GEN 411 - Baccalaureate Capstone II
Advice From Former Capstone Students
Below are the responses of former GEN 411 students asked for the most important piece of advice that they could give to other students just beginning their Capstone projects. (NB: These comments were collected during assessment of Dr. Erion's GEN 411[01-F] course on May 5, 2004.)
- I think the most important advice I would give is to be absolutely sure that you like the topic you have picked. You deal with the subject the entire semester, and it is important that you enjoy what you are researching.
- Just do it! Get into it as soon as possible. The research is the hard part, so get that done as soon as possible. Then you have the info. and then you can write, and it's all downhill from there.
- DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! Use your time wisely -- a couple of last minute late nights will not ease your stress level. Most importantly, you will not have the time to look back and make changes as you scramble to finish your paper. I wish I would have known the amount and seriousness of work it took to complete this project.
- [K]eep on top of your project. Don't take too much time in between [work sessions]. It's easy to set aside and [procrastinate]. [C]onstantly research and read as much as you can on the topic so you can better understand what you want to get across in your paper.
- The most important piece of advice I could give is to write an outline. Use your outline to [organize] your paper so that you are writing smaller 5-page sections[,] rather than overwhelming yourself with a 30 page paper all at [once].
- Once you pull together an outline, separate your categories and think of them as separate papers -- for example[,] 5 categories in your outline which you could break up into 6 "separate" papers -- to help you think, group, and feel better about 30 pages.
- Work on getting a detailed outline [...] as soon as you can because it will make the writing of the paper so much easier. Keep adding to the outline when needed.
- My advice is to put a lot of thought into your outline. Once you have your main headings, it helps you to locate information on each. Before you know it, you have 30 pages.
- Have an outline, and don't wait until the end to start. As soon as you finish GEN 410[,] start your research. Meetings were important, a few more would have been nice, they keep you on your feet.
- Have a well-[organized] outline. Write your paper in sections according to the outline. Then at the end[,] write transition paragraphs to connect the sections. I would have liked to know that physically dividing the paper into sections was an appropriate method. Once I did it, it made it easier to follow my thoughts and made it easier to read my paper.
- Ask professors [from within your field] for [...] recommended sources.
- [While] completing my project, I found it helpful to seek out help from those within my group to keep myself on track with the scheduling. Don't hesitate to look to your group members for help[, or to your] professors.
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