Capstone Project
| Module title | Capstone Project |
|---|---|
| Module code | CSC3036 |
| Academic year | 2027/8 |
| Credits | 45 |
| Module staff | Dr Mark Carew (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 180 |
|---|
Module description
This module offers you the chance to combine, enhance, and utilise the knowledge, comprehension, and abilities acquired in previous years of your program to address a problem associated with the field of Biomedical Sciences. You will produce a specific outcome that can serve as evidence of your expertise and skills to prospective employers in the graduate job market. This module represents the apex of your degree program, serving as the culmination or Capstone experience that consolidates all your learning. It provides you with the opportunity to apply your knowledge to a real-world problem, thereby fostering reflection, concentration, and a sense of purpose of your degree journey.
Module aims - intentions of the module
As part of your capstone experience, you will undertake a research or enquiry-based project in an area relevant to Biomedical Sciences. Your project can take many forms, including laboratory, critical and systematic reviews, grant proposals, innovation, commercial or technical research, service-learning, educational development, science communication, and public engagement. This is your opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills you’ve developed throughout your programme to a real-world problem, contributing to new knowledge and expanding your skill set.
By the end of your capstone, you will communicate your findings through an academic paper, report, reflective e-portfolio, or another relevant assessment format, along with an oral presentation. If you choose to undertake a critical review project, you will also complete an extension exercise, such as developing a grant application.
Graduate attributes: as part of this module, you will develop the key employability skills of technical or experimental skills; creativity; judgement & decision making; emotional intelligence; negotiation; cognitive flexibility; ethics and responsibility; global and cultural insight.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Gather or generate information, critically analysing this information to address this problem. Gain new knowledge, understanding and skills in creating a solution to, or output for, this problem
- 2. Perform a scientific literature search and successfully discern, organise and synthesise the relevant information
- 3. Apply skills of critical thinking, problem-formulation, problem-solving, and rigorous scientific data /information analysis to biomedical, clinical sciences or applied health practice
- 4. Describe and critically evaluate aspects of current research in biomedical/clinical sciences or applied health research with reference to research articles.
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Apply knowledge, understanding and skills gained in earlier years of their programme to a problem relevant to the Biomedical Sciences.
- 6. Demonstrate professional competence in communicating effectively with academics and the public.
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. Effectively communicate the outcomes and outputs of this enquiry-based learning experience.
- 8. Manage time, workload, ambiguity, change and stress effectively and demonstrate effective personal development planning, based on self-awareness and reflection.
- 9. Extend and use relevant employability skills such as effective report-writing and delivering engaging oral presentations
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, an example of the typical structure is as follows:
This module is focused on?self-directed?independent research supervised and supported by an academic member of staff or experienced member of research staff.
Induction:
Although the module runs across terms 1-3 of your final year, once your project and named supervisor has been allocated (usually by the end of the second year) you are strongly encouraged to discuss preparatory reading and other induction procedures with them.
In the final year, project work will normally be undertaken in the Autumn and Spring terms. By running across two terms, you and your supervisor have the flexibility to establish working patterns that best accommodate the project, your other module choices, and the circumstances of their research group.
During the module you will have additional Q&A sessions and lectures to help you prepare for the two main assessments.
Methods skills and training:
For certain recurrent or core research skills that are needed for projects we provide introductory training workshops in Term 1. Some are online and some are face-to-face. The topics/skills covered typically include (but may change in response to student needs/feedback):
- How to approach the public
- Stata for data analysis
- How to write a questionnaire
- Literature searching
- Literature review methods (systematic reviews and critical reviews)
Supervisory meetings:
Supervisory meetings are held by arrangement between the supervisor and student, with different research groups/academics following different conventions. However, you are entitled to on average 30 minutes of supervisory time per week, comprised of either time with day-to-day supervisors (i.e., PhD students and postdoctoral research associates) or your primary supervisor. You are expected to be proactive in working with your supervisor to organise the meetings and their content. In addition to the regular meetings, there are four formal documented meetings with your project supervisor. The report is typically submitted at the beginning of term 3. At the end of term 2 you will give an oral presentation of your project and its findings.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 430 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 2 | 2 x 1h introductory lectures (with Q&A opportunities including to introduce the module and its assessments). |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 10 | Supervisory meetings: for guidance on project development, implementation, data collection, data analysis and interpretation. (virtual if necessary or preferred). |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 8 | Methods Workshops: Topics include Assessment Q & A, literature searching, review methods, statistics support/training and critical appraisal. |
| Guided Independent Study | 430 | Project-related work including: writing project proposal, literature research and reading, report writing, data collection and analysis, preparation for supervisor meetings, oral presentation preparation, engaging with online instructional videos found on ELE, and other guided independent study. |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal and key skills feedback from project supervisor and research colleagues. | 100-200 words | 1-8 | Written and oral |
| Provider feedback on sample of research project oral presentation draft? | On 10% of oral presentation content (i.e. 1 PPT slide)? | 9? | Written and/or oral? |
| Provider feedback on research project draft | On 10% of draft written research project report, equivalent to 1 or 1.3 pages of A4 | 1-6 | Written and oral |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0 | 20 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary Project proposal | 5 | 500 words | 1-6 | Written and oral |
| Project report / reflective portfolio (depending on project type) | 70 | 6000 word or equivalent | 1-9 | Written |
| Research Project student performance judgement | 5 | Professionalism during project placement throughout Terms 1 and 2 | 1-8 | Written (by primary supervisor) |
| 1x Oral presentation | 20 | 10 mins | 5, 9 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary Project proposal | Re-submission of 1-page preliminary project proposal (5%) | 1-6 | Within 4-weeks of original submission |
| Project report / reflective portfolio (depending on project type) | 6000 word or equivalent (70%) | 1-9 | By End of Referral/Deferral period |
| 1x Oral presentation | Oral Presentation (10 min) (20%) | 5, 9 | By End of Referral/Deferral period |
| Project supervisor student performance judgement | Remediation meeting with one of the module leads (40 minutes) (5%) | 1-9 | Early in term 3 (see note) |
Re-assessment notes
In the event of you failing the Research project student performance judgement component and failing the module overall, you will be required to meet with one of the module leads as soon as possible to remediate this failure as a referred assessment. This will involve a structured conversation to reflect on the challenges you may have faced in engaging with the research project and your supervisory meetings.
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons that are approved by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. If deferred, the format and timing of the re-assessment for each of the summative assessments is detailed in the table above ('Details of re-assessment'). The mark given for a deferred assessment will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral - if you have failed the module (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) and the module cannot be condoned, you will be required to complete a re-assessment for each of the failed components on the module. The format and timing of the re-assessment for each of the summative assessments is detailed in the table above ('Details of re-assessment'). If you pass the module following re-assessment, your module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
- This will vary according to your specific project, and will be guided by your supervisor during the project development phase.
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
Module ELE page
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
As directed by the supervisor
| Credit value | 45 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 22.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 13/05/2024 |
