Capstone Project Overview

This course looks at the processes that shape the coastal zone and coastal hazards, ways we mitigate those hazards through engineering, and the ways in which coastal hazards affect coastal societies and economies and influence public policy and planning. The capstone project is an opportunity for you to assemble and integrate this wide array of concepts – and to apply modern Earth Science principles of systems thinking – into a single project.

Capstone Project Stages

Stage 1: In Module 1, you will download two PowerPoint files. The first is the Coastal Vulnerability Audit Tool (CVAT): CVAT Coastal City Audit. The second is the Capstone Coastal City Slides. Also, in Module 1, you will be given a list of approved coastal cities to select from and you will submit your top choices. You will then be assigned one city to be the focus of your project for the rest of the semester.
Stages 2-4: Throughout the semester, you will complete three sections of the Coastal Vulnerability Audit Tool (CVAT) PowerPoint for your city. You will submit drafts of each stage during the semester. The instructor will provide feedback at each stage, and you will edit and refine your work for final submission in Stage 5. You will also submit a narrated Coast City Slides PowerPoint, based on your CVAT, as part of Stage 5.
1. Stage 2: You will write notes on the physical systems to be turned in during Module 8. I will provide feedback for you to make edits to your notes.
2. Stage 3: You will write notes on the human and engineering systems, to be turned in during Module 11. I will provide feedback for you to make edits to your notes.
3. Stage 4: You will write notes on the vulnerability and resiliency policy, planning, and action aspects of your city to be turned in during Module 13. I will provide feedback for you to make edits to your notes. When submitting Stage 4, you will also submit drafts of the Site-Specific Concerns and Considerations, Recommended Resiliency Action Plans, and References and Key Resources sections.
Stage 5: After incorporating feedback received, you will submit your final, complete CVAT PowerPoint. The CVAT PowerPoint is one of two products to receive your Capstone Grade. The second product, also submitted during Stage 5, is the narrated Coastal City Slides, based on your CVAT, that summarizes and illustrates the physical, human, and vulnerability aspects of your city, and provides recommendations for increasing coastal resilience.

The complete Capstone Project Directions and Requirements will be given in Module 1.

Project Deliverables (Stages) and Rubric

Below is the complete list of tasks and deliverables you'll complete this semester related to the Capstone Project. More details on each stage of the Capstone will be available throughout the course.

