Knowledge Synthesis for Professional and Personal Development – INDS 400

CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 09/05/2023

Course Description

Designed to assess student mastery of content knowledge for the Interdisciplinary Studies degree programs, this capstone course requires students to produce a carefully organized summation and synthesis of accomplishments, learning, and goals related to their undergraduate degree program at Liberty University. Throughout this process, students will discover a greater understanding of transferable skills and qualifications and how these relate to career opportunities and/or graduate school respectively.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

In today’s job market, it is imperative that the Interdisciplinary Studies graduate presents a confident picture of his or her own academic mastery and how his or her chosen major areas of study complement future career endeavors.

Course Assignment

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (2)

Discussions consist of 1 initial post and 2 replies. Each thread must follow the unique prompt and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to the thread of at least 2 classmates. Each reply must add to the conversation and be helpful to original poster. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E)

The student will complete an APA quiz designed to assist him or her in completing all assignments utilizing an academic format necessary in the course. (CLO: E)

The student will complete 8 quizzes on material studied throughout the course. Each quiz will be 5 questions, multiple choice, and open-notes. There will be a 30 minute time limit for each. (CLO: A, B)

The student will narrow an interdisciplinary topic and develop an appropriate research question using the provided model format. (CLO: B, C, D, E)

The student will create a 1,000–1,500 word Literature Review that incorporates at least 7 scholarly sources and discusses the research around the student’s second topic and research question. The literature review should mention multiple perspectives on the topic and demonstrate a lack of bias on the student's part. (CLO: A, E, F)

The student will create a 100–300 word explanation of how he or she intends to study his or her research question or thesis. The methodology section should be short and describe an ideal process for studying the topic. In the same document, the student will include a 250–350 word rationale explaining why his or her research proposal will be relevant to his or her audience, and why his or her topic is an important one to study. (CLO: E)

The student will create a 2,000–2,500 word research proposal that includes an abstract, introduction, literature review, rationale, methodology, significance/conclusion, and references (the last of which not counting towards the word count). The student should reuse previous assignments in this assignment, but those assignments should be modified and updated as per instructor feedback. (CLO: A, E, F)

The student will write a 700–1,100 word essay that explains how his or her areas of study come to together to prepare him or her to accomplish his or her proposed career. The essay should justify the student's choice of his or her area of study and convince an audience (future employers) that the student have made wise choice in his or her degree. (CLO: B, C, D)

In 400–600 words, the student will reflect on what he or she has learned in this course, how his or her perspective has changed, how he or she now views their degree, and how he or she plans to use or think about his or her interdisciplinary degrees differently. The student will briefly explain interdisciplinarity in his or her own words in light of his or her worldview and will reflect on the reading from Covey’s text. (CLO: A, B, C, D, F)