[three_fourth]Introduction
The Bachelor of Arts (Music Industry) is a three-year degree in which students carry out studio and project-based work across a wide range of music industry fields. The capstone is a core course in the BA program in which students are required to undertake a project related to their career and personal interests, and has been running for several years. Students also take part in an industry internship separately from the capstone.

The aim of the capstone is to allow students space to demonstrate the skills and knowledge they have gathered over the degree program, identify and target individual career goals and undertake a personal assessment of strengths and abilities. Students are expected to deliver a high quality (negotiated) project outcome as well as a substantial piece of scholarly writing. The curriculum has been revised over the years in response to student feedback and to deepen the scholarly components, supporting students to move into post-graduate studies as well as industry careers.

Delivery format
The capstone is delivered as an intensive inquiry-based experience in a single semester. In 2015, it will be reduced from 36 credit points or three units (3/8 of full time load) to 24 credit points. It will also move from the first semester of the final year to the second semester. The alternating semester activity is typically an industry internship.

The unit is currently delivered over the 12-week semester as a series of three-hour workshops. With 45-60 students, there are generally three groups of up to 20 students, so the workshop is run three times per week. In 2015, this class time will increase to 5-6 hours of contact for each group in order to provide students with higher levels of support. Workshop design is highly varied over the semester, and intended to meet the needs of students as they progress through their projects and writing activities. For example, workshops typically cover process-oriented topics such as research methods, writing techniques, industry issues. They commonly involve group critiques similar to those used in many creative industries disciplines, with in-class progress presentations at weeks 2/3 and 7. The workshops also involve support for individual students as ‘work-in-progress’ meetings, and students can seek additional writing support through individual consultations. These activities are designed to provide support and guidance rather than direction. The students work largely independently on the research and development of their outcomes.

Feedback and assessment
Students are expected to utilise experience from prior studies, implement strategies to manage time, technical and artistic processes, and devise a production schedule including staged completion of project components. The exact nature and focus of each project is negotiated between the student and tutor and approval is given based on feasibility, scale, practicality, time and resources. The baseline categories of criteria for assessment of the project are: originality and critical thinking; communication and functionality, and; production values. In addition, specific learning objectives and assessment criteria can form part of the project negotiation. The project outcome is weighted at 40% of the overall grade.

Students also deliver three presentations through the semester, weighted at a total of 20% of the overall grade. The first of these is a project plan, followed by a report on the progress of a peer and a final project presentation.

In addition, students are required to research and write a critical and analytical scholarly piece of work of at least 6000 words. This large research and writing task is aligned with, rather than an exegesis of, their project topic, and is weighted at 40% of the overall grade.

Self, peer and tutor formative assessment is carried out for the first two of the presentation activities. The tutor carries out the remainder of the assessment. Students are also expected to provide weekly writing samples and project updates to demonstrate progress on both the written and project outcomes for formative assessment.

Resourcing
Because the capstone has less contact time than might be expected of a 36 credit point unit and students work largely independently (albeit with regular updates), the resourcing requirements are not onerous. Staff make additional time for individual consultations if students need help out of class time. However, not all students make use of this. In the revised format with less credit points, the intention is to increase the contact time to provide more space for consultations and group activities, but these will still be within the norms of the discipline in terms of time allocations. There are no particular additional equipment or administrative resources required other than those already in place in the program. Students provide their own resources in terms of project requirements and where their projects involve industry, they organise this themselves.

Outcomes
The capstone is designed to support students developing their individual career pathways. As such students are encouraged to make choices that enhance capabilities and produce outcomes that will serve them in their transition to post-graduate study and/or industry, as well as leveraging their existing industry engagement. As a result, students produce a wide range of project outcomes. Past projects have included production of EPs, gigs, documentaries, business plans, and portfolios of production work. Many students work with industry during their projects, commonly resulting in networks for internship or later employment. Project outcomes are also often made public (eg through YouTube or websites) and used by students when applying or pitching for jobs. An important aspect of the capstone from our perspective is the time and space it provides students to explore and deepen their expertise in an area of interest. Students express a great deal of pride in their learning outcomes, which effectively form the launching pad for transition out of the degree.

More information
For more information, see the subject outline at: http://www.rmit.edu.au/courses/035779
 
Image by Jason Meredith (2009). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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Key characteristics
Project/inquiry-based, one semester, 2-3/8 full time load, industry and postgraduate studies relevant
Assessment – Individual; negotiated outcomes; research and artefact
Student numbers – 45-60

Contacts
Ed Montano (co-ordinator) [email_link email=”ed.montano@rmit.edu.au”]Email Ed[/email_link]
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