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Saudi universities have incorporated capstone projects in the final year of an undergraduate study. Although universities are following recommendations of the National Commission for National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) and Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), no detailed guidelines for management and assessment of capstone projects are provided by these accreditation bodies. Variation in the management and assessment practices of capstone project courses and analysis of the students' capabilities to align with industry demands, to realize Vision 2030, is challenging. This study investigates the current practices for structure definition, management and assessment criteria used for capstone project courses at undergraduate level for information technology (IT) programs at Saudi universities.

A web-based questionnaire is administered using a web service commonly used for questionnaires and polls to investigate the structure, management and assessment of capstone projects at the undergraduate level offering software engineering, computer science and information technology (SECSIT) programs. In total, 42 faculty members (with range of experience of managing/advising capstone projects from 1 to more than 10 years) from 22 Saudi universities (out of more than 30 universities offering SECSIT undergraduate programs) participated in the study.

The authors have identified that Saudi universities are facing challenges in the utilized process model, the distribution of work and marks, the knowledge sharing approach and the assessment scheme. To cope with these challenges, the authors recommend the use of an incremental development process, the utilization of a project-driven approach, the development of a national level digital archive and the implementation of homogeneous assessment scheme.

To contribute to the national growth and to fulfill the market demand, universities are recommended to align the capstone project courses with latest technology trends. Universities must collaborate with the industry and update the structure and requirements of capstone project courses accordingly. This will further facilitate to bridge the gap between industry and academia and will develop a win–win scenario for all the stakeholders.

Although universities are committed to increase innovative capacities of their students for enabling them to contribute to economic and social growth, it is still hard to know the knowledge creation and sharing at national level. Variations in the management and assessment practices for capstone projects further intensify this challenge. Hence, there is a need of smart assessment and management of software capstone projects being developed in Saudi universities. Incorporating latest technologies, such unified management can facilitate discovering the trends and patterns related to the domain and complexity.

This paper aims to describe experience gained with a required six-credit year-long course, the Capstone Interdisciplinary Team Project, a key component of the Master of Science (MS) in Sustainability degree at the City College of New York. A common feature of sustainability problems is their interdisciplinary nature. Solutions to sustainability problems often require professionals with different training and backgrounds to work as a team. A sustainability curriculum should provide students with the skills needed to competently participate in an interdisciplinary team.

Instructors drawn from different departments and divisions of the college developed a pool of sustainability-focused Capstone projects and acted as mentors to teams of students with diverse undergraduate backgrounds. Students attended workshops designed to provide training in teamwork, research and report preparation. An independent evaluator designed an evaluation protocol to assess the course’s impact both while it was implemented and after the course was concluded.

Early experience with the program strongly indicates that the Capstone project requirement is an effective learning tool. However, identifying qualified mentors, developing suitable projects, assembling teams and administering the Capstone course are demanding tasks. Although students often experience difficulties in the early stages of their work, they ultimately express satisfaction and appreciation for the skills learned in the course.

The inclusion of a capstone team project in a graduate sustainability curriculum is strongly recommended. Adopting such a course requires significant effort and sustained faculty engagement.

Although there is considerable experience with undergraduate engineering Capstone course requirements, little is known about interdivisional capstone requirements at the level of master’s degree in Sustainability. This paper details new and relevant experience helpful to the implementation of such a requirement.

Graduate employability represents a fundamental outcome of higher education. The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare students’ perceptions of their employability through their experience of a simulated or real-life project. The context of the project is a capstone course, implemented in an Australian university, which was designed to enhance employability and foster transferable graduate attributes, including professional communication, interpersonal and leadership skills.

The authors designed and conducted quantitative research to capture and measure students’ perceptions of their employability at the conclusion of a capstone course over three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017.

The results of this paper show that students undertaking a real-life project which makes a social contribution reported a significantly stronger development of work-ready skills in managing projects than students undertaking a simulation project. Specifically, interaction with industry and leadership were reported to be more developed.

The study contributes to knowledge of the relationship between capstone learning and students’ perceptions of employability. It advances the understanding of capstone course design and pedagogy which strengthens the link between learning and work.

This study used the industry-oriented capstone course to increase the employability of electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) students in technological university.

In this study, EECS students were selected and divided into groups, and the non-equivalent pretest–posttest quasi-experimental research method was adopted.

Industry-oriented capstone courses can improve students' employability, especially general ability, behaviour and attitude.

The results of this study and many other studies show that capstone courses are helpful for the soft skills of students.

This study provides evidence that industry-oriented capstone courses can improve EECS students' employability.

