Math/CS Capstone Experience Information for Students April 15, 2002 Part of the required major at Macalester is a senior capstone experience. The capstone helps students consolidate knowledge and skills gained in coursework. It should demonstrate a capability for independent work. It also should provide experience in communicating such work to others both at a professional and layman s level. The Math/CS capstone is oriented around an independent research project. It involves several components: 1. Selection of a faculty supervisor in the Math/CS department and approval by that supervisor of a topic. 2. Completion of a substantial paper on the topic in (1). 3. Presentation of the work in (2) in an open, public forum to a general audience consisting of faculty and students at all levels. 4. Participation in the senior capstone seminar in the Spring semester of the senior year. 5. Acceptance of the paper and the presentation by the Math/CS faculty as a whole. The Paper Topic In many cases, the capstone paper will be based on work performed in a course, for example, a course term project. Students have the option, however, of selecting a new topic specifically for the capstone. When the topic is based on previous course work, it is usually appropriate to select the course instructor as the capstone supervisor, but this is not required. Depending on the student s interest, the capstone topic may involve original research, or it may involve the summarization and consolidation of reports from the research literature, or designing and implementing a mathematical model or algorithms for the performance of some task. Approval of the Topic No later than November 1 of the senior year, students must select a faculty supervisor and receive approval of their capstone topic from that supervisor. (For students undertaking honors projects, earlier deadlines for the honors project are relevant.) There are generally three situations: 1
The topic is based on work done in a Math/CS course already taken. In this case, the student should provide the faculty supervisor with that work, and topic approval will be based on the submitted work. The topic is based on work to be done in a Math/CS course currently being taken. In this case, the student should specify from which course the project will arise. The supervisor should generally be the instructor of that course. Approval of the topic will be at the supervisor s discretion; in some cases supervisors may require that some work already be completed at the time of approval. The topic is that of an honors project or other independent work. In this case, substantial work on the project, equivalent in scope at least to a course term project, should be completed by the November deadline. In the 1st or 3rd scenarios, we encourage students to enroll for Math 95/96 or Comp 95/96 under the direction of the faculty supervisor in order to receive Macalester course credit for work done on their capstone project. Credit may be taken during the Fall semester or January term of their senior year. The student should identify a second faculty member willing to serve as a reader of the final paper. This second reader does not need to be in the Math/CS department. Registration validation for the Spring semester cannot be completed until the capstone topic is approved and the required form submitted to the department. The required instructor s signature for Math/CS 89 will not be given until the form has been approved. A student who has a second major in a department that requires a Senior Capstone paper or who is doing an Honors project in another major, may request that a single paper be used to meet the Capstone paper requirement of both majors. For this request to be granted, the student must have a Capstone advisor in the Math/CS department, and the advisor must certify that the paper has sufficient mathematical and/or computer science content to satisfy the goals and intent of the Capstone requirement. If the request is approved, the student will still be subject to the deadlines outlined below, and participate in all the components of the Capstone programs such as the seminar. The student s presentation on Capstone Day should emphasize the mathematical or computer science content of the paper. Students who double major in mathematics and computer science will give two such Capstone Day presentations, even if there is only one paper. Students whose second major is in a department outside of Math/CS must advise that department of the plan to use one paper for both capstones. Completion of the Research Paper A complete draft (the February draft ) of the paper is due by the second week of the Spring semester. The following provides some guidelines for what constitutes a complete draft. 2
A course term paper whose project has been approved by the capstone faculty supervisor is a good starting point for the capstone paper. Typically such papers contain a number of areas where the work has been rushed, or where open questions remain, or where conjectures were made that could be addressed with some additional work. Often, in the process of writing the term paper, the author realizes that a different approach would have been more productive. The capstone provides an opportunity to address these shortcomings and produce a more comprehensive and refined paper. A capstone paper should contain a professional review of existing work, with appropriate citations and a bibliography. (In many cases, it may be appropriate to start from scratch, using the term paper as the basis for an outline.) The February draft should be the refined paper. (For capstones not originating in a course term paper, a good starting point is the equivalent of such a paper, completed during the Fall semester of the senior year.) The February draft is a draft in the sense that the Spring semester provides the time to improve and polish the presentation of the paper: revising and clarifying the text, producing illustrations and graphics as appropriate, and constructing an effective set of citations and a bibliography. The final version of the paper is due one week after Capstone Day. The Capstone Seminar A capstone seminar, Math 89 or Comp 89, will be held each spring. Juniors about to enter their capstone year, will attend two meetings of the seminar; seniors, who must register for credit for the seminar, will attend all the meetings. The instructor s signature is required for registration. Meeting in February to discuss how to write a good paper. attendance by seniors.] [Required Meeting in February on how to prepare visual aids. [Required attendance by seniors.] Meeting in March on public speaking. [Required attendance by seniors.] Meeting approximately one week before Capstone Day for 5-minute runthroughs of students talks. Meeting soon before Capstone Day introducing the Capstone Project and on how to do library research. [Required attendance by juniors.] Meeting after Capstone Conference Day for seniors to share advice with juniors. [Required attendance by juniors and seniors.] Mid-year graduates should make special arrangements, for example taking the Capstone Seminar in the Spring of the year before graduation. 3
Capstone Day On one day, usually a Wednesday in mid-april, the department will cancel all classes in order to hold our annual Capstone Day. Each capstone student is required to give a 20-30 minute presentation of his or her capstone project to a general audience. The audience will consist largely of students from the department, including students from introductory Math/CS courses. Hence, your presentation should be oriented toward a group with little or no knowledge of your topic. Acceptance by the Faculty The department faculty will meet in early May to approve the capstone papers and presentation. Consensus of the entire department faculty is required to accept the capstone. When the second reader is outside the department, his or her views will be solicited and considered. It is unusual for a capstone to be rejected by the faculty. Generally, the supervisor provides sufficient feedback to the student to avoid any surprises at the May faculty meeting. However, responsibility for producing an acceptable capstone rests entirely with the student. A student whose capstone has been rejected will be given the chance to revise the project and/or make an additional presentation after which the capstone will be reconsidered by the faculty. However, rejection of the capstone may well mean that the student cannot graduate at the usual time. Failure to meet the deadlines for submission of drafts, or to attend the senior capstone seminar, may lead to a grade of NC appearing on the student s transcript for Math/Comp 89. Such a grade may not, however, preclude the student from successfully completing the overall capstone requirement for graduation. 4
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Required Capstone Planning Form This form must be completed before registration for the Spring semester of the senior year. Registration will be blocked until this form is complete and accepted by your faculty supervisor and the department chair. Students graduating in December or travelling abroad during Fall semester should make special arrangements with the department chair. Student s Name: printed name Faculty Supervisor: signature Second Reader: signature Complete either (1), (2), or (3): 1. Course from a previous semester from which the capstone project will be drawn and title of the project. Course Number Project Title Has a copy of the course project been given to the Faculty Supervisor? Yes or No 2. Course from the current semester from which the capstone project will be drawn and the anticipated subject. Course Number Anticipated Project Title 3. Description of the independent project that will be the basis for the capstone paper. Description: Project Title Is this part of an honors project? Yes or No Other departments in which capstones or honors projects will be done (including Math/CS for dual majors). Title of that project. Other Capstone Dept. and Title