The Final Frontier: Capstone LIB-4970 or LIB-4950 for BACS and TESU's Recent Changes

[kakasahib]

Thanks. I am going to discuss this with advisor first before signing up with the course. I need to travel for summer break and I can’t depend on the TESU to register the test based on the requirement and time. Also working remotely I don’t want to miss the day of work. I will schedule based on my free time rather option by TESU.
Thanks
I will post my discussion with the advisor next week or two.

[kakasahib]

Still waiting for an appointment with an advisor.
They responded that they can meet next week. I will keep everyone posted.
Thanks

[not4not]

Still waiting for an appointment with an advisor.
They responded that they can meet next week. I will keep everyone posted.
Thanks

Regarding the ETS Major Field test, I believe it's graded from 120-200. Even if you "fail" I think you get 120. Not sure how it converts into the 10% at TESU though, if I were to guess it would be just out of 200 (i.e. you score 150/200, you will get 75%). Let me know if I am right or wrong.

[natshar]

They changed the schools:

It used to be: Heavin School of Liberal Arts
and: School of Applied Science and Technology


Now its: Heavin School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Education
and: School of Science and Technology

And they moved BA math, Biology, Comp Sci, etc to School of Science and Technology. When it used to in the Liberal Arts School.

I wonder if now Double majoring in say Psychology and Computer Science would be two different degrees vs a double major.

Here the programs they moved from Liberal arts College to Science College:


Associate in Science (A.S.) in Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Biology
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Environmental Studies
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Mathematics
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Computer Science

This is interesting because in the past the School of Applied Science and Technology only had BS degrees.

[bjcheung77]

TESU is trying to appease prospective students and by going through so many little changes, the thing is, none or not many of these changes are beneficial to them. In fact, changing the BSBA name to a BS for some of them, just causes conflicts and is detrimental to those wanting to do a double AOS. The more they're trying to tweak the system, because they're not looking at it from a student perspective, they're making it worse for everyone, seriously...

[LevelUP]

Things have changed since I took the Liberal Arts Capstone.

My professor automatically gave full credit (100%) for the ETS Major Field Test and the ETS Proficiency Profile. From what I’ve heard, they no longer do that. Honestly, those tests aren’t worth studying for. At best, you might improve your grade by 1–2 points, and at worst, it won’t affect your grade at all despite hours (or even hundreds of hours) of studying. As far as scheduling, as I recall, they used ProctorU, so you can pay a little extra to take the test right away.

For the research paper, I could choose any topic, so I went with learning styles, which leans more toward psychology. I spent a few hours picking a topic, including time lost switching from my original idea after Assignment 1 when I realized it wasn’t viable for research. That mistake cost me around five hours.

If I were doing a CS-related topic, I’d probably focus on AI. It’s current, relevant, and widely discussed.

My advice: keep it simple and don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Choose a topic that’s not too broad or too narrow. Ideally, it should be something that already has existing research so you can easily find sources. I used ProQuest for most of my citations, especially when I couldn’t find direct sources.

Start by picking a topic, creating a rough outline, and gathering some preliminary sources to confirm it’s feasible to write about.

When it comes to professors, check RateMyProfessor. Look for someone who’s easy to work with, available for questions, and known for easy grading.

The class wasn’t easy for me at first. I didn’t fully grasp what a research paper was compared to a report, and the course materials didn’t explain it well. I ended up doing a couple of hour-long phone calls with the professor to get clarity and brainstorm ideas. I eventually got an A, but not before digging myself out of a hole after getting a dreaded “C” on my first assignment, which sent me into panic mode.

[kakasahib]

Things have changed since I took the Liberal Arts Capstone.

My professor automatically gave full credit (100%) for the ETS Major Field Test and the ETS Proficiency Profile. From what I’ve heard, they no longer do that. Honestly, those tests aren’t worth studying for. At best, you might improve your grade by 1–2 points, and at worst, it won’t affect your grade at all despite hours (or even hundreds of hours) of studying. As far as scheduling, as I recall, they used ProctorU, so you can pay a little extra to take the test right away.

For the research paper, I could choose any topic, so I went with learning styles, which leans more toward psychology. I spent a few hours picking a topic, including time lost switching from my original idea after Assignment 1 when I realized it wasn’t viable for research. That mistake cost me around five hours.

If I were doing a CS-related topic, I’d probably focus on AI. It’s current, relevant, and widely discussed.

