TESU BSBA Capstone - Case Study

[Merlin]

Has anyone in the November term received their final grades for the capstone course yet? If so, how did you all do?

Oddly enough my mentor has yet to grade my final case study, but he just finished grading my final paper today. So I'm just waiting on the last case study now. Maybe he is focusing on grading the final projects first since those have a bigger impact on the overall grade than one of seven case studies. As long as he doesn't forget to grade it, the order doesn't matter to me.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my mentor gave me a 100/100 on the final paper! He said it was at the top of his short list of "best of the best" final papers; he also offered to provide an academic recommendation for me if desired. I wasn't expecting that.

I did my final project on Lockheed Martin where apparently most people do Google, so perhaps the change of pace helped my case. Well, that and the fact that my paper was 26 pages with 25 cited sources.

[Supermind]

Congratulations!!’ How amazing!

[kodiak61]

I also received 100/100, but he only praised my 4% originality report lol. Here was what Dr. Ness wrote "kodiak61, Excellent research, analysis, and organization - along with originality (4% similarity). It has been a pleasure working with you..." My paper was on Lockheed Martin as well, but I had no where near that many sources (10) and I think with everything it came in at 22 double spaced pages.

I have my final grade as well, 98%. 96 discussion average, 97 case study average, 98% on midterm and 100 on final paper. The other points are gimme's, that is how I got the 98% final course grade.

Glad its over, nice work Merlin!

[Supermind]

Congratulations!

[fork]

Congratulations on doing so well. So how did you end up structuring your paper?

I got 87 on the mid term which was disappointing since I thought I did better than that. I don't think I should have to write more than two or three paragraphs if the prompt only asks for that many :/

Plus a 91 on the case I turned in with no explanation why it was marked down that much. I did well on my other cases and have one I haven't turned in yet.

I've been doing well on the forums but who knows after this turn of events. I worked really hard on all this to try to get an A. It's still technically possible but I'd have to score quite high on the last case and the final paper for that to happen. And given no feedback I don't know what needs fixing. It's probably the apa format screwing things up. I only found out today that apa formatting requires particular headers. How am I to know this? Is this format typically used in business? I have 2 accociates from the business division and throughout all those classes had to write many papers and was never asked to use apa format. I'd never even heard of it before this class. :/

Anyway congratulations on finishing and getting a great grade.

[kodiak61]

Fork I feel really bad because I barely wrote 2 paragraphs on the midterm. However I know the subject matter very well as it pertains to my career. I threw in all the appropriate buzzwords and just methodically/mechanically drudged through it.

As for my final paper, in my opinion its only fair, but it does satisfy the Rubric 100%. I learned long ago, don't write amazing papers, WRITE TO THE RUBRIC!!! If you do this, even if it reads weird and doesn't seem right, if its to the rubric, its right.

I will post it here for all to view.

I received an 89 on one case study, the only thing I did different is I didn't reference the Textbook at all. I knew the subject matter, looked up many appropriate sources and scored an 89. I did the next case study with 1/2 the effort, referenced the crap out of the textbook and scored another 100. Besides that 89, all my case studies were 98-100. The 98's were always APA issues. 

I received 95's on almost all of my discussion forums, got 100 2x, thus the 96 average. That really surprised me, but I didn't worry about it. I didn't put too much effort into those, so what I got was really helpful.

I hope you get the score you worked hard for. Also, hopefully this paper will help someone get the format for there's. Earlier in the thread there was a google one posted, I used that for my formatting then just expanded from there.

Good luck again Fork, and too all others.

[Merlin]

As for my final paper, in my opinion its only fair, but it does satisfy the Rubric 100%. I learned long ago, don't write amazing papers, WRITE TO THE RUBRIC!!! If you do this, even if it reads weird and doesn't seem right, if its to the rubric, its right.

I agree that this is the way to guarantee an A. After I finished the first draft of my paper, I went back through and matched each element of the rubric to what I'd done in my paper. This required a few rewrites and some additions in my case, but in the end, I was able to look at each element of the rubric and point to how I met or exceeded the requirements in my paper.

I will post it here for all to view.

Thanks for uploading that.  At some point, I think it might be worthwhile to create a thread or wiki area to collect all the example papers for others to use as a reference.

