GC7020 T3 Capstone Session 9

GC7020 Capstone
– Session 9
Dr Alison Bishop
29th July 2024
Today we are
looking at how to
write it all up
The sections, in order – word counts
• Introduction [300 – 500 words]
• Systematic literature review [3000 – 3500 words]
• Proposal [500 – 1000 words]
• Planning [800 – 1000 words]
• Development [1500 – 2000 words]
• Outcome [1500 – 2000 words]
• Discussion [1200 – 1500 words]
• References are included in the word count
• Appendices are not included in the word count.
• Note that you cannot write the top number of
words listed here for each section as you will be
over the word count. So, these are guidelines
only.
Introduction (300 – 500 words)
Introduction
The introduction is clear
and comprehensive;
rationale for the project is
theoretically based and
showing evidence of
critical thinking. The gaps /
questions are clearly
presented with reference
to papers that the study
aims to capture
Systematic literature review – part 1
Systematic literature review part 2
Systematic literature
review (3000 – 3500
words)
• See the slides in week 3 for

the methods part and
week 5 for writing up the
results.
The artefact sections
• These sections are flexible

• You can combine them and/or
separate them further where
appropriate
• The word counts are indicative only –
we will not check individual sections’
word counts, only total dissertation
word counts.
Proposal 500 – 1000
words
• What do you propose to do to address

the real-world problem or challenge
that you have identified? (usually
stated in the introduction)
• What is the artefact itself?
• How does your artefact address the
real-world problem?
• Why and how is this proposed artefact
expected to work towards the solution
that you are proposing?
Proposal
Planning (800 – 1000 words)
Planning of the artefact (not of the dissertation)
What do you need to do before you have an actual artefact?
Are there any considerations or limitations or concerns?
Will the format of your artefact bring any additional and relevant challenges
to its implementation / intended use?
Planning
Development (1500 – 2000 words)
Take the reader through the process of developing your artefact
Demonstrate the solid link between the real-world need identified and the existing
research (SLR and other relevant sources)
What decisions were made, why they were necessary, why was your final choice was the
relevant one (e.g., deciding between an online vs. in-person training; components within a
leadership development program; topics to include in a policy document; etc)
Development
Outcome (1500 – 2000 words)
Now that you have already shared your insights on:
What the real-world need is and what the artefact is, generally
How your artefact is expected to help, broadly
How it was planned and developed, in detail
Consider also:
The particulars of the actual artefact (i.e., final version)
How the various components or parts will be used
What the artefact looks like in its final iteration
What materials / information developed as part of the project
Outcome
Discussion – See week 8 slides
Appendices – what
goes here?
• Your PRISMA protocol diagram
• Your artefact
• Anything else that you signposted in the
main body of text.
• REMEMBER: The reader should be able to

read your project and understand what you
are talking about without looking at the
appendices – so if they won’t understand
without a particular table or diagram then
don’t put it I the appendices.
Critical writing
Descriptive versus critical writing –
You need to have both descriptive and critical writing in your Capstone projects. The
key skill is getting the right balance between them.
Descriptive writing Critical writing

• This shows what you know • This demonstrates your own
• You can use it for illustrative reasoning and ideas: instead of
purposes what – so what?
• Summarising • Questioning processes:
analysing evaluating and
• Giving background to your creating
argument
• Gives reasons for, implications
and limitations of research
• Builds an evidence-based
argument
Critical Writing requires
critical reading
Think before you read – then don’t read
everything!
Things to think about when reading:

• Why are you reading this article?
• Is the source a reliable academic source?
• Is the content relevant to your project?
• What evidence can you pull from this
source to use in your project?
• Use post-it notes to add a summary to
the front of the article so that you can
recap quickly on the answers to the
above.
Organizing your work
• Do: Plan your structure, so
that you can write cohesively.
• Do: Signpost the reader to
what is coming
• Do: Guide your reader
through your argument
• Don’t: just start writing and

hope it will turn out OK. This
approach takes longer than
planning and feels like a
struggle all the way through.
Organizing
your work
You have your basic argument
Critical
Point Evidence
analysis
1) State your point
• Write this clearly and succinctly

• Have a clear idea how this point
links to what was said just
before and what comes next.
Building an argument
around that point
• Integrating evidence from academic peer

reviewed sources or from your own SLR to
create a cohesive critical argument.
Instead of what….we want to know So
what?
• What does the evidence mean?
• What are the implications?
• How does this integrate with your ideas?
• Own your thinking and reasoning.

Top tips: Creating
arguments
• Do: Collect evidence from your reading and
your own findings from your SLR and then
use that to create arguments.
• Don’t: Decide what you think first and then
choose evidence only that supports your
argument.
• Do: Start from a reliable premise and then
demonstrate how you arrived at a logical
conclusion.
• Don’t: Create a faulty argument based on a
weak premise e.g. more ice cream is sold
during hot weather, therefore the amount of
ice cream sold can predict the weather.
2) Add supporting evidence
Source
Your argument Source
Source
How to write critically
– with evidence.
• Use evidence from published peer

reviewed sources to support your
argument
• Show how your argument fits into the
wider literature
• Is there evidence that supports your
argument, so you can demonstrate
that it’s not just your subjective
opinion
• Help your reader evaluate the
strength of your argument.
Top tips: selecting evidence
• How to select appropriate evidence
• Do: evaluate the sources that you are
using to make sure that they are
reliable academic sources of
evidence.
• Don’t: use a source without first
assessing whether it is a reliable
academic source.
• Don’t: Include everything you find
3) Critical analysis to
strengthen your
argument
• Completeness
• Other important factors
• Different findings
• Consider all aspects
• Analyse and evaluate
Break out rooms
• In your breakout rooms please discuss the difference between
analysing and evaluating. Can you create some questions
together that would help you to analyse and evaluate when you
are writing up your work.
• Examples to get you started:
• Analysing – Could there be other explanations or conclusions?
• Evaluating – How far do the results address the research
question?
How to not overclaim on your
results
• Do: Use cautious language – ‘this might lead to’
‘this may mean’
• Don’t: use absolutes like ‘this proves’
What is a capstone – part 1
The Introduction (rationale, gaps and
questions)
Systematic literature review
Presentation of your findings from your

SLR
Proposition and planning of the

capstone (artefact)
What is a capstone part 2
Development of the desired outcomes, product,
protype.
The practical outcome
Discussion and conclusion
Appendices
Week 9 To do list
1) Finish tasks from weeks 1 – 8
2) Keep going
3) Smile – you are doing great!
4) Attend your supervision group
– see the meeting link in your TEAMS channel
5) Don’t worry about things we haven’t covered yet,
or if you aren’t quite as far on as others.
6) Take the next steps, whatever they are.
7) Ask for help if you need it.
Any questions?

GC7020 T3 Capstone Session 9

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GC7020 Capstone

• See the slides in week 3 for

• These sections are flexible

• What do you propose to do to address

Planning of the artefact (not of the dissertation)

What do you need to do before you have an actual artefact?

Are there any considerations or limitations or concerns?

Take the reader through the process of developing your artefact

• REMEMBER: The reader should be able to

Descriptive writing Critical writing

Things to think about when reading:

• Don’t: just start writing and

• Write this clearly and succinctly

• Integrating evidence from academic peer

• Own your thinking and reasoning.

Your argument Source

• Use evidence from published peer

Systematic literature review

Presentation of your findings from your

Proposition and planning of the

The practical outcome

Discussion and conclusion

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