The Design and Delivery of a Capstone Course: Executing an Undergraduate and Online Graduate Sports Administration Program

Theme: Innovation and Creativity in Business Education: Preparing Today’s Business Students for Tomorrow’s Workplace

2014 IACBE Annual Conference and Assembly Meeting

San Diego, CA

Howard Bartee, Jr., Ed.D. April 11, 2014

General Overview

Design and Delivery of an Undergraduate Capstone Course: SAM 419 Strategic Management in Sports Administration and a Graduate Course: MSA 670 Capstone Seminar in Sports Administration

The design and delivery of capstone courses, through the use of technology, asynchronous learning environments, team based activities, virtual book reports, poster board presentations, site observations, internships, and research paper presentations, help to combine general education, Christian worldview, business, and sports administration on a level that will help advance the field of sports administration through social media and beyond.

Past, Present and Future of Sports Administration Programs

From the past to the present, the growth of this industry through technological advancements has helped to provide innovation and creativity in Business Education by preparing today’s business students for tomorrow’s workplace.

Introduction

What are the key characteristics of a sports administration program at a religious institution?

How do these characteristics get integrated into the course design and delivery of the undergraduate and graduate programs?

What implications do traditional and nontraditional forms of curriculum hold for sports administration programs?

Conceptualizing Sports Administration in Research Literature and Program

Efforts

According to Parkhouse (1987) and Laird (2005), many studies show the evolution of sport management to what we know it as today.

Research studies by Gleason (1986), Hardy (1986), Parkhouse (1984), Parkhouse & Ulrich (1979), Parks & Quain (1986), and van der Smissen (1984) have led to the sport management field being documented for acceptance into the field of academia.

Some empirical evidence, although not conclusive, has also emerged and challenged the effectiveness of existing programs in meeting job-related needs (Hager, 1984; Milewski & Bryant, 1985; Parks & Quain, 1986).

Conceptualizing Sports Administration in Research Literature and Program

Efforts

According to Laird, (2005), “this growth represents an average of six new academic programs in sport management a year”(p. 4). Parkhouse and Pitts (2004) claimed that sport management has been “one of the fastest growing areas on college campuses” (p. 3).

With today’s high school and college sport administrators in coaching and non-coaching position seeking higher pay, advancement, and a tool for ethical decision making, graduate programs seek to create an eclectic balance between the sports and business.

Capstone seminar courses, in Master’s programs, should give students the flexibility to perform effective research on topics as they learn more about their chosen career of study, learn more about the proper steps to effective research and learn more about business related concerns in sport, who the stakeholders are, and other topics that can advance the field of sports administration and sports management in higher education, even in doctoral studies.

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Undergraduate Level

Step One: 11/4/2011 Rough Draft Proposal submitted to School of Business Dean

Step Two: 11/4/2011 Check with the Bookstore Regarding Book Availability

Step Three: 11/4/2011 Reviewed capstone requirements of different universities.

Step Four: Received book prices from the Campus Bookstore.

Step Five: 11/9/2011 Worked with the library to receive different research references like EBSCOhost database, Wall Street Journal, Reference Sections in the Library, Sport Journal locations and advanced search methods in the Library Catalog.

 Step Six: 11/11/2011 Found a textbook entitled, Management of Physical Education and Sport,” by March L. Krotee and Charles A Bucher with Self-Assessment Activities.

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Undergraduate Level

Step Seven: 11/14/2011 Requested the books from the bookstore with ISBN.

Step Eight: 11/14/2011 Requested ancillary materials for textbook.

 Step Nine: Course Syllabi was created with the following criteria. This course criterion is worth a total of 500 points. a. There will be two (2) exams (including comprehensive pre-test and

comprehensive post test) at 25 points each for a total of 50 points. b. There will be reading of the textbook and self assessment activities

required at twenty (20) points each as assigned by the professor. There will be 15 chapter self assessment activities assigned for reading and summaries worth 150 points. All summaries must be typewritten and should be a minimum of 5 pages per group, including at least 750 words. The total point total is 300 points.

c. There are four end term projects worth a total of 150 points. These include:

1. Research Paper (50 Points).2. Research Paper PowerPoint Presentation (50 Points). 3. Poster Board Presentation (25 Points).

4. Individual Portfolio (25 Points). 

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Undergraduate Level

Step Ten: Notification that the course would be on Moodle (Cybergate) on 11/14/2011.

Step Eleven: Creation of a Pre-Test/Post-Test on 1/9/2012

Step Twelve: Creation of a Comprehensive Exam on 1/9/2012.

Step Thirteen: 1/11/2012 Start of the SAM 419 Course On-Ground with Asynchronous Weekly Chapter Assessments, Weekly Group Power Point Presentations, and Peer Evaluations.

