Assessment confirms year-long capstone’s impact on Harrisburg’s compsci program

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The baccalaureate program in computer science at Penn State Harrisburg recently completed a multi-year assessment examining whether students demonstrated mastery of a program learning objective (PLO) - the design and implementation of software systems through a foundation in software development lifecycle, communication and teamwork skills. PLOs state what students should know and be able to do by the end of the program.

At Penn State, all undergraduate, graduate and for-credit certificate programs are required to assess how well their students are achieving key PLOs. Each year, programs at all Penn State campuses identify at least one PLO to assess; only professionally accredited programs are exempt from this process. They collect and analyze data to determine how well students are meeting that objective and then use those findings to inform any changes - whether in pedagogy, curriculum, instruction, student support or assessment methods. This helps ensure that students are gaining the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to succeed both in and beyond the classroom.

According to Jeremy Blum, associate professor and chair of the Computer Science and Mathematics program, and Sayed Reza, assistant professor of computer science, both in the School of Science, Engineering, and Technology, the program learning assessment process was critical in determining whether the changes were working as intended.

"We have worked to closely coordinate the curriculum and activities to create an effective year-long capstone experience for students," shared Blum. "Thanks to the assessment process, we know that this coordination has improved students' ability to deliver high-quality products and enriched their overall capstone experience."

Specifically, the assessment of the Computer Science program at the Harrisburg campus gauged the impact of a redesigned senior capstone experience. As Blum explained, the results provided clear evidence that a re-envisioned, year-long capstone course is strengthening student learning outcomes.

From one semester to two: Rethinking the capstone experience

In the 2022-23 academic year, the Computer Science program piloted a major change to the senior capstone course structure. Previously, students were expected to plan, design, implement and test their projects within a single spring semester. Under the new model, students now use CMPSC 487W to design their projects before moving into implementation in CMPSC 488.

"In earlier years, the capstone functioned as a standalone course," explained Blum. "Students formed teams, found a faculty adviser and proposed projects at the start of the semester. Typically, six weeks were spent on requirements analysis, system design and learning new technologies, leaving only eight weeks for implementation and testing. This time constraint often resulted in incomplete or lower-quality final products."

Assessment evidence supports the extended model

The Computer Science program formally assessed the impact of the new structure during the 2023-24 academic year. While early findings indicated improvements in both product quality and student experience, the faculty chose to repeat the assessment in 2024-25 to strengthen confidence in the findings and identify opportunities for further improvement.

"We saw promising evidence that coordinating CMPSC 487W and 488 helped students succeed," noted Reza. "Rerunning the assessment allowed us to confirm those results and fine-tune how the courses work together."

Student progress was evaluated during weekly meetings, which assessed both team and individual performance in communication, technical contribution, and project management. In addition, students provided feedback during final meetings on how effectively the two CMPSC courses were coordinated.

The 2024-25 findings confirmed that the extended capstone format gives students the time and structure needed to produce high-quality software, said Reza.

"By making this shift, we achieved our goal of creating a true year-long capstone experience," Reza said. "Students now have more time to engage with real-world projects, strengthen technical and teamwork skills, and deliver quality outcomes."

About program learning assessment at Penn State

The assessment success stories featured in this series highlight how Penn State programs are using assessment findings to improve student learning. These stories typically involve a full cycle of assessment: identifying an area for change, implementing an action plan, and reassessing a program learning objective to see whether there's evidence that the change or changes made a difference. This process plays a central role in Penn State's commitment to continuous academic improvement and is commonly referred to as "closing the loop." 

Visit this link for more information about the program learning assessment process, or email [email protected] with any questions.