Refresh or Reboot a Core Capstone

Refreshing means updating a Core capstone that you’ve previously taught.

Some faculty members have Core capstones on the books but haven’t taught the course in years and may be concerned that the course no longer meets expectations. These faculty members can refresh their Core capstone, which effectively amounts to requesting a formative review.

Rebooting means adopting and adapting someone else’s Core capstone. 

Usually this means adopting and adapting a capstone previously taught by a colleague who is now retired or has left Elon, though other arrangements are possible. Care must be taken to respect the time and intellectual effort expended by the course’s original author. Contact the Assistant Director of Integrative Core Capstones at the very outset.

Before you start

You may wish to review the syllabi of these permanent (catalog) Core capstones. As with all matters pertaining to Core capstone design and pedagogy, you are welcome to contact the Assistant Director of Integrative Core Capstones at any point.

Draft a brief summary of your course. In the summary, indicate explicitly and in sufficient detail how your course:

  1. Promotes the mission of the Elon Core Curriculum.
  2. Promotes the two principles that inform that mission: ethical reasoning and personal & social responsibility. When writing this section, some instructors find it useful to imagine a student audience, explaining in the same ways they’d explain to students how ethical reasoning and personal & social responsibility will be defined and explored in the context of the course.
  3. Promotes the following learning outcomes, which are required in all Core capstones because they help students pursue the Core mission.
    1. Research skills across disciplines.
    2. Communication skills.
    3. Problem-solving.
  4. Is writing intensive and includes two types of writing:
    1. Writing to learn. A common writing-to-learn activity is some form of journaling, such as blog posts or discussion forum posts.
    2. Writing as a citizen, aka writing for civic engagement. Generally, these writing activities involve a public genre and are often folded into the capstone project.
  5. Is clearly not a disciplinary course, even if it is influenced by your disciplinary research.
  6. Please also list a few likely texts (readings, films, and so on) and indicate how these texts promote the above mission, principles, and learning outcomes.
  7. Finally, please sketch the contours of the semester project (aka capstone project) you plan to have students complete. One common genre is a research paper, but other modes are possible and encouraged.

Submitting your course summary

Send as an attachment or shared document to the Assistant Director of Integrative Core Capstones.

What happens next

The Executive Director of the Elon Core Curriculum, in consultation with the Chair of ECCC and the Assistant Director of Integrative Core Capstones, will review the course to make sure it meets the expectations above. If revisions are needed, the Executive Director or Assistant Director will provide formative commentary within one month.