What is a capstone course?
A capstone course requires upper-year students to complete a research or development project using the knowledge and skills they've gained in their program.
Members of the School of Computing submit project ideas for students every year; some may have a "customer" or co-supervisor from outside the School.
What is the difference between a capstone course and an honours project?
Students enrol in a capstone course to complete a project, often called an honours project. The terms are sometimes used interchangably.
Do I have to take a capstone course?
Software Design is the only Computing program that requires a capstone course. As of July 2024, all other honours programs do not.
Students in Software Design who complete a professional intership have substitutions available. Please refer to the Substitutions section of the plan.
Can I take a capstone course if my program doesn't require it?
Absolutely! Go for it.
How do the capstone courses differ?
The group and supervision information in the following table is typical, not exact.
| Course | Duration | Groups | Projects | Supervision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CISC 495 | Four months | Small teams | Make a moderate-sized change to a piece of existing open-source software | A Computing supervisor and a customer familiar with the software |
| CISC 496 | Four months | Small teams | Develop a computer game | The course instructor |
| CISC 498 | Eight months | Teams of three to five | Develop an information system following a particular software development process | A Computing supervisor and an external customer |
| CISC 499 | Four months | Usually small teams; rarely individual | Complete a research and/or software project; students must find a supervisor and negotiate a specific project before they can enrol | A Computing supervisor and perhaps a co-supervisor |
| COGS 499 | A supervisor from CISC, LING, PHIL, or PSYC | |||
| CISC 500 | Eight months | Individual | Produce an undergraduate thesis where software development (if any) is incidental; must have a 3.5 cumulative GPA and submit a proposal by June 15 | A Computing supervisor |
How do I enrol in CISC/COGS 499?
Early in September, the CISC/COGS 499 OnQ space for the current academic year will be available for self-enrolment.
- Go to your OnQ homepage.
- Locate the Browse Self-Registration Courses widget and select Browse Now.
- Search for "499" and when the course appears, select it.
- Do not search for "CISC 499" because that won't match CISC/COGS 499.
- From the course details page, select Enrol in Course.
- You should see a dialog with the title "Successfully Enrolled" - select OK.
- Return to your OnQ home screen and select the correct Winter semester from the "My Courses" widget - CISC/COGS 499 should be there.
Please note that joining the OnQ space does not enrol you in SOLUS. In the Fall, the OnQ space is just a platform for the project and supervisor approval process.
If your project proposal is accepted by a supervisor and meets the prerequisites, you will be enrolled in CISC 499 in SOLUS in the Winter. The OnQ space will then be linked to SOLUS and anyone who did not receive approval will be removed.
I have an idea for a research or development project. Who do I contact?
Please contact the appropriate coordinator:
- for COGS 499, Farhana Zulkernine;
- for CISC 496, Nick Graham; and
- for all other capstones or Independent Study, Yuanzhu Chen.