JSM 2014 Home
Online Program Home
My Program

Abstract Details

Activity Number: 342
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2014 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
Abstract #313769
Title: Choose-Your-Own Capstone Adventure: Providing Flexible Paths for Undergraduate Majors
Author(s): Rebecca Nugent*+
Companies: Carnegie Mellon
Keywords: capstone course ; undergraduate ; education
Abstract:

The ASA has devoted extensive effort to updating the undergraduate Statistics curriculum guidelines. One focus is the role and variety of undergraduate Statistics capstones, the subject of a recent webinar (December 2013). A capstone course is traditionally defined as a final culminating experience that synthesizes all coursework and skills. In Statistics, this often is an advanced project or methodology course. The goal is to provide a high quality experience to all students. But what if there are too many? The CMU Statistics major has exploded in size, growing by about 500%. To provide the same quality requires a Herculean effort. Moreover, students headed to industry require different training than those headed to graduate school. At CMU, we are developing a framework that provides different capstones depending on student goals and talents. Our hope is that this flexibility will help align students with experiences that fit their career paths and will alleviate faculty burden. This talk gives a historical overview of our capstone and its progression to its current flexible form. We summarize the chosen student paths as well as student feedback about their experiences.


Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.

Back to the full JSM 2014 program




2014 JSM Online Program Home

For information, contact jsm@amstat.org or phone (888) 231-3473.

If you have questions about the Professional Development program, please contact the Education Department.

The views expressed here are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the JSM sponsors, their officers, or their staff.

ASA Meetings Department  •  732 North Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314  •  (703) 684-1221  •  meetings@amstat.org
Copyright © American Statistical Association.