An IT Support Capstone: Just Another Brick in the Wall

of Technology is a two-year undergraduate programme of study aimed at producing effective graduates in the areas of technical and user support. The programme has progressively developed from early origins in the NACCQ national curriculum's " blue book " to a fully internal programme accredited through the standard New Zealand university quality approval processes. A recent innovation in the programme has been the development of a capstone mini-project, with an " Information Technology (IT) support " focus. This paper outlines the motivation for the capstone project, its design and implementation, and the constraints within which it has had to operate. The paper also discusses key issues identified by the teaching team, together with the lessons learnt for overall programme design and review. A rationale for proposed changes at both the paper and programme level is presented and the case is made for the critical role of a capstone paper in an IT support diploma.