Wow, looking at your paper, it feels like it includes about half the work I put into mine. I always have a hard time not going over the requirements. Then again, according to the reviews my mentor is known to grade the final papers harshly so I made sure to add a lot of extra elements like charts and diagrams to make it look more professional.

I also made sure to come at the analysis from multiple angles, including a competitor analysis of each of their chief rivals. That added a lot all by itself. Beyond that I performed a macro-environmental factors (PESTEL) analysis, five forces analysis, profitability analysis, SWOT analysis, and an analysis of their current business model and what changes would need to be made to integrate the strategic options I recommended. For each analysis I also explained how they work and how they would add value to the final product.

I'm also glad it's done, but looking back I think I had fun doing it, so it wasn't so bad.

I received an 89 on one case study, the only thing I did different is I didn't reference the Textbook at all. I knew the subject matter, looked up many appropriate sources and scored an 89. I did the next case study with 1/2 the effort, referenced the crap out of the textbook and scored another 100. Besides that 89, all my case studies were 98-100. The 98's were always APA issues. 

I received 95's on almost all of my discussion forums, got 100 2x, thus the 96 average. That really surprised me, but I didn't worry about it. I didn't put too much effort into those, so what I got was really helpful.

I got 100 in each of the discussion topics (I was very thorough in each and responded to every other student post as well as the mentor's posts). I averaged 97 on the case studies (usually ended up with a 96 or 98, with points deducted for APA issues or minor mechanical issues). I ended up with a 92 on the midterm, which I was most annoyed about because I knew the answers but just guessed incorrectly as to which of the multiple correct choices was the one they wanted. Either way, I should end up with a 97 or 98 in the course depending on how the final case study goes. You need a 93 overall for an A in the course, so I really just need a 20 on the final case study to meet that.

I hope you get the score you worked hard for. Also, hopefully this paper will help someone get the format for there's. Earlier in the thread there was a google one posted, I used that for my formatting then just expanded from there.

I did the same thing. I used the Google example to give me an idea of good formatting and style. I didn't follow that same format exactly, but once I saw how that paper had been done, it helped me determine what the best format should be for mine. Since I didn't want to lose points for APA formatting, for my final paper I ended up following the APA formatting given in the APA example papers from Purdue Owl pretty closely, up to and including using the same header styles.

[fork]

Ok now I'm confused. I just went to look at my classmates' responses on some forums and checked in the grades again and now my midterm grade is 94. Maybe the mentor was not done grading? Strange that a partial grade would show up, but I don't know how the system works on their end. Well if it went up I'm not going to complain...

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As for the final paper, I wanted to do mine on the nuclear power option but it seemed like there was a dearth of information and what there was was over my head. Google is the easiest with tons of information out there, but I found out for that topic there is information overload which can be about as bad as little information. I've written a rough draft that's about 4500 words, but I feel like I'm trying to make a point that I haven't made yet. I took a somewhat different approach from the paper that was posted here. It would be good to have a collection of examples.

[scout2family]

This thread is so helpful! I've read the whole 7 pages, taken notes AND saved the link to reference later- when I begin my capstone. At least now I know that I don't need to panic at the beginning- I can keep it simple with Q& A format, study using the flashcards from posabsolute- for the midterm, check out case studies @ academia.edu, Citefast for APA, and follow the rubric to a T!

Now I need to decide on which teacher and which format!

Lastly, is there a restroom break during either the midterm or final? I'm assuming they're proctored. I have tummy/stress issues and sometimes just gotta GO! (Sorry- TMI)

[fork]

This thread is so helpful! I've read the whole 7 pages, taken notes AND saved the link to reference later- when I begin my capstone. At least now I know that I don't need to panic at the beginning- I can keep it simple with Q& A format, study using the flashcards from posabsolute- for the midterm, check out case studies @ academia.edu, Citefast for APA, and follow the rubric to a T!

Now I need to decide on which teacher and which format!

Lastly, is there a restroom break during either the midterm or final? I'm assuming they're proctored. I have tummy/stress issues and sometimes just gotta GO! (Sorry- TMI)

You don't need to panic in the beginning, but be prepared for a TON of work at first. Really the whole class is a lot of work. I'm fortunate that I don't have a lot going on this time of year so I can devote more time to it. You will need it! As for the bathroom break, I think that's something you'd want to work out with the mentor ahead of time. I don't think the proctor allows it otherwise.