposed new information management architecture
 Example 2: Interactive Dashboard (Technical)
 Organized information from yearly Excel document
 Used visualization tool to dynamically show incoming data
 Example 3: Social Media Strategy (Research)
 Research social media strategies at other universities
 Develop prototype of proposed social media strategy
Gathering Capstone Projects
ACTIVITY 1: Create a capstone project
1. Review the capstone project examples provided
2. Generate an idea for a capstone project
3. Document the idea on flipchart paper following the
template provided
Student Preferences and Student
Experience
 Document 1: Professional Profile
 Provide evidence based information about skills and expertise
Information Manager
(Day to Day Responsibilities)
Work with big volumes and a wide variety of data
sources across industries.
Experience with advanced programming languages
strongly desired (R, Java, Python, etc.)
Previous Experience
MIM Curriculum
INFM 718
IBM-Systems Analyst
 Career Goals
 Based on outcome of profile table, document desired career goals
 Student Capstone Project Preferences
 Top 5 choices based on database of capstone projects
Capstone Projects Preferences
ACTIVITY 2: Based on the capstone projects in the
room, select your top two choices. For each include:
 How does your background qualify you for
this position?
 Which skills do you possess that match the
description?
 If there is a programming language required:
 How much experience do you have with
it?
 Why do you think you should be chosen
for this project?
 What skills and experience (or
expertise) can you offer the
organization?
 Why will the organization benefit from
having you as a consultant?
 What was the experience?
 How proficient do you think you are with
that language?
 If user studies will be conducted:
 Have you conducted user studies before?
 In what capacity?
 Are you IRB certified?
 How will it contribute to your career
preparation as part of your professional
profile document?
 What specific skills will this project add
to your professional profile?
 How will this benefit your career path?
MIM Capstone In-class Activities
 Requirements Gathering
 Project Plan development
 Milestones
 Processes
 Project managers
 Poster presentations
 Success and challenges
 Elevator pitch
Gathering Capstone Projects
ACTIVITY 3: Develop a full project from the problem
statement
 Based on your top capstone project preference,
expand the project to describe its:
 Milestones
 Deliverables
Capstone Experience Summary
Student Opinions About Capstone Projects
 “Doing projects with companies outside the school is the best
part.”
 “The project descriptions are way too short and vague for
somebody to judge what's in there.”
 “The poster sessions really enhances presentation skills. Also, the
part where alumni came to review the poster - that was excellent!”
 “I learned a lot, much more than I thought at the beginning. I
appreciate this opportunity.”
References
 Goold, A. 2003. Providing process for projects in capstone courses. In
Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference on innovation and Technology in
Computer Science Education (Thessaloniki, Greece, June 30 - July 02,
2003). D. Finkel, Ed. ITiCSE '03. ACM Press, New York, NY, 26-29.
 Gorgone, J. T. (2004, June). Information systems and the overview report for
computing curricula 2004. In ACM SIGCSE Bulletin (Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 15-16).
ACM.
 Gorka, S., Miller, J. R., & Howe, B. J. (2007, October). Developing realistic
capstone projects in conjunction with industry. In Proceedings of the 8th
ACM SIGITE conference on Information technology education (pp. 27-32). ACM.
Online Information
http://mim.umd.edu/lilly-conference/