Spring 2016 - Capstone "Mini-Fair" Assignment Due by 8pm on April 24th

All student in the DCC program undertake a capstone project in their sophomore year. You will develop your project proposal in the Fall of 2016 and then continue to work on it as your major DCC activity in the Spring 2017 semester.

There are a wide range of categories into which we might think about capstone projects; hardware or software, task-oriented or artistic, expressing a concept or invoking a feeling, etc. Whether the project has a person choosing their own path through a love story or helping people share their experiences when visiting the National Mall or creating an app to let people scan and solve crossword puzzles, we find that capstones tend to be as individual as our students, even though there are some common themes into which many will fit.


For this assignment, you will be attending a "mini-fair" of capstone projects being undertaken by the Epsilon class this semester and then reflecting on what you have seen. This reflection will take two forms:
  • For three of the capstone projects that you see, you will provide a brief summary of the project's goals, and a critique (note, not a criticism) of the presentation of the project.
  • Based on the things that you saw at the mini-fair, you will make a list of three "lessons learned" that you feel will help you as you undertake your own capstone project.
  • Within the context of your own interests, and based on what you saw at the mini-fair as a whole, you will write a one to two paragraph "pitch" of an idea or a general area that you might further explore as a possible capstone, and why.


    You will then e-mail it to me at egolubUMD@gmail.com by copying and pasting the text list into that e-mail, and using the subject "Capstone Reflections" by 8pm on April 24th.