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This study surveys the prevalence and characteristics of biology capstone courses, comparing public and private institutions and different institution sizes. Results examine course requirements, delivery modes, conceptual foundations, and student learning objectives, including writing, speaking, thinking, and research skills.",{"@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/survey-of-biology-capstone-courses-in-american-and-canadian-higher-education-requirement-content-and-skills/594623/",{"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/survey-of-biology-capstone-courses-in-american-and-canadian-higher-education-requirement-content-and-skills/594623.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Ben ","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-23","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How does the study compare biology capstone course requirements between the USA and Canada?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The survey reports that 70% of American biology degree programs required a capstone course versus 27% of Canadian schools.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What delivery modes and learning content were commonly identified in biology capstone courses?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Medium-sized institutions were more likely to deliver capstone courses as seminars, while small institutions more often included undergraduate research experience. Many courses provided some review of conceptual foundations, but most devoted little time to history or philosophy of biology.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which student skills and objectives were most and least likely to be included?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Most schools included development of students’ writing, speaking, and thinking as learning objectives. Research skills were significantly less likely to be included as learning objectives.","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},594623,1792188694,{"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":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":46},2336478951081,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Survey of Biology Capstone Courses in American and Canadian Higher Education: Requirement, Content, and Skills  \nNeil C. Haave*  \nDepartment of Science, Augustana Faculty, University of Alberta, Camrose, AB CANADA T4V 2R3  \n*[Corresponding author:](Corresponding author: nhaave@ualberta.ca)[ ](Corresponding author: nhaave@ualberta.ca)[nhaave@ualberta.ca](Corresponding author: nhaave@ualberta.ca)  \nAbstract: Capstone experiences have high educational impact with various approaches available for biology. However, no information exists regarding the pervasiveness of capstone courses in Canadian and American biology programs. This study surveyed the prevalence and character of biology capstone courses in the USA and Canada. The survey included a majority of public institutions offering primarily undergraduate programs. Seventy percent of American biology degree programs required a capstone course vs 27% of Canadian schools. Large and graduate institutions were less likely to require a capstone course. Medium-sized institutions were more likely to deliver their biology capstone course as a seminar, whereas small institutions were more likely to include an undergraduate research experience. Sixty percent provided some review of biology’s conceptual foundations, but most capstone courses devote little time considering the history or philosophy of biology. Most schools included the development of students’ writing, speaking, and thinking as learning objectives. Research skills were significantly less likely to bea learning objective. Although biological capstone courses may intend to integrate students’ biological knowledge, educators also need to consider how that knowledge could be synthesized into students’ entire education.  \nKeywords: curriculum, research, communication, thinking, history, philosophy  \nINTRODUCTION  \nHigh impact educational practices positively impact student learning outcomes (Brownell and Swaner, 2010, Julien et al., 2012) . Capstone experiences are one such practice which facilitate students’ integration of their learning; students are able to construct a robust knowledge structure for themselves when their knowledge is interconnected and integrated into a whole rather than fragmented into a series of unconnected courses (Levine, 1998, Kuh, 2008). Different strategies for delivering capstone experiences exist (Smith, 1998): They maybe delivered through the major discipline (Stanford and Duwel, 2013), as a general education requirement (Griffin and Burns-Ardolino, 2013, Kerrigan and Carpenter, 2013), or be an experience not tied to an individual course (Redman, 2013, Wenk and Rueschmann, 2013) . In addition, capstone courses may not be restricted to students’ final year of a degree program instead integrating students’associate degree program (Stubbs et al., 2013) or serving to introduce a discipline (Chaplin and Hartung, 2012) .  \nA variety of approaches exist for providing capstone experiences within the biology major. They may involve journaling or writing courses that promote critical thinking (Lankford and vom Saal, 2012) . Some develop students’ communication skills (Obringer and Kent, 1998) . Other possible approaches include a comprehensive final exam, literature review, research presentation, exit  \ninterview, or e-portfolio (Davis, 2011, Stanford and Duwel, 2013) . Alternatively, honours theses delivered as an independent studies course (Levine, 1998) including an undergraduate research experience (Brownell and Swaner, 2010) may serve as a capstone experience. Capstone experiences do not need to be delivered as a course but could be a requirement for completing a major (Davis, 2011) . However, ifa capstone experience is not integrated into a particular course it may become extra workload within a full course load for students.  \nAlthough these many ideas for capstone experiences have been discussed in the published literature, nothing exists to indicate the degree to which capstone courses have been im","cbCaivnrtLAvqoNP","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivnrtLAvqoNP","pdf",450115,"English","# Introduction\n## Background on capstone experiences\n## Biology capstone approaches\n# Methods\n## Online survey design\n## Survey population and instruments\n# Results\n## Course requirement and prevalence\n## Delivery mode and content coverage\n# Discussion\n## Integration of knowledge and educational synthesis","[{\"question\":\"How does the study compare biology capstone course requirements between the USA and Canada?\",\"answer\":\"The survey reports that 70% of American biology degree programs required a capstone course versus 27% of Canadian schools.\"},{\"question\":\"What delivery modes and learning content were commonly identified in biology capstone courses?\",\"answer\":\"Medium-sized institutions were more likely to deliver capstone courses as seminars, while small institutions more often included undergraduate research experience. Many courses provided some review of conceptual foundations, but most devoted little time to history or philosophy of biology.\"},{\"question\":\"Which student skills and objectives were most and least likely to be included?\",\"answer\":\"Most schools included development of students’ writing, speaking, and thinking as learning objectives. Research skills were significantly less likely to be included as learning objectives.\"}]","Survey of Biology Capstone Courses in American and Canadian Higher Education - Requirement, Content, and Skills | PDF",1792079511]