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College of Applied Arts
Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies (OWLS)

BAAS Capstone Information (OCED 4360/4361)

To receive overrides for Capstone (OCED 4360 & 4361), complete the following request:

Capstone Eligibility Form 

Once Academic Advising has verified your eligibility, you will receive an email with the necessary overrides to register for OCED 4360 and 4361

IMPORTANT CAPSTONE GUIDELINES: 

  • OCED 4360 is taken in the first 8-week session, OCED 4361 is taken in the second 8-week session.

  • The capstone courses cannot be waived. 

  • Capstone courses are taken in your last semester of your degree plan. 

  • You can only take FOUR courses (12 hours) in your last semester.

    • Only allowed to take 2 courses WITH the capstone courses in the same semester. 

      • (12 hours total= TWO 3 hour credit courses + OCED 4360 (3 credit hrs)  + OCED 4361 (3 credit hrs)

  • Capstone courses are NOT offered in the summer semester.

  • Must receive overrides to enroll in the capstone courses.  

  • If I do not pass Part 2-OCED 4361, I will need to repeat BOTH Capstone courses.  

 

WHAT IS THE BAAS CAPSTONE?

The BAAS Capstone is a two-sequence course that students take in their final semester of the BAAS degree. The two courses are taken in the same semester. OCED 4360 is taken in the first 8-week session, OCED 4361 is taken in the second 8-week session.

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT IN THE CLASSES?

Both courses are writing intensive, which means at least 60% of your course grade comes from written assignments as opposed to exams. You will be responsible for a literature review of a common workplace problem, a group project with your peers in the class, as well as many self-reflective assignments and assessments.

The Capstone structure has updated starting Fall 2020 term. You no longer will be required to locate a site supervisor, an organization, or other prior requirements. 

WHAT IMPORTANT RULES DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CAPSTONE?

OCED 4360 and 4361 are required in order to graduate from the BAAS program. You must pass OCED 4360 in order to remain enrolled in OCED 4361. You must take both courses from the same instructor.

The Capstone will be completed in your final semester of your degree plan. You will have no more than 12 credit hours remaining after the prior semester. This includes OCED 4360 and OCED 4361, which are 6 credit hours. You must be on track to meet all remaining degree requirements. 

Capstone courses are NOT offered during the summer semesters. You can only enroll during long semesters. 

HOW DO I REGISTER FOR MY CAPSTONE COURSES?

In order to receive the necessary overrides to register for OCED 4360 and 4361, you must verify with Academic Advising that you will be in your final semester when you enroll in the capstone courses.

Capstone Eligibility Form: https://advising.appliedarts.txstate.edu/services/OCED-4360---OCED-4361-Capstone-Eligibility-Form-.html

Once Academic Advising has verified your eligibility, you will receive an email with the necessary overrides to register for OCED 4360 and 4361

Please note that the advising center cannot grant overrides until registration opens for the semester you will take your capstone courses.

WHAT IF I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?

Please contact the OWLS department at (512) 245-2115 or owls@txstate.edu

BAAS CAPSTONE OVERVIEW

Synopsys

You will work in groups of four (4) to investigate and propose solutions for a common occupational or community problem.

You will create three (3) major assignments related to the problem you and your group choose: A literature review of the most recent research on the problem, a comprehensive plan to solve the problem, and a presentation of the research, proposed solution, and process you and your group underwent throughout the semester.

 

Components of the Project

The group project includes the following components:

OCED 4360, BAAS Capstone Part 1

  1. Group formation and cohesion – Group Initiation, Team Charter, meeting schedule
  2. Choose a problem to research – Group must decide as a whole
  3. Researching the problem – Each group member researches one area of the problem
    1. Be sure to choose a large enough problem so that each group member can investigate a different part of the problem
    2. See example below
  4. Analyzing the recent literature about the problem – Research at Alkek Library; craft Annotated Bibliographies and Literature Reviews
  5. The Literature Review Assignment serves as the final for OCED 4360 – Each group member submits their own literature review assignment

OCED 4361, BAAS Capstone Part 2

  1. Evaluating the solutions and creating a comprehensive plan – Solutions are based on the research from the Literature Review; Group must decide as a whole
  2. Bi-weekly check-ins and progress reports – to ensure groups are continuing to work diligently on the comprehensive plan and group presentation
  3. Crafting a comprehensive plan – 10 examples are provided in the course site; the type of comprehensive plan crafted depends on the problem being addressed
    1. Each group member is expected to contribute equally to the comprehensive plan
  4. Presenting the problem, the research, and the proposed solution – After the comprehensive plan is created, each group will create PowerPoint with voiceovers, equal among each group member
    1. Each group member is expected to contribute equally to the presentation
  5. The Comprehensive Plan and Group Presentation serves as the final for OCED 4361

This is only an overview of what is expected. There are more assignments to complete than are detailed on this document. More information about course assignments is available in the course modules.

 

Example Problem – Poverty

In order to develop reasonable proposed solutions to the problem of poverty, in the very least you need to look at economic impacts (econ), political systems (PolySci), and societal barriers (sociology).

If you were looking at poverty for this project, one group member would investigate one of the areas.

For example, Lupe would look at research related to poverty in the academic field of Economics, Bridget would look at research related to poverty in the academic field of Political Science, and Celeste would look at research related to poverty in the academic field of Sociology.

Once each group member has successfully transitioned to OCED 4361, you and your group will analyze the research conducted for the literature review assignments. You will evaluate the many possible solutions to solve the problem, then you will create a comprehensive plan based on the research. Finally, you will present the findings of your research and the final product you created.

 

Group Grades and Responsibilities

Each group member is responsible for their own work and will complete a Team Process Rubric at the end of the course in which each team member grades the other team members on their effort. Final comprehensive plan and group presentation scores will be reduced for any students shown to be less engaged than their peers on the Team Process Rubric.

 

Individual Work vs. Group Work

Some of the work you do for the group project will be individual and others will be as a group.

Individual work includes the research you conduct on your chosen problem area, the annotated bibliographies, and the literature review.

Group work includes team charter assignment, deciding on a problem to investigate, peer review process for literature review, weekly check-ins with your group, analysis of workplace problems, devising solutions to solve the problems, creating a comprehensive plan based on research, and crafting and presenting the group’s comprehensive plan.