  Step Fourteen: Created schedule of Weekly Course Activities

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Undergraduate Level

Women's Tennis

Football Men's Basketball

Women's Basketball

Softball Women's Soccer

No Sport0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1

12

2

5

1 1 1

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Graduate Level

Month One-April 2012 Met with School of Business Dean About Course Objectives Met with Online Course Development and Director of Academic Resources to discuss the online

flex module. Completed the Online Flex Module Package for Online Course Development Completed a Request to Adopt Curricular Material (Video, Textbook, Website, Etc.) Received a Contract from Online Course Development Once Textbook Selected.“

Month Two-May 2012 Completed a Biblical Foundations Forum with Different Presuppositions (Philosophical,

Methodological, and Biblical) Along with 15 Biblical Verses Objectives Are Selected Based Upon Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Created a Comprehensive Exam Questions from the 12 Courses in the Program: o From June 2012 to October 2012, there was a holding period due to the course start date

not being expected until June 2013, new Budget year, and wanting to ensure that the textbook would still be up to date once course started.

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Graduate Level

Month Three-November 2012 Contracts Received for creation of a Flex Module and Pretest/Posttest for the course, dated

November 1st, 2012-April 22, 2013 for the course developers. Contracts Received for creation of Hall PowerPoint Slide Completion for Eight Weeks of Halls and

Course Pages, dated November 1st, 2012-April 22nd, 2013, for course developers. Contracts Received for creation of Hall Recordings of the Introduction, Eight Weeks of 4 Halls per

Week, Plus Introduction and Conclusion Videos for the Course. (Each of the 4 Halls is required to include 12 minutes of lecture material.) The date on the contract was November 1st, 2012-April 22, 2013 for the course developers.

Requested and Received a Desk Copy of the Proposed Textbook, Research Methods and Design in Sport Management through Online Course Development and the Textbook Publisher.

From December 2012 to January 2013, due to the holiday break, office closings, and review of the proposed textbook, there was not a lot of activity. The focus was on ensuring the proposed textbook met the proposed objectives of the course description.

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Graduate Level

Month Four-February 2013 Selection of Textbook and Proposal to Online Course Development on how to proceed. Face to

face, telephone, and email communication took place between the Sports Administration Department and Online Course Development.

A suggestion was made to utilize the PowerPoints as part of the lecture that was to be provided with a Christian Worldview, if slides are available. Do at least 15 to 20 slides (i.e. 5 slides per chapter if it is 4 chapter hall, 10 chapters if it is a 2 chapter Hall, or 6 to 7 slides per chapter if it is a 3 chapter Hall). This will allow time to properly record the four (12 minute recording sections) that are generally required. This will then be combined with the other required slides that are part of all online courses at the University

My proposed date of completion was to have all Halls completed by the end of the February 2013, and all completed recording/other requirements by the Friday prior to Spring Break, if recording schedule was feasible with the Director of Academic Services and the Director of Academic Technology Services in the Online Course Development Department. After Spring Break, the semester gets fast-paced as we work toward the end of the semester requirements, including registration.

 From February 2013 to March 2013, a review of ancillary materials from the book publisher was reviewed. The book publisher had ancillary materials that were available for the course, so therefore, the additional Christian Worldview were then incorporated into the lecture to make the course reasonable as it relates to the objectives of the course.

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Graduate Level

Month Five-April 2013

Created Hall 8 and Submitted it to the Online Course Development to ensure that it was reviewed for approval. Approval was granted on 4/8/2013, so that video recording could proceed.

▪ Hall 1: Create PowerPoints for Online Course Development and Then Gain Approval (3/18/2013)▪ Hall 8: Create PowerPoints for Online Course Development and Then Gain Approval (3/18/2013)▪ Hall 2: Create PowerPoints for Online Course Development and Then Gain Approval (3/18/2013)▪ Hall 3: Create PowerPoints for Online Course Development and Then Gain Approval (3/19/2013)▪ Hall 4: Create PowerPoints for Online Course Development and Then Gain Approval (3/19/2013)▪ Hall 6: Create PowerPoints for Online Course Development and Then Gain Approval (3/27/2013)▪ Hall 7: Create PowerPoints for Online Course Development and Then Gain Approval (3/27/2013)▪ Hall 5: Create PowerPoints for Online Course Development and Then Gain Approval (4/1/2013)▪ Contracts all completed by April 22, 2013.

From April 2013 to May 2013, approximately 8 hours of recording was completed for the 8 Halls after they were approved as acceptable.

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Graduate Level

Month Six-May 2013BU Flex Module Final Copy was completed for the Course on 5/3/2013

Contract payments were made to the course developers.

Month Seven-June 2013Access to the course was granted to the instructors on June 16th, 2013, a week in advance, so that “Welcome Notes” could be posted to each individual student and for the instructor to get familiar with the course materials, lectures, and weekly writing assignments.

Course Started on June 23rd, 2013 and Ended on August 17th, 2013 with 10 students.

