Capstone Courses
The Capstone
Experience for Majors in Undergraduate Degree Programs in the Division
of Animal & Veterinary Sciences in the Davis College of Agriculture,
Forestry and Consumer Sciences
West Virginia University requires a capstone experience, which will allow graduating students to integrate skills and knowledge that they have acquired, specifically in Animal & Veterinary Sciences, with newly acquired knowledge in a significant project.
The capstone experiences will occur during the student's last year or in the summer prior to graduation. This requirement will be met by completion of either the course in Values and Ethics in Agriculture & Forestry (AVS 402), a senior research thesis (AVS 496), or an internship (AVS 491) either as a service learning or international project or as a study abroad experience. Each student will develop a proposal for an internship or senior thesis in consultation with a supervising academic adviser.
Senior
Thesis Description
Internship Description
Values and Ethics Description·
Senior Research Thesis (AVS 496).
This option is especially appropriate
for students who are considering graduate studies. Students may only pursue
the Senior Thesis with permission of the research mentor who will provide
direct supervision.
1. Students in the Senior Thesis
option will be expected to derive a research-based project through synthesis
of background scientific literature. Most likely, research will stem from
knowledge derived from course work in the Division of Animal & Veterinary
Sciences and in consultation and collaboration with the supervising faculty.
2. Research will be conducted
under the guidance of a faculty member in the Division of Animal &
Veterinary Sciences. Each student is expected to meet regularly with the
mentor to discuss the project as well as to learn to think in the field
by discussing applicable past research. Students will maintain a research
notebook that will record the activities of the research project.
3. Students will develop a
research report (20-25 pages, with full documentation) while enrolled
in the Senior Thesis. In addition to the written document, students will
submit the research notebook of activities and raw results. If of sufficient
finding, the research will be submitted for oral presentation at a scientific
meeting or will be published.
4. Students who complete a
Senior Thesis will be required to give an oral presentation, either platform
or poster, on their research, preferably at the Davis College of Agriculture,
Forestry, & Consumer Sciences Research Day, which is held in the Spring
Semester. They might make other presentations after consultation with
their mentor.
5. Students will gain appreciation of the value of research in advancing knowledge. They should be reflective of their values as they learn to conduct research with respect to falsification, fabrication and fraud in conducting and reporting research. They will learn the ethical principles associated with scientific research as related to discovery, authorship, conflicts of interest, etc.
Students may only pursue this
option with the permission of the internship sponsor and the Director
of the Division of Animal & Veterinary Sciences.
1. Students are expected to
pursue an internship that allows them to gain experiences not available
in formal course work. Students in an internship option will be required
to complete 75 hours of internship experience per credit hour.
2. Students will develop a
portfolio (log) of their work related to the internship that on a regular
basis reflects the practical implications of the work, the impact of the
internship experience, and the knowledge gained.
3. Students will submit the
complete portfolio and a final report. The final report will include the
original expectations of the internship, outcomes, an overall assessment
of the experience, with specific examples, and recommendations for future
student involvement.
4. Students will give an oral
presentation of their internship experience, preferably at a meeting of
one of the student organizations or introductory level classes.
5. Students will gain practical knowledge of business and/or professional ethics depending on the type of internship. They will gain understanding of the basis for trust and fair play, for example, in dealing with clients in a veterinary office. They will understand the importance of clientele relationships as they work in businesses, such as in the animal supplier industry or in the food supply sector.
· Values
and Ethics in Agriculture & Forestry (AVS 402). The Commission
recommended that capstone experiences be designed in such a manner that
students take ethical and social issues into consideration. In addition
to other experiences, this particular requirement will be met by completion
of the course in Values and Ethics in Agriculture & Forestry (AVS
402).
1. Students will do an independent
research paper for the class. This requires the student to select a topic
on an ethical situation or current problem in agriculture and forestry.
2. Students are required to
address both sides of an issue in a balanced approach, which requires
them to assess the positive and negative points for each approach. Students
often will challenge the knowledge that they have acquired and to examine
it from different (new) perspectives. Students keep a weekly log to record
their reactions and feelings on weekly topics discussed in class. In addition,
the class is discussion- based and requires students to think critically.
3. Students write a research
paper, which is critiqued and then resubmitted in a revised form. They
keep a log, which is part of the basis for the grade in the class. They
submit critiques of three books for the course. They write letters to
a class, a paper, and a peer or supervisor on a topic discussed in class
or their research project.
4. Students make a formal presentation
of their research paper in one class. They discuss presentations by others,
discuss the books read for class, and discuss videos shown in class. Twenty
percent of the grade is based on active discussion.
5. Learning about values and ethics is the objective of the course. The intent is to instill the principle that for most issues there are no absolute answers. In doing so, the students will appreciate that decisions are for the good of society. They will discuss unwanted or unpleasant effects that came (will come) with those decisions. They will appreciate that the focus of a decision maker is to reach an accord where valued effects are maximized and undesirable effects, or the risks of having undesirable effects, are minimized. Students will learn the breadth of the audience affected by issues based in agriculture and forestry and the outcomes of some of those decisions.