My advice: keep it simple and don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Choose a topic that’s not too broad or too narrow. Ideally, it should be something that already has existing research so you can easily find sources. I used ProQuest for most of my citations, especially when I couldn’t find direct sources.

Start by picking a topic, creating a rough outline, and gathering some preliminary sources to confirm it’s feasible to write about.

When it comes to professors, check RateMyProfessor. Look for someone who’s easy to work with, available for questions, and known for easy grading.

The class wasn’t easy for me at first. I didn’t fully grasp what a research paper was compared to a report, and the course materials didn’t explain it well. I ended up doing a couple of hour-long phone calls with the professor to get clarity and brainstorm ideas. I eventually got an A, but not before digging myself out of a hole after getting a dreaded “C” on my first assignment, which sent me into panic mode.

Since I am ready to take the CAPSTONE (starting in August 2025), the advisor mentioned few things. 

• LIB-4970 is a computer-related topic as research paper. 
  
• It can't be a general paper something a good research like how the AI agent can help solve the desktop issues ( i doubt that undergrad level the school should look for that technical). I have to sign up and see what advior says 
  
• I asked her about the ETS exam so i can give now rather taking during the course. Her answer was that "NO" you must take during your 12 week. It is now Pass/Fail marks and you must pass. Not appearing is no longer the option. This exam doesn't impact the gPA or add the grade but a opre-requesite to pass the capstone. The exam can be taken at even the last day of the course. 
  

So i am looking for anyone who recently took the BACS LIB-4970 capstone and how big the research paper is......like 30 pages plus reference, or any template out there like , Chapter 1 Introduction (10 pages), Chapter 2 literature review (10 pages), Methodology/Data design (5 pages), Data Analysis (5 pages), and Chapter 5 Conclusion (5 pages).

Appreciate any non-AI generated research question is welcome or any idea's.

[not4not]

Things have changed since I took the Liberal Arts Capstone.

My professor automatically gave full credit (100%) for the ETS Major Field Test and the ETS Proficiency Profile. From what I’ve heard, they no longer do that. Honestly, those tests aren’t worth studying for. At best, you might improve your grade by 1–2 points, and at worst, it won’t affect your grade at all despite hours (or even hundreds of hours) of studying. As far as scheduling, as I recall, they used ProctorU, so you can pay a little extra to take the test right away.

For the research paper, I could choose any topic, so I went with learning styles, which leans more toward psychology. I spent a few hours picking a topic, including time lost switching from my original idea after Assignment 1 when I realized it wasn’t viable for research. That mistake cost me around five hours.

If I were doing a CS-related topic, I’d probably focus on AI. It’s current, relevant, and widely discussed.

My advice: keep it simple and don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Choose a topic that’s not too broad or too narrow. Ideally, it should be something that already has existing research so you can easily find sources. I used ProQuest for most of my citations, especially when I couldn’t find direct sources.

Start by picking a topic, creating a rough outline, and gathering some preliminary sources to confirm it’s feasible to write about.

When it comes to professors, check RateMyProfessor. Look for someone who’s easy to work with, available for questions, and known for easy grading.

The class wasn’t easy for me at first. I didn’t fully grasp what a research paper was compared to a report, and the course materials didn’t explain it well. I ended up doing a couple of hour-long phone calls with the professor to get clarity and brainstorm ideas. I eventually got an A, but not before digging myself out of a hole after getting a dreaded “C” on my first assignment, which sent me into panic mode.

Since I am ready to take the CAPSTONE (starting in August 2025), the advisor mentioned few things. 

• LIB-4970 is a computer-related topic as research paper. 
  
• It can't be a general paper something a good research like how the AI agent can help solve the desktop issues ( i doubt that undergrad level the school should look for that technical). I have to sign up and see what advior says 
  
• I asked her about the ETS exam so i can give now rather taking during the course. Her answer was that "NO" you must take during your 12 week. It is now Pass/Fail marks and you must pass. Not appearing is no longer the option. This exam doesn't impact the gPA or add the grade but a opre-requesite to pass the capstone. The exam can be taken at even the last day of the course. 
  

So i am looking for anyone who recently took the BACS LIB-4970 capstone and how big the research paper is......like 30 pages plus reference, or any template out there like , Chapter 1 Introduction (10 pages), Chapter 2 literature review (10 pages), Methodology/Data design (5 pages), Data Analysis (5 pages), and Chapter 5 Conclusion (5 pages).

