Four-quadrant approach‐ an improved pedagogy for capstone project

Purpose This research aimed to investigate how the proposed four-quadrant approach impacted the students’ learning, as the capstone project (CP) serves as a critical component in the transition from academic learning to professional application. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quasi-experimental design approach, considering undergraduate students from two different cohorts as two groups: controlled and experimental. While the control group continued to use the traditional pedagogy for CP, the experimental group was exposed to improved pedagogy that includes four types of assessments: peer, internal, external and self-assessment. Findings The findings reveal that there exists a statistical difference between the final scores obtained by both groups. The scores received by experimental group students were higher than those of controlled group students, concluding that with the new pedagogy, student learning improves. When self, peer, internal and external assessment scores were analyzed, it was observed that there exists a significant statistical difference in all these scores. Research limitations/implications The proposed approach can be applied to different courses, and the researchers may investigate the efficacy and impact on student skill development. The overall approach can also impact the student’s perseverance and adaptability. Practical implications The four-quadrant approach offers a promising avenue to academicians for providing students with a student-centric learning environment. The environment offers various assessments as an opportunity to learn and improve performance. Social implications Implementing the proposed approach in educational settings could lead to more stakeholders’ involvement in the learning process, precise evaluation and effective feedback practices, ultimately enhancing student learning outcomes. Originality/value A four-quadrant pedagogy approach has been proposed in the paper, and the study concludes that the approach helped students to improve their performance. Various assessments done using rubrics helped students to understand the evaluators’ expectations and perform accordingly.