MANAGING INTENSIVE STUDENT CONSULTING CAPSTONE PROJECTS: THE MAXWELL SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

摘要

How do professional programs in public affairs try to bridge the worlds of classroom and practice? A common approach is to employ experiential learning through a clinical component in the curriculum, frequently a "capstone" experience (Roberts and Pavlak, 2002). Capstone design integrates knowledge and skills learned throughout the public affairs curriculum in a single analytic project or exercise. Capstones should also ease the transition from student to professional by exposing students to the realities of working in a policy research or organizational setting. Some capstones use project-based assignments that focus on current policy and management challenges faced by actual government or non-profit agencies; other project-based assignments may take the form of consulting relationships with real-world clients.