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Graduate Level

Month Eight-June 2013 & Month Nine-July 2013

Week One 6/23/2013 thru 6/29/2013 Introduction to Research in Sports Management

Week Two 6/30/2013 thru 7/6/2013 Creation of Research Questions Research Design Data Collection and Analysis Data Publication

Week Three 7/7/2013 thru 7/13/2013 Surveys and Interviews

Week Four 7/14/2013 thru 7/20/2013 Observation Research and Case Study Research

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Graduate Level

Month Nine-June 2013 & Month Ten-August 2013

Week Five 7/21/2013 thru 7/27/2013 Historical Research and Legal Research

Week Six 7/28/2013 thru 8/3/2013 Analyses of Structure and Relationships Among Variables

Week Seven 8/4/2013 thru 8/10/2013 Significance of Group Differences and Prediction of Group Membership Week Eight 8/11/2013 thru 8/17/2013 Conclusion to Research in Sports Administration Careers in Sports Administration

Diverse Components of the Capstone Initiatives at Graduate Level

6 Caucasian American Males 1 Men’s Basketball Coach 1 Women’s Basketball Coach 2 Football Coaches 1 Lacrosse Coach 1 Physical Fitness Trainer

2 African American Males 1 Head Basketball Teacher, Head Track Coach, Assistant Football Coach and High School P.E. Teacher 1 Football Coach

  1 Other American Male

1 Women’s Soccer Head Coach

1 Caucasian American Female Women’s Soccer

0 African American Females

Methodological Procedures

The research analyses of design and delivery of a capstone course, as part of a School of Business, will be discussed from two different perspectives.

As the result, the purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore how a capstone course for sports administration at a religious institution is developed within a School of Business.

An outline of different rubrics will be used as a data source to evaluate the courses and to determine the implications of executing an undergraduate and online graduate capstone courses.

Both qualitative and quantitative data measures are used. Quantitative data included frequencies and percentages gathered from

students’ viewpoints about their involvement with undergraduate sports administration, online undergraduate sports administration programs, graduate sports administration programs, and online graduate sports administration programs.

Qualitative data for the study was collected through an asynchronous method of reviewing different aspects feedback gathered through informal and formal interviews from end of course evaluations, capstone conference comments, and focus group discussion of students, who completed the capstone courses that included textbooks, videos, discussion question forums, weekly writing assignments, pre-test, and post-test analysis.

Preliminary Findings of the Capstone Initiatives and the Sports Administration Program

Technology can reach a global society through virtual means for both males and females entering the field of sports.

From the development of these two capstone courses, characteristics of verbal communication, written communication, and time management, were included, so that skill development in these areas could occur for those students taking their end of program courses. Through a series of assignments, these characteristics were incorporated in the core of the design and delivery of the two capstone courses involved.

Preliminary findings show this is done through the incorporation of technology, feedback from students taking courses and staying current on the issues and trends related to different types of sports administration programs and what is going on in today’s organizations, as employers seek certain skill sets in the people that they hire.

Implications of the Capstone Initiatives and the Sports Administration Program

The development and delivery of capstone course initiatives is important because curriculum standards and an approval or accreditation process. This serves to ensure that programs are of a quality level deserving recognition

and credibility and that the knowledge and skills needed to work in the sport industry are developed in programs of study in sport management.

This begins from freshman orientation to senior capstone courses of an undergraduate program as well as from Bachelor’s degree to graduate capstone seminar in sports administration of a Master’s degree program.

Additionally, for those individuals seeking an advanced degree, like an Ed.D. or Ph.D, these two types of capstone courses on the undergraduate and graduate levels, help to shape the framework of a dissertation or project that could shape and change the future of sports and business.

Conclusion

As Smartphone, Facetime, and Moodle technology continues to evolve, an increasing need for developing virtual Capstone Conferences to bring sports practitioners and business shareholders together.

This will allow new ideas to be shared within our industry and academia to encourage new innovations. Once this occurs, the next wave of ethical decision makers would be positioned to collaborate on how to best move our field forward as more young athletes enter the industry as joined by sports administration scholars to conduct research as they enter different phases of their careers.

This transition stage will better enable all scholars who study sports and practitioners who play the sport to be able to discuss their experiences of sports, “once the air goes out of the ball.”

Finally, as the areas of business and sports continue to evolve, the strength of the academic curriculum must evolve in order to meet growing technological demands for enhanced sports administration programs.

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Howard Bartee, Jr., Ed.D.

Chair, Department of Sports Administration

Belhaven University

Phone: (601) 974-6460

Email: hbartee@belhaven.edu  

SCHOLARLY PUBLICATION(S)

Dr. Bartee is the author of the book entitled, The Next Level: Six Perspectives on the College Choice Process of Student Athletes (ISBN-13: 978-1456377762), which focuses on the implications of internal and external factors on decision making efforts involving college athletes.

Dr. Bartee has also published the journal article entitled, “The Role of Antitrust Laws in the Professional Sports Industry from a Financial Perspective” and has presented at the Scholarly Conference on College Sport at the College Sport Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Bartee was recently featured in the NSGA Now Magazine August/September 2013 issue as he wrote an article about the “Get in the Game Program: Careers in the Sporting Goods Industry”, during their visit to Belhaven University in March 2013.

Dr. Bartee was featured in an online interview in the Personal

Player Development Magazine (www.ppdmag.com) in July 2013, Volume One, Issue Six.

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