This is an outline of what you will include in your Capstone paper. Your paper should be approximately 30 pages in length, following APA 7th edition guidelines, and include a Title Page, a Table of Contents, and Reference page(s). There are two modules within the course that provide you with guidelines for writing a paper in APA format.
I. Introduction — The introduction of a capstone paper should be very descriptive in explaining what the paper is about and should include the following sub-headings:
A. Current Problem: the problem you have identified that led you to your topic decision — why is this topic important to your community and what questions are you wanting to answer?
B. Population/Area of Focus: population most affected by your problem and what is the significance for a solution to be found for this population group
C. Key Terms: key terms used in your paper that may not be known to the lay person
II. Body of the Paper (Includes the Literature Review and Change Strategy Sections as well) — A capstone paper must include well-documented factual information, but it must also contain some of your own thoughts and interpretations. You must document all interpretations to explain how you came to the conclusions contained in the paper.
A. Background/Historical Overview: What is the background of the problem/topic? Why did you choose this topic?B. Purpose: What is the purpose/goal behind why you choose this topic?
III. Literature Review
A. Research the Literature related to your chosen topic. Literature must be less than five years old.
B. Discuss your literature findings in detail. This will be the largest part of your paper.
IV. Change Strategy
A. Change Strategy 1: Discuss your proposed intervention for solving your topic problem. If you develop a creative product such as a brochure, you will want to include this in your paper and presentation. What is the anticipated benefit of your intervention?
B. Change Strategy 2: Discuss your alternative intervention (if you have one) for solving your topic problem. What is the anticipated benefit of your intervention?C. You will tie your strategy to your community. You need to connect your paper to an organization that provides the type of strategy(ies) you are addressing in your paper. This is done in a physical (face-to-face) format.
V. Conclusion — A capstone paper should end with a very strong conclusion that ties your paper content together. It should never leave the reader hanging or wondering about a portion of the paper, but should instead leave the reader with a deep understanding of the subject.
A. Summarize Your Problem/Topic — Reflect on how your educational experiences have prepared you for CapstoneB. Next Steps: What is Next? How will you implement your intervention?