The Introduction Chapter

The Introduction Chapter

The Capstone Process

History – The College historically has used a traditional process to support graduate students. When the student was nearing the end of their coursework they would find a faculty advisor and move through the process. This was not producing the results that were desired. As a result, this new process was developed and implemented. After some successful initial results, the process has been further refined to provide even more support to you, our students.

Purpose – To assist all graduate students to successfully complete the capstone process and graduate.

Process – The Capstone Process includes three distinct parts and 8 steps as outlined below:

Part 1 – Laying the Foundation

Step 1 - Selecting a focus – Project or Thesis Study and Topic AND Narrow it

Step 2 - Completing an Annotated Bibliography in preparation for a Literature Review

Step 3 - Determining a Methodology

Part 2 – Writing the Proposal (the proposal provides you a chance to refine your project or study process and complete 3 of the 5 chapters in final written product)

Step 4 - The Introduction Chapter

Step 5 - The Literature Review Chapter

Step 6 - The Methodology Chapter

Step 7 - Finalizing the Proposal

Part 3 – Conducting the Thesis Study, Project, Externship and Completing the Final Written Product

Step 8 - You will be assigned a Capstone Advisor that will work with you to complete the Capstone (Thesis or Project) Process. This process will follow what you outlined in the proposal you developed in Part 2.

Structure – At approximately the 8th or 9th course in your program you are enrolled into the Capstone Community. This provides you with 4-6 months to complete the entire process and be fully prepared to graduate. You are encouraged to move through the steps as deliberately and quickly as you can, while taking enough time to receive the full benefit of the process and the support of faculty mentors. Unlike your other courses, this process is designed to provide you with the flexibility to move through it at your own pace (understanding that you are doing other courses and are busy with your personal and professional lives) while providing you clear and predictable structure to ensure that you consistently move forward toward completion of the Capstone.

Grading – You will receive no final letter grade until completion of Part 3 of the process. Upon completion of each of the steps, you will receive 1 points for a total of 8 points. The final thesis or project will comprise 92% of your total grade. This means that completion of each of the steps is very helpful to your final grade, but will not dramatically impact the final outcome. Your letter grade will be assigned by the Capstone Advisor upon completion of the Capstone Process, including the Capstone work product.

Faculty Support – All of the faculty that support this process have doctorate degrees as required by the accrediting body for the College and as per academic tradition. This provides you with support from people who have been through a thesis/dissertation process; making it possible for them to effectively guide you.

Your Responsibility – You are expected to move through the steps of the process with commitment to the end goal of completing the Capstone Process and graduating. You are invited to collaborate with the faculty that are assigned to support you by asking questions and being fully engaged in the process. Be prepared to receive feedback and to refine the work product readily and quickly. Finally, you are encouraged to enjoy the academic process that may be a once in a lifetime chance for you.

Flexibility – The process was designed to allow for maximum flexibility, both in terms of the parts of the process as well as the amount of time you will be required to devote to each step. Some steps will require very little time while others will require a greater investment of time to meet the requirements. If you have completed any of the steps, you can simply move to the next step, by informing your instructor of the outcome of your efforts in any step. A dropbox is available for each step that will allow for you to provide evidence of completion of each respective step in the Capstone Process

The Introduction Chapter is the way the student introduces their project or thesis study. It is the opportunity to set the stage for what you attempted to accomplish in your project or thesis study. It is intend to "whet the appetite" of the reader to read the entire work. Please read the below for a detailed description on how to complete this step.

Step 4 - Writing an Introduction ChapterPreview the documentView in a new window In a 4-6 page paper (1000 - 1500 words) written in APA format, and attached as a Microsoft Word document, complete the Introduction Chapter.

Below is feedback from the previous paper regarding this assignment,, This week you will be writing the introduction for your paper. Briefly introduce your topic, then state your point of view on the topic in a single sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you'll make in the rest of your paper. I am attaching an example here for you to refer to as you begin to write your first chapter.