Capstone Project Deliverables and Rubric
Capstone Project Stage	Document: Section	Details	Grading	Max Points
Stage 1 (CVAT)	CVAT: Coastal City Selection	Download "CVAT Coastal City Audit" and "Capstone Coastal City Slides" PowerPoint files in Module 1. Submit your city selection choices to Capstone Project: Stage 1 (City Selection). I will post the list of cities against everyone’s name in the assignment comment box by the end of Module 3.	You will receive one point for submitting your city choices.	1
Stage 2 (CVAT)	CVAT: Physical System Assessment: Setting and Coastal Hazards	Complete Stage 2 of the CVAT Coastal City Audit PowerPoint (Physical System Assessment: Setting and Coastal Hazards) and submit it by the due date. The instructor will grade your work and provide feedback where needed to help you improve your project.	Accurate and detailed characterization of the physical setting and coastal hazards in the student’s chosen coastal city. Provides details and examples and uses terms from class materials (10 points); Provides a description of the physical setting and coastal hazards, but some important information is less than accurate. Few details (6 points); Description of physical setting and regional and local coastal hazards contains significant inaccuracy/ missing information (4 points); Poor attempt to describe the physical setting and coastal hazards (2 points); No information on these topics (0 points).	10
Stage 3 (CVAT)	CVAT Stage 3a: Human System Assessment CVAT Stage 3b: Engineering and Infrastructure Assessment	Complete Stage 3 of the CVAT Coastal City Audit PowerPoint including Stage 3a: Human System Assessment and Stage3 b: Engineering and Infrastructure Assessment and submit by the due date. The instructor will grade your work and provide feedback where needed to help you improve your project.	Thorough and accurate analysis of the human systems and the hard and soft engineering and structural and non-structural strategies/ coastal defenses used by the city (10 points); Mostly complete; Some inaccuracies/ misinterpretation of the human system and the strategies for coastal defenses and mitigation used by the city (6 points); Many inaccuracies/ misinterpretations of the human system and strategies for coastal defenses and mitigation used by the city (4 points); Poor attempt to analyze the human system and coastal defense strategies (2 points); No Information on these topics (0 points).	10
Stage 4 (CVAT)	CVAT Stage 4a: Vulnerability, Planning, and Action CVAT Stage 4b: Resiliency Policy, Planning, and Action.	Complete Stage 4 of the CVAT Coastal City Audit PowerPoint including Stage 4a: Vulnerability, Planning, and Action, and Stage 4b: Resiliency Policy, Planning, and Action and submit by the due date. The instructor will grade your work and provide feedback where needed to help you improve your project.	Thoroughly describes all relevant vulnerability and resiliency planning strategies and policies the city currently uses to mitigate coastal hazards and outlines potential resiliency measures (policy and projects) that could be appropriate. (10 points). Provides a description of vulnerability and resiliency planning and potential policies and projects, but the level of detail or clarity could be improved. (6 points). Description of vulnerability and resiliency planning and action items are sketchy, and details are missing (4 points). Very little information is provided regarding vulnerability and resiliency planning and action strategies (2 points). No information on these topics (0 points).	10
DRAFT SUBMISSIONS	CVAT: Site-Specific Concerns and Considerations; Recommended Resiliency Action Plans; and References and Key Resources	Complete drafts of the Site-Specific Concerns and Considerations, Recommended Resiliency Action Plans, and References and Key Resources sections. These sections will not be graded until your Stage 5, Final CVAT is submitted. However, submitting drafts of these sections, along with your Stage 4 submission, will allow the instructor to give feedback before they are submitted as part of your Stage 5, Final CVAT.	These submissions are for feedback only. They will not be graded until they are submitted as part of your Stage 5: Final CVAT submission.	0
Stage 5: Final (CVAT)	CVAT: Site-Specific Concerns and Considerations	Complete the CVAT Coastal City Audit PowerPoint: Site-Specific Concerns and Considerations and submit it as part of your Capstone Stage 5, Final CVAT PowerPoint.	Includes at least 5-6 excellent, well thought out concerns/ considerations (5 points); Includes 4-5 acceptable concerns/ considerations (3 points); Includes 2-3 brief concerns considerations (2 points); 1-2 concerns considerations, briefly described (1 point); No concerns/ considerations (0 points).	5
Stage 5: Final (CVAT)	CVAT: Recommended Resiliency Action Plans	Complete the CVAT Coastal City Audit PowerPoint: Recommended Resiliency Action Plans and submit it as part of your Capstone Stage 5, Final CVAT PowerPoint.	At least 5 suggested planning/policy Items are discussed in detail. Provides detailed insight into the coastal city’s planning for coastal hazards. Applies class materials (5 points); 3-5 suggested planning/policy items discussed in detail. Provided insight into the coastal city’s planning for coastal hazards. Applies class materials (3 points); At least 2 suggested planning /policy items discussed. Little application of class materials (2 points); 1-2 suggested planning/policy items discussed. Poor application of class materials (1 point); No suggested planning /policy items discussed (0 points).	5
Stage 5: Final (CVAT)	CVAT: References and Key Resources	Complete the CVAT Coastal City Audit PowerPoint: References and Key Resources and submit it as part of your Capstone Stage 5, Final CVAT PowerPoint.	More than 8 high-quality references, written correctly as a citation with an online link included (5 points); 4-6 Good references. Includes descriptors; Online link included (3 points); 2-4 OK references; have online link only with, no written citation (2 points); 1-2 poorly written references or sources of poor quality; online link only (1 point); No references (0 points).	5
Stage 5: Final (Coastal City Slides)	Coastal City Slides: Overall	Complete the Coastal City Slides Presentation, including narration, summary, maps, photos, and figures, to the story of your coastal city.	An excellent presentation contains all the required elements. (5 points); Most of the required elements, including narration, are complete and presented well; some details are inaccurate/ lacking. (3 points); Some aspects of the presentation needed more work; elements missing; the student did not follow all guidelines; sloppy presentation/ grammar, etc. (2 points); Poor presentation; lack of attention to detail; many elements missing; little application of class material (1 point); No presentation submitted (0 points)	5
Stage 5: Final (Coastal City Slides)	Coastal City Slides: Summary Slides	Include pages that summarize your research, highlighting the key points about your coastal city.	At least two summary pages included, effectively summarizing the most important take-away messages about the coastal city (8 points); One summary page summarizing main points about the coastal city (6 points); Summary covers some main points but could be more thorough (3 points); Summary is lacking in detail (2 points); No Summary page (0 points).	8
Stage 5: Final (Coastal City Slides)	Coastal City Slides: Maps and Figures	Include relevant, annotated, and referenced maps, photos, and other graphics to illustrate the most important points about your coastal city.	The presentation contains at least eight (8) excellent, annotated, and referenced figures and illustrations, including maps, photos, graphics, data, etc. (8 points). The presentation contains adequate figures and illustrations to convey the main points. (6 points); Presentation contains few figures; inadequate or missing captions; more information needed for conveying full meaning (3 points); Presentation is lacking in figures and illustrations (2 points); Presentation contains no figures or illustrations (0 points).	8
Stage 5: Final (Coastal City Slides)	Coastal City Slides: Audio Narration	Include a narration for each slide - approximately 30 seconds per slide - which summarizes key points shown in slides.	Narration is well constructed, interesting, and succinct, conveying important information about the city (4 points); Narration is adequately executed, but lacks some elements (3 points); Narration is lacking or missing for some slides (2 points) Poor narration (1 point); No Narration (0 points).	4
			Total Points Possible	71