The purpose of this paper is to contend that collegiate programs should carefully plan their capstone courses in light of the educational mission, pedagogical content knowledge, instructional techniques and delivery formats.

This is a concept paper with elements of theory building from the case of business strategy courses. After an overview of relevant research along with past and current practices, capstone course content projects and assignments are discussed in relation to delivery formats such as on-campus, hybrid partial online and full distance education.

Faculty and academic departments choosing project assignments should seek to create an integrative learning experience for students using carefully balanced delivery methods and content. Each of the instructional methods and delivery systems have certain advantages, and the use of these techniques is not mutually exclusive, in that some faculty members may choose to teach course sections using multiple learning systems.

As colleges and universities increase the range of instructional techniques and delivery formats, it is especially important to harmonize these methods with learning objectives for capstone learning experiences. Concepts for balanced integration and synthesis of topics are proposed for different instructional methods and delivery formats that can be applied in other disciplines. Using pedagogical content knowledge as a basis for improving teaching and learning is necessary to achieve balanced integration.

This conceptual article describes the capstone experience. It argues that this final-year undergraduate study, particularly when centered on in-depth research and writing a dissertation, provides significant value for institutions, students, and future employers. It is argued that the criteria for capstone experience success neatly align with the skills and competencies most source by organizational employers.

This is a short reflection on the present author’s engagement with capstones and business undergraduates. It is limited in scope, reviews the author’s extensive experience and practice, but may have limited generalizability. Nevertheless, it will likely be of value to business educators and to organizational members seeking to hire high-potential business graduates.

Properly designed and executed, capstones can develop the skills and competencies currently considered the most desirable in organizations. Those who have successfully completed their capstones (in this case, in-depth research and an undergraduate dissertation) have a demonstrated advantage in the hiring process. Students are encouraged to see the capstone as a bridging activity between college and the workplace. This fosters student engagement with targeted organizations and the creation of contacts and networks that provide mutual advantage on graduation.

The article provides novel insights that are personal but informed and considered. It offers original perspectives on the value of the capstone experience for students, educational institutions, and hiring organizations.

This practice paper describes the development and implementation of a senior capstone course for communication and leadership development for undergraduate students. The resulting course is a unique combination of experiential skill development and career preparation. The success of this course provides students with an important and meaningful culmination of their undergraduate experiences.

This study aims to consider assurance of learning among undergraduate business students enrolled in capstone business strategy courses using the GLO-BUS competitive simulation. Gender, academic major and business core course performance were examined.

Participants were 595 undergraduate capstone business students from 21 course sections taught over a four-year period. Variables included learning assurance measures, simulation performance, gender, major, business core course grades, capstone course grade and cumulative grade point average. Correlations, linear regression, multiple regression and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used to analyze the data.

Learning assurance report scores were strongly related to simulation performance. Simulation performance was related to capstone course grade, which, in turn, was significantly related to the grade point average (GPA). Core business courses were related to learning assurance and performance indicators. Significant differences for gender and degree major were found for academic performance measures. Women and men did not differ in simulation performance.

Limitations include the use of one simulation (GLO-BUS) and studying students at one university taught by one professor. Assurance of learning measures needs further study as factors in business program evaluation. Future research should analyze post-graduate performance and career achievements in relation to assurance of learning outcomes.

This study conducts empirical analyses of simulation learning that focuses entirely on direct measures, including student characteristics (gender, major), learning assurance measures, business core course grades, capstone course grades and student GPAs.

This article discusses the experiences of a university's business school in enhancing the preparation of undergraduates through the innovative design and delivery of Business Policy, the capstone course taken by all business students.

The case discusses the proactive approaches taken to explicitly align efforts between thinking and doing, for both faculty course designers and student participants alike.

Ten strategic areas of innovation and improvement are identified and discussed as areas for individual course alignment as well as the impetus for college and university business program development and delivery.

These innovations can be replicated by other institutions to enhance graduates' career preparation, pursue greater consistency with their organization's mission, develop external stakeholder engagement, and enhance internal collaboration with colleagues within the business school and across the university.

The unique value of this innovative and multifaceted approach was recognized by AACSB International, the elite accrediting agency for business schools, in several articles and at a conference on undergraduate program innovation.

Using a qualitative grounded theory approach, student guided leadership capstone projects were examined using a thematic analysis to determine the categories of projects students chose. The research sought to answer two research questions: 1) What areas of leadership development do students seek out through capstone projects for a four-year leadership studies minor? 2) What can this tell us about the program from an evaluation perspective? The analysis found four categories: self-care, application and understanding of leadership, interpersonal skills, and intercultural development skills. The implications for leadership educators are discussed as well as how capstone projects can be utilized in other leadership programs.