Ensights Magazine

Apply Knowledge: The Capstone Project

Paul Downey, Assistant Director of Communications
As a multidisciplinary, multi-year project, the Capstone Program is a fitting illustration of the last Core Skill: to apply knowledge. Although not required, a handful of high school students choose to embark on this journey as they near the end of their time at Ensworth, applying the knowledge gained across their academic curriculum, life experiences, and community involvement to create their Capstone project.
Under the tutelage of a Faculty Sponsor, students construct independent research projects that they pursue for the duration of their senior year. The mix of independent research and the mentor relationship prepares Capstone scholars for the future higher education experiences of a senior thesis or doctoral dissertation. Nine students in the Class of 2018 are currently finalizing research and preparing for their presentations in late April.

For his Capstone project, Iain Zwiebel is applying knowledge from several past courses to study the biomechanics of swimming. “AP Physics C (Mechanics) has given me the skills to investigate the mechanics of swimming, and AP Computer Science taught me valuable programming skills which I have carried over into my project because of my need to script certain aspects of the analysis,” Zwiebel explains. “I was also able to utilize my photographic knowledge and techniques gained from Photo 1, 2 and 3, that were needed to optimize the underwater cameras put in place for my study.”

In her second year as Faculty Sponsor for the projects, Latin teacher Jennifer Ishee has seen the Capstone program evolve to add new features. One beneficial adjustment has been the coordination of schedules to ensure Capstone scholars share a free period with their sponsor.

Along with shared time, shared space also enhances the process. Whereas the Harkness tables encourage collaboration in regular academic classes, the Commons areas naturally promote student-teacher interactions. Each subject area has its own Commons, which consist of study tables and a lounge flanked by faculty offices. “It’s been a really good use of the Commons,” Ishee observes. “Capstone students on their free periods talk freely with their sponsors about their projects.”

Senior Donny Lawrence has benefited greatly from the rigor of Ensworth’s academics for his Capstone project of creating a web application for coding. “The courses I’ve been taking at Ensworth have taught me the planning skills and discipline that are required for a project like this,” Donny explains.

One of the challenges of the Capstone is that the project does not always involve direct experience from courses. Donny observes, “I’ve pulled knowledge from classes like AP Statistics and AP Physics when it comes to improving my programming skills and my understanding of algorithms.”

Wyatt Mullowney has looked beyond the confines of the Ensworth campus in her exploration of the impact of recent immigration policies on local Latino and Kurdish immigrants. Although AP Government served as the primary force of inspiration for her project, she has also applied knowledge and skills gained from AP Spanish. While her classes have informed her research, her research has also positively impacted her experience in the classroom. “Being exposed to a real setting where I must communicate with solely Spanish speakers has drastically improved my skills around the Harkness table in Spanish class.”

The Capstone program exemplifies the consummation of the Core Skills, as students collate concepts learned throughout their time at Ensworth and explore real-world applications. Their ability to communicate, collaborate, question, observe, hypothesize, and evaluate allows them to apply their knowledge constructively and effectively to obtain new understanding.

The Summer 2017 issue of Ensights featured the projects of ten Capstone scholars’ projects. To read the story, visit the Summer 2017 issue of Ensights online. For a full profile of this year’s Capstone projects, look for the Summer 2018 issue of Ensights in August.
 
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Red Gables Campus (K–8)

Nashville, TN 37205
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Frist Campus (9–12)

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Ensworth is a coeducational, kindergarten through twelfth grade, independent day school.