AuD Capstone Project
Capstone Project
The Capstone Project is a minimum 12-month assignment that is required to be completed by every CSD Doctor of Audiology (AuD) student. The capstone process may begin as early as Year-1, but typically begins at the start of Year-2 of the AuD Program. Every AuD-student must complete a capstone paper prior to beginning their Year-4 Externship training. Graduate Audiology students are required to enroll in CSD 500 for two semesters, which translates to 3 credit hours per semester, for a total of 6 credits.
There are two options for the Capstone Project: 1) the Capstone Research Program (CRP), and the Capstone Case Series (CCS). For students wishing to pursue the CRP, this would entail minimally a 20-page literature review, research report, or service-project paper, an AuD Faculty Advisor must agree to supervise the student and approve a proposal and contract for an authorized CRP. The CRP is designed to be completed in 24 months following topic selection and approval by the capstone advisor. The CCS requires minimally a 15-page written report of the student case presentations conducted in Year-2 and Year-3 of Grand Rounds. Students will be paired with a PhD faculty member for the second case study, which must be of publication quality. The CCS is designed to be completed in 12-18 months. Specific requirements for the CCS and CRP options are described below and elsewhere.
Students are always encouraged to conduct their own independent research; however, no human or patient research may be initiated without approval of the ISU Institutional Review Board and authorization of a PhD Faculty Member within the Audiology Program.
Capstone Manuscript Requirements
Formatting Guidelines
All capstone projects will require a written component, whether the student elects to conduct research, clinical service, a literature review (CRP) or case series (CCS). Research projects involving data collection may be either clinical, empirical, or retrospective (e.g., chart review). Each project will involve formulating a specific research question or questions, developing specific methodology to answer the research question, collecting new data or retrieving existing data for analysis.
Development of competent writing styles is one of the goals of the Capstone Project. The appropriate writing style and format for the Capstone is an APA format. More information on formatting may be found in online resources maintained by Milner Library: http://guides.library.illinoisstate.edu/citing/apa.
For each project type under CRP, the expected minimum length is 20 pages (double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins), including title page, table of contents, and references, and 15 pages for the CCS. For the CRP, the body of the text should be approximately 15 pages, not including any figures or tables. The length of the final document may vary depending on the topic selected. By the end of the student’s third year, their Project Paper should be written in final form and approved.
One electronic final copy of the final document in pdf form will be due to the ISU ReD (Research and eData) online repository and a hard copy of the signed cover sheet is also due to the CSD department office no later than the first day of finals week. To submit to ISUReD, you should email a copy of your final document, the signed cover page, and a signed copy of the ISUReD submission agreement form (http://library.illinoisstate.edu/library-materials/ir/ ) to ISUReD@ilstu.edu. In your email, you should indicate this is a AuD capstone project.
Capstone Research Project (CRP) Details
The finished research Capstone document should include the following components as part of the project formatting guidelines:
Title Page
Abstract (200 words)
Introduction
Literature Review (10 pages, minimum)
Research Questions & Hypotheses
Methods (Methodology)
Results
Discussion
Conclusion (including addressing limitations and future directions)
References (minimum 15)
Figures/Tables (at least one of each)
Clinical Service Project Details
The finished clinical service project Capstone document should include the following components as part of the project formatting guidelines:
Title Page
Abstract (200 words)
Introduction
Literature Review (10 pages, minimum)
Research Questions & Hypotheses
Methods (Methodology)
Results
Discussion
Conclusion (including addressing limitations and future directions)
References (minimum 15)
Figures/Tables (at least one of each)
Literature Review Project Details
The finished literature review Capstone document should include the following components as part of the project formatting guidelines:
Title Page
Abstract (200 words)
Introduction
Literature Review
Methods (including search terms, number of articles found, chronology of articles, etc)
Discussion
Conclusion
References (minimum 30)
Figures/Tables (at least one of each)
Before the student departs for their fourth-year external placement, all written work must be completed. Although every Capstone manuscript must include the applicable elements shown above, the final determination of what absolutely must be included is up to the Capstone Advisor. Students should consult their Capstone Advisor during the early stages of the project to verify which elements of the manuscript must be reflected, as per the list above.