Appreciate any non-AI generated research question is welcome  or any idea's.

Does the TESU CS curriculum even cover all topics on the ETS? I thought it was graded on a 120-200 scale, but now it’s pass/fail? What happens if you don’t pass? Do you get to retake, or you fail the entire course?

[animuscerebri]

Things have changed since I took the Liberal Arts Capstone.

My professor automatically gave full credit (100%) for the ETS Major Field Test and the ETS Proficiency Profile. From what I’ve heard, they no longer do that. Honestly, those tests aren’t worth studying for. At best, you might improve your grade by 1–2 points, and at worst, it won’t affect your grade at all despite hours (or even hundreds of hours) of studying. As far as scheduling, as I recall, they used ProctorU, so you can pay a little extra to take the test right away.

For the research paper, I could choose any topic, so I went with learning styles, which leans more toward psychology. I spent a few hours picking a topic, including time lost switching from my original idea after Assignment 1 when I realized it wasn’t viable for research. That mistake cost me around five hours.

If I were doing a CS-related topic, I’d probably focus on AI. It’s current, relevant, and widely discussed.

My advice: keep it simple and don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Choose a topic that’s not too broad or too narrow. Ideally, it should be something that already has existing research so you can easily find sources. I used ProQuest for most of my citations, especially when I couldn’t find direct sources.

Start by picking a topic, creating a rough outline, and gathering some preliminary sources to confirm it’s feasible to write about.

When it comes to professors, check RateMyProfessor. Look for someone who’s easy to work with, available for questions, and known for easy grading.

The class wasn’t easy for me at first. I didn’t fully grasp what a research paper was compared to a report, and the course materials didn’t explain it well. I ended up doing a couple of hour-long phone calls with the professor to get clarity and brainstorm ideas. I eventually got an A, but not before digging myself out of a hole after getting a dreaded “C” on my first assignment, which sent me into panic mode.

Since I am ready to take the CAPSTONE (starting in August 2025), the advisor mentioned few things. 

• LIB-4970 is a computer-related topic as research paper. 
  
• It can't be a general paper something a good research like how the AI agent can help solve the desktop issues ( i doubt that undergrad level the school should look for that technical). I have to sign up and see what advior says 
  
• I asked her about the ETS exam so i can give now rather taking during the course. Her answer was that "NO" you must take during your 12 week. It is now Pass/Fail marks and you must pass. Not appearing is no longer the option. This exam doesn't impact the gPA or add the grade but a opre-requesite to pass the capstone. The exam can be taken at even the last day of the course. 
  

So i am looking for anyone who recently took the BACS LIB-4970 capstone and how big the research paper is......like 30 pages plus reference, or any template out there like , Chapter 1 Introduction (10 pages), Chapter 2 literature review (10 pages), Methodology/Data design (5 pages), Data Analysis (5 pages), and Chapter 5 Conclusion (5 pages).

Appreciate any non-AI generated research question is welcome  or any idea's.

Does the TESU CS curriculum even cover all topics on the ETS? I thought it was graded on a 120-200 scale, but now it’s pass/fail? What happens if you don’t pass? Do you get to retake, or you fail the entire course?

@LevelUP, thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I think this definitely helps; it makes one realize how much TESU has changed the requirements of the Capstone over the last few years.

@kakasahib, thanks a lot for asking your advisor about the Capstone-related topics. I really appreciate it.

Thus, kakasahib can confirm that your Capstone LIB-4970 thesis is a CS-based research paper - if you study BACS. Moreover, TESU confirmed that - to put it simply - only writing a synthesis of sources and adding a - that's what I deduce from your advisor's comment - generic argument doesn't cut it.

However, I'd like to point out that you'd definitely have to work on what type of research paper your advisor expects (and what type of topic he / she would prefer), and where he / she draws the line of how deep you have to go. This is pretty important so that you have a better grasp of how much workload you'd expect. I think it is of paramount importance to talk your professor as soon as possible to clarify his / her expectations.

@LevelUP, you said in the other thread (post 15, see https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ACS?page=2): "You don't want to overthink the thesis or the research paper. This isn't Stanford or MIT. Nobody is going to care what your paper was about in the end. Also, bear in mind this isn't original research, as you are using sources."

