In the discussions over the last two units, you have been working on aligning your problem, topic, and purpose for a potential capstone topic. In this assignment, you are going to take the work you have been doing and begin developing your topic approval form. This form will officially define the topic, purpose, and nature of your intended project, and will explain how it fits the performance improvement specialization. You will use it to identify, describe, and present to the courseroom instructor your capstone project plan.

First, you will need to choose the specific topic approval form for you capstone type from the EdD Doctoral Capstone Resources page. All of the types of topic approval forms have a similar structure, with the content basically divided into three sections. For the next three weeks, you will work on each section of the form until you have a draft of the entire topic approval form to submit for potential topic approval.
Instructions

For this assignment:

  1.  Select the appropriate topic approval form for your capstone from the options linked under the Topic Problem and Proposal Approval Forms (Milestones 12) heading on the EdD Doctoral Capstone Resources page (linked in the Resources).

        Important: Be careful to choose the correct form to align with your capstone type: action research, evaluation, curriculum product, or change management.

    2. Review the entire capstone topic approval form before completing it. The topic approval form contains annotated guidance that specifies what is to be included in each section, and places a premium on clarity, brevity, and exactness.

    3. Fill out the identification information (such as your name) at the beginning of the form.

    4. Review the overview under the Topic and Problem Statement Approval: Part 1 heading to familiarize yourself with the overall requirements of the form, then scroll to the next page, which begins the first section of the form.

  5. Using the information you have developed in previous units, complete Section 1 of the form, which may be titled as Current State/Needs Analysis or Background Information, depending on your capstone type.