10 Council on Undergraduate Research SUMMER 2014 • Volume 34, Number 4 S ince its founding in 1815, Allegheny College has had a senior-year capstone requirement for graduation. Over the past 70 years, this capstone has taken the form of a senior project—independent research that all students complete in their major fields of study. Here we summarize this capstone experience, examine the curricular and non-curricular structures in place to prepare students for it, and present three case studies reflecting the diversity of scaffolding provided in different disciplines. While we focus on a close examination of our own selected scaffolding strategies, many resources are available that highlight other models for scaffolding research skills in the arts and humanities (Klos et al. 2011) and for the integrating of research into social (Larson 2012) and natural-sciences curricula (Karukstis and Elgren 2007; Grabowski et al. 2008). We also briefly summarize results from an assessment of our students’ senior projects (Schermer and Gray 2012) funded by the Teagle Foundation. We focus on the reported strengths and challenges of our scaffolding practices and discuss potential improvements. Description, Logistics of the Senior Project Allegheny does not have an honors thesis so our students’ senior capstone projects differ from honors projects or theses at other institutions in that all students, regardless of their academic performance, have the opportunity to conduct original research, scholarship, or creative activities. While each department has developed its own approach to administering the senior projects, some key commonalities unite the process. For example, all students work with an advisor or “first reader”—a faculty member serving as the primary mentor for the project. The first reader helps to guide the student through the capstone process, provides feedback on drafts of the project’s final paper, serves as a consultant for design and analysis, and submits the final grade. In addition, students have a second reader whose primary responsibilities include evaluating the preliminary proposal for the project and assessing the finished product at a final meeting during which the student presents his/her work and then answers questions raised by the two readers. In some departments, the presentation of the student’s senior project occurs in a public forum. Depending upon the practices of the department, students may complete the project in one or two semesters. From the time prospective students begin to consider Allegheny, they learn about the required senior project from admissions representatives, faculty, and students. Although honors theses are quite common at liberal-arts institutions, required senior projects are still relatively rare. Therefore, students who decide to attend Allegheny may do so, in part, for the opportunity to participate in the capstone experience. As we describe below, curricular requirements provide the scaffolding students need to complete their projects, and students are exposed to these requirements in the very first semester of their undergraduate careers. As a result, conversations among students, staff, and faculty often revolve around identifying ideas for the senior projects, developing the skills to complete them, and sharing tips for “surviving” the experience. The college culture supporting the capstone project is quite strong, shaping the offerings of departments, influencing student and faculty scholarship, and anchoring the liberal-arts outcomes we hope to help our students achieve. Although perceptions of the required project vary across departments, the majority of faculty members indicate a strong commitment to the value of this transformative educational experience (Schermer and Gray 2012). Curricular Structures Supporting Senior Projects One of the most successful ways in which Allegheny integrates scaffolding for research across all disciplines and throughout students’ time at the institution is through our curricular program called the FS sequence—with FS standing for First-Year/Sophomore seminar. As the catalogue notes, “taken together, the FS program, Junior Seminar, and Senior Project ensure that Allegheny graduates are equipped to think critically and creatively, to communicate clearly and persuasively, and to meet challenges in a diverse, interconnected world” (Allegheny Catalogue 2013-2014, 6). Five required classes tie the FS sequence together, and they move in progression from a general focus on oral and written communication in the first year, to more focused disciplinary expectations within a given field, and finally to the capstone experience of the senior project. The goals of FS 101 are to familiarize first-year students with the conventions of description and summarization in writing and speaking. By the end of FS 101 (at the end of the first semester), students are ready to analyze research and E. Lee Coates, Aimee Knupsky, and M. Soledad Caballero, Allegheny College Focus CUR Charting a Required Senior Capstone: Diverse Scaffolding for Transformative Experiences