I respectfully disagree. First, you did two capstones in non-CS fields. As a result, the requirements were different in your case in comparison to the current requirements for TESU BACS students. Moreover, doing research papers in business-/humanities-related fields is significantly different from STEM-related fields.
Second, sure, it is TESU not MIT or Stanford, but in either case, you write an academic research paper that follows academic standards and all three of them are in the same boat regarding standards. Depending on what your future goals are or even if you pivot, your capstone paper could still be valuable for a variety of future use cases. For example, some grad schools may want to take a look at your paper for certain programs (obviously, not all schools will do that, but I'd prefer to be flexible and not shut the doors to future opportunities) or if you wanna expand on your BACS capstone paper and write a master's thesis based on your previous paper.
Third, I'd like to think thoroughly about it beforehand, because I think you could use your capstone as a good "ice breaker" / steppingstone to land jobs / research positions / other projects where they do research in certain fields. That's why, I focus a lot on this capstone.

In addition, if your capstone paper is really good, you may also publish it in the respective research databases. Believe me, some professors would love that, because they could attach their name to it later. 

I'm not sure what you mean by "original research". Empirical field studies, hypothesis testing, or anything you do on your own?

In general, a research paper (as far as I know and in particular in CS) does have to provide something "original." It may be a different view point, a critique, applying an algorithm to different types of data, contradicting a theory, a new proof, whatever it may be, but you gotta provide some new / original. Otherwise, this is not a research paper.

Therefore, I'd like to remind everybody what a research paper is. (Bear in mind that you'd still have to talk to your professor to clarify what type of research paper he / she expects). I'll cite this page to keep things simple: "a research paper is a paper that makes an argument about a topic based on research and analysis. [It] requires you to form an opinion on a topic, research and gain expert knowledge on that topic, and then back up your own opinions and assertions with facts through your thorough research." (see https://paperpile.com/g/what-is-research-paper/) 

In addition, there are also different types of research papers, see https://paperpile.com/g/types-of-research-papers/

Moreover, in the area of CS, you usually have these types of research papers: theoretical, engineering, empirical:

"- A theoretical paper describes a theory or algorithm or provides a mathematical proof for
some hypothesis.
- An engineering paper describes an implementation of an algorithm, or part or all of a
computer system or application. Engineering papers are now frequently required to
include descriptions of system evaluation.
- An empirical paper describes an experiment designed to test some hypothesis." (see University of Pittsburgh as an example: https://people.cs.pitt.edu/~litman/cours...spaper.pdf)

BTW, a quite interesting research paper has recently been released and I think it pretty much displays how a good research paper is structured and what it entails (but I don't say that the volume is adequate for the TESU capstone, and I also say that the sample size used in this paper is relatively small and as a result the assertions of the paper may not be that strong). Some may use it as inspiration: Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task, see https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872; it belongs to the AI category.

@kakasahib, could you clarify what happens if you fail the ETS field test? How many re-takes are available? I think this shouldn't happen at all, but the test includes theory of computation and other more theoretical tasks. Thus, I think it wouldn't hurt to know that in advance and study accordingly.

@not4not, no, it doesn't. Take a look at my first post here on the thread. The TESU curriculum does not cover all topics for ETS, such as Theory of Computation. Moreover, it'd be interesting to know what the threshold for passing is - is it 70%? How many tasks does that entail?

[Jonathan Whatley]

In general, a research paper in (as far as I know and in particular in CS) does have to provide something "original." It may be a different view point, a critique, applying an algorithm to different types of data, contradicting a theory, a new proof, whatever it may be, but you gotta provide some new / original. Otherwise, this is not a research paper.

You're getting hung up on definitions of research paper from contexts much more ambitious than a single undergraduate course.

The TESU computer science capstone course is scheduled for 12 weeks, and it's divided into six modules we can infer are likely designed to be completed in approximately two weeks each. Maybe a few modules are one week and a few modules are three weeks.

• Module 1: Capstone Topic Selection
  
• Module 2: Organization and Research Strategies
  
• Module 3: A Review of the Literature
  
• Module 4: Discussions and Conclusions
  
• Module 5: Academic Research Presentation
  
• Module 6: Finalizing and Submitting the Capstone Project
  

The heart of the paper is a literature review with its major part principally written in approximately two weeks part-time by a single undergraduate student. TESU does not provide resources to conduct experiments nor indicate in the syllabus students are expected to provide resources to conduct experiments. No IRB is mentioned in the computer science capstone syllabus.

The TESU computer science capstone research project is an undergraduate literature review plus discussion and conclusions.