Capstone Project Wiki

Capstone allocates 10 hours per person per week for course-related activities. This is consistent with University expectations. This allocation includes both project time (8 hours per week) and professional development time (2 hours per week). Please use this time wisely to achieve the best educational and professional outcomes.

An average of eight Capstone hours per week are reserved for you to work on your project. During these hours you will meet as a team to plan your work, perform individual work on the project, discuss your progress with the project sponsor, and have design reviews with instructors and coaches of other teams.

Of course, the work is unlikely to come at a uniform rate. Some weeks will be busier than others. The management of your team and personal schedules is your responsibility.

The time budget for working on the project is (8 hours per week) times (14 weeks)=112 hours per semester per team member. You should work with your coach and sponsor to scope your project to be consistent with this level of effort.

Two of the weekly Capstone hours are reserved for personal professional development which consists of academic learning and demonstrating your learning. During this time you will read the textbook, attend classes, complete homework assignments, and study for and take tests. Some weeks will have scheduled activities (such as classes and tests). Other weeks have no scheduled personal professional development time. However, there are still tasks to be done, such as homework or studying for tests.

A total of 28 hours (2 hours/week times 14 weeks) is allocated for personal professional development during Capstone. The breakdown in the allocated hours is shown in the table below. It is your responsibility to manage your time wisely; you may choose to spend extra time to better prepare. To successfully complete your project, your team will need to apply and implement project management strategies and tools. Participate in Capstone Project Management workshops to learn more about Project Management.

The grading weight corresponds to the time allocation. 20% of your grade depends on the demonstration of your personal professional development. 80% of your grade depends on your performance on the Capstone project as part of a team.

Capstone does not require you to track the time you spend nor to account for how you spend your time. However, each student is required to keep an electronic list of their contributions to the project in the Individual Contribution Summary Worksheet. This worksheet should be regularly reviewed by the team and coach. As part of this list, your team may choose to ignore the time spent, estimate the total hours spent on each contribution, or track time spent each week on each contribution. Furthermore, even if your team chooses not to track the hours spent, you can track your own hours on the list of your contributions.

Wise students will spend part of their weekly time planning the work to be done each day, keeping written records of the results, and analyzing their accomplishments. The combined plans and accomplishments of all team members make up the team's plans and accomplishments, which should be shared with the sponsor in a weekly status update. Working thoughtfully and carefully in this way will help you get your work done faster and better. It will also help you get the best possible information to and feedback from your sponsor.