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Sat, Nov 3, 5:00 - 5:25, Ellwood 1 Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Grant, K A and T S Mclaren. Creating a Real-World Capstone Experience for I.T. Management Students: Putting Theory into Practice. In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2007, v 24 (Pittsburgh): §3714. ISSN: 1542-7382.

Creating a Real-World Capstone Experience for I.T. Management Students: Putting Theory into Practice

Refereed

14 pages

Kenneth A. Grant    [a1] [a2]
Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management
Ryerson University    [u1] [u2]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada    [c1] [c2]

Tim S. Mclaren    [a1] [a2]
Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management
Ryerson University    [u1] [u2]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada    [c1] [c2]

The increasingly dynamic demands of the information technology (IT) management workplace require graduating students to have demonstrated mastery of analytical skills and theoretical frameworks. Students are also expected to have demonstrated they can apply creative problem-solving skills, think critically, and learn from their efforts. IT management educators have often used capstone courses in the final year of a program to enable students to synthesize concepts from previous courses and apply them to a final project. In this paper, we argue that the capstone courses should not only focus on synthesis and application of concepts, but should also pay explicit attention to developing the action learning skills of critical analysis and critical reflection. Furthermore, the use of a real-world experiential project rather than a textbook case can help students develop “soft skills” such as dealing with ambiguity, adding value, communicating effectively, and managing relationships with clients and team members. We describe the capstone experiential learning project for undergraduate IT management students at Ryerson University. This is an integrated 8-month problem-based learning experience involving classroom-presented theory, small-group tutoring and the execution of two major projects for a student-recruited real client organization. Over the last eight years, more than 300 organizations have supported student teams. Teams, each of 5-6 students, carry out a strategic assessment of the client organization. They identify a business system or business process needing improvement. They carry out a requirements and design study, obtain proposals from vendors, and make recommendations for the selection and implementation of the best solution., the capstone project links theory presented in the class with actual work done by the students. The paper concludes with a reflection on the capstone experience and some lessons learned as well as proposed research to evaluate the experience.

Keywords: capstone, action learning, problem-based learning, outcomes-based learning, critical analysis, critical reflection, information systems management, pedagogy

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