Enhancing the Engagement of Final Year Business Students in the Capstone Course of a Public Technical University

Student engagement continues to be a major concern in final-year business capstone courses, particularly in active learning, critical thinking, and the application of information to real-world business challenges. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of organized post-lecture group discussions on student involvement of final year Business students at a public technical institution. The study is grounded in Social Constructivist Theory and the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) framework, and it uses a classroom-based pedagogical intervention in which students engage in small-group discussions after each lecture to reflect, analyze, and apply the learned concepts to complex business problems. The research design is a mixed-methods design. The research instruments include students’ entrance-exit surveys (EES), classroom observations, reflective comments, and assessment performance data using standardized rubrics. The research tools include the students’ Entrance-Exit Surveys (EES), classroom observations, reflective remarks and the assessment performance data collected using the standardized rubrics. Anticipated effects include gains in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement, such as increased levels of interest, more knowledge of course content, stronger critical thinking abilities and greater student collaboration. The intervention is also intended to enhance the students’ problem-solving and communication skills, which are major learning goals of the Capstone course. The study shows that structured group discussion is an excellent active learning technique for meaningful involvement. This enhances the learning experience and supports CQI in final year business education.

Capstone Course, Student Engagement, Outcome-Based Education, Complex Business Problems, Active Learning, Continuous Quality Improvement

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