The capstone class is completed in the final spring semester for all students graduating from the child development department. The course has a writing emphasis through TCU and is made up mostly through the completion of a formal research paper. The paper is between 8-10 pages, modeled after a literature review. The topic is the student’s choice so long as it connects somehow to the field of child development. In the topic formation stage students are encouraged to find gaps in literature, connect ideas between intervention and populations or simply choose a topic they enjoyed learning about in courses.
This year the capstone was composed of 28 students most of whom will be graduating in May. Students choose topics related to kinship care, trauma in hospitalization, parentification, glass children and corporal punishment to name only a few. Despite all of them completing almost identical coursework not one student shared the same topic with another. Since the beginning of the semester, in January, students have completed four drafts of their papers. They have worked alongside our Developmental Trauma graduate students to receive feedback and refinement within each draft. In the past, along with the research paper, students complete a PowerPoint presentation shown to peers within class to showcase what they wrote about.
This year, students had the opportunity to showcase their chosen topic and semester long efforts outside of the classroom with a poster showcase. This was the first ever CHDV Poster Showcase, and hopefully not the last. Following completion of their paper students created an academic research poster with the information from their papers. The content contained methods to complete the research paper, a discussion of findings, and any implications this meant for the broader field of child development.
On April 23rd students showcased their presentations to the KPICD staff as well as a few friends and family. Viewers were encouraged to walk around the room to view the different poster topics students had chosen while students had the opportunity to share their work. One student, Amanda Rucker, submitted her poster to the AddRan Student Research and Creativity Symposium through the AddRan College of Liberal Arts, where she won the award for Best Poster Prize.
Students have worked very hard on these topics throughout the entire semester, and I wanted them to have the opportunity to share it with everyone else outside of the classroom. I wanted them to have a way to show off their efforts and have a tangible accomplishment to add to their resumes. As many continue onto graduate school and into their careers, I am hopeful this experience will give them not only more tools for research but also showcase how much they have learned and experienced throughout our program. It was a great opportunity to show everyone the work of our wonderful seniors and the incredible capabilities they bring into their next chapter.
Katie Cole, M.S.
Adjunct Instructor | Davis College of Science and Engineering
Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development