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ERIC Number: EJ1339121
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2168-8281
EISSN: N/A
Skill Development Using Interdisciplinary Problem Solving in a Natural Resources Capstone Course
Anderson, Zach D.; Hargiss, Christina L. M.; Norland, Jack E.
Natural Sciences Education, v51 n1 e20078 2022
Postsecondary curriculum is designed to prepare students for their careers following graduation, which traditionally revolves around technical aspects of their respected career field. Capstone courses were introduced to help ease students' transition from the university into their careers. However, little research containing empirical evidence exists on the effectiveness of capstone courses in natural resources. This study evaluated 6 yr of course graduates from an interdisciplinary problem-solving capstone course in natural resources, seeking to understand the skills gained and what portions of the course were most useful in transitioning students to their future careers. Results show the course was able to enhance students' writing, communication, job preparation, and teamwork skills. Students valued knowledge gained on soft skills, such as communication and teamwork, over technical skills specific to their major. Overall, the students valued the interdisciplinary problem solving nature of the course, as most natural resource issues are interdisciplinary. Areas that could be improved in this capstone model were focused on improving individual student's verbal communication and presentation skills. Information from this study is useful to colleges and universities considering and using capstone courses to determine skills that can be taught and to determine if using real world problems in an interdisciplinary setting in their courses would be beneficial.
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A