This week your final draft project is due. That does not mean less than final! It only means that I will provide feedback to be incorporated into the final version that will be filed in the library and that you can take away as part of a portfolio or present to your supervisor/project manager. The project should include the cover page, contents, and other formatting as per the manual. It should also include an abstract, introduction, literature review, findings/journal, and the end result of the project itself. This work, and the final project, is to be a Word document approximately 50 pages in length. The course instructor will determine the amount of material that will constitute a completed assignment.
The following checklist may prove helpful!
Must address at least one of our current program objectives
Title Page exactly as in End of Program Capstone Manual but noting a Project instead of thesis
University publication license/copyright page
Dedication [optional]
Acknowledgement [optional]
Abstract with correct title heading
Table of Contents
Dot leaders
Left justified
Double spaced between entries
Make sure to list Appendices after References
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Acronyms/Abbreviations if applicable
APA format if not otherwise indicated by the agency for which the project is being done
The rest of the capstone project is flexible as far as format
If there is not a required format by your agency then it should be a narrative with an intro, lit review, analysis, explanation then their project in the appendix [remember it still has to be the equivalent of the 50-page thesis but you don’t have to go straight by page limit, particularly if much of your work is gathering data, etc. and the reporting does not take that many pages]
If you have a format that the agency for which they are doing the project requires use that. For instance, if it is an Army white paper for leadership, it will be in the format required by that style manual which is not APA and different than ours. That is fine. If it is a grant submission that will be the bulk of the design but you will still need to cover the background aspects in a lit review, etc.
The lit review may be more grounded in comparative analysis of “best practices” of other agencies, etc. An initial lead-in of scholarly sources is recommended but this is grounded in practice not theory.
The idea is to make this project as practically applicable as possible.
The final project should also include either an executive summary or PPT which you will use to present the information
It is strongly encouraged that this happen prior to the end of class and the feedback be incorporated as an appendix
THIS SHOULD BE A SEPARATE DOCUMENT AND NOT INCLUDED IN THE INITIAL PAPER!!
Appendices
IRB approval in appendix if utilized
Any information that was used that is the result of human behavioral research will need to be taken out of the submission if IRB approval not received
The journal in this class is a separate assignment and NOT included in the final paper [despite what the Capstone Manual says]
Take a look at this excellent editing guidance from Publishing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks.