[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-599323-105":59,"doc-detail-599323-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","are-we-overlooking-and-underselling-the-writing-capstone-course","Are We Overlooking (and Underselling) the Writing Capstone Course?","","The article examines how writing capstone courses function and how they are described across undergraduate writing programs. Using a content analysis of 54 capstone syllabi from 44 institutions, it compares course descriptions, course outcomes, and assigned textbooks. The findings reveal substantial program-to-program variability and limited scholarly attention to capstones. Recommendations guide course design and implementation, encouraging the field to broaden discussion beyond local concerns and better align capstones with student learning outcomes.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/are-we-overlooking-and-underselling-the-writing-capstone-course/599323/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/are-we-overlooking-and-underselling-the-writing-capstone-course/599323.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"WPS_1790064749","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What method did the authors use to study writing capstone courses?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"They conducted a content analysis of 54 writing capstone syllabi from 44 different institutions, focusing on course descriptions, course outcomes, and assigned textbooks.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What do the study findings suggest about writing capstone design?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The authors report substantial variability across programs in how the capstone is designed and presented, including a wide range of textbooks used across subspecialties.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why do the authors argue the capstone deserves more attention?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"They contend the capstone has received scant scholarly attention despite its prevalence, and that clearer aggregate frameworks and practices are needed to support student learning outcomes beyond individual departments.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},599323,1792167697,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},3985747859154,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Articles  \nAre We Overlooking (and Underselling) the Writing Capstone Course?  \nTimothy Ballingall and Brad Lucas  \nRhetoric and composition has made immeasurable strides in the design of undergraduate writing major programs, but the discipline lacks a clear picture of the culminating capstone course that serves as an end point for the writing major. This article reports on a content analysis of 54 writing capstone syllabi from 44 different institutions, highlighting course descriptions, course outcomes, and assigned textbooks. These findings demonstrate the need to move conversations about the capstone beyond our local program concerns. Toward that end, we offer several recommendations for capstone course design and implementation.  \nIntroduction  \nThe vast majority of undergraduate writing majors requires a capstone course. In 2008, Deborah Balzhiser and Susan McLeod created a map of commonalities across 68 programs with a writing major. They found that 90 percent of majors had some sort of capstone experience, defined variously by a specific capstone course, an internship, or a seminar with a portfolio. Among those programs with professional/rhetorical writing majors, students completed a project designed for career preparation or a practicum (420) . In 2017, the National Census on Writing found that respondents from 246 institutions reported their institutions having a writing major (Gladstein and Fralix) . Given that respondents from 79 schools reported their “institution require[s] ALL students [to] complete a senior thesis or other writing-intensive capstone experience,” we can certainly speculate that a large proportion of the over-200 writing majors includes a capstone course of some kind.  \nDespite the capstone course’s prevalence in writing curricula, we have an unclear picture of the options for what a writing capstone can be and the variety of approaches to the course. Indeed, while the past two decades have shown a remarkable increase in scholarship regarding programs for writing majors generally (Alexander et al.; Everett and Hanganu-Bresch; Giberson and Moriarty; Shamoon et al.), including special issues of this journal in 2007 and 2015, the capstone course has received scant scholarly attention. Moreover, there appears  \nComposition Studies 49.3 (2021): 16–37  \nto be great program-to-program variability in how the course is designed and presented. With a clearer picture of the aggregate approaches to the capstone, we believe the discipline can work toward identifying frameworks and practices for our undergraduate majors, while accounting for local contexts and meeting student learning outcomes (one of the charges ofthe CCCC Committee on the Major in Writing and Rhetoric). To that end, we present below the results ofa content analysis of syllabi from writing capstone courses around the country, focusing in particular on course descriptions, course objectives, and assigned readings. These results indicate possible options for moving conversations about the capstone beyond our individual departments. For example, our study of 54 syllabi from 44 institutions found a range of 32 different textbooks across subspecialties (see Appendix A) . This range of content for capstone readings suggests the continued relevance of Balzhiser and McLeod’s concern about the undergraduate writing major over a decade ago: that “we have little consensus about what a writing major should look like”(420). One way to develop our shared understanding of the writing major may be through considering how the writing major should culminate in the capstone. This descriptive study of program materials is a starting point for developing a clearer picture of the capstone courses for writing majors.  \nLiterature Review and Exigence  \nThe past two decades have shown a remarkable increase in scholarship regarding programs for writing majors. Since Kathleen Blake Yancey invoked the writing major in her 2004 CCCC Chair’s address, we have seen the form","cbCaiuYmEWr4kih1","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuYmEWr4kih1","pdf",187360,22,"English","# Introduction\n# Literature Review and Exigence","[{\"question\":\"What method did the authors use to study writing capstone courses?\",\"answer\":\"They conducted a content analysis of 54 writing capstone syllabi from 44 different institutions, focusing on course descriptions, course outcomes, and assigned textbooks.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the study findings suggest about writing capstone design?\",\"answer\":\"The authors report substantial variability across programs in how the capstone is designed and presented, including a wide range of textbooks used across subspecialties.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do the authors argue the capstone deserves more attention?\",\"answer\":\"They contend the capstone has received scant scholarly attention despite its prevalence, and that clearer aggregate frameworks and practices are needed to support student learning outcomes beyond individual departments.\"}]","Are We Overlooking (and Underselling) the Writing Capstone Course? | PDF",1792088560,55]