What Is a Capstone?

In Mark Pfaff's Advanced Audio class, we (the students) were given several different assignments that forced us to utilize different techniques and do certain things. Certain elements were explored in each project, so that after all of them were completed the student would have a strong grasp on many different elements of audio production. Then the final project came, and it differed from all the other projects in a couple of major ways. It forced the student to utilize most if not all of what they had used in the other projects, and it gave the student much more freedom in what exactly the project would be and how to do it. It was also the largest project in the class, and the most rewarding to complete.
I say this to say that I think of a capstone like that on a larger scale. As new students, we are put through several classes that teach us different things. Then, at the end of it all, we have the most weighted, most important project of all. We have to use many if not all of the things we've learned in our classes so far, and we have freedom to choose exactly what we want to do and how to do it.
Also, like the audio final, I expect that the capstone will be very rewarding. Of all the work in all the audio classes, I feel like that final project was the most beneficial part because it forced me to really do work on a scale that I hadn't done before, and it really encouraged me to make something I liked and cared about. That's what I expect out of the capstone: being forced to work on a bigger scale on something I really care about, and I expect that after it's done and all the inevitable stress of completing it has faded, I will look at it as one of if not the single most valuable part of my college education.
I suspect that the reason students are forced to do at least two semesters of work on their capstone is to force them to be more involved in it, and to magnify the scale of it so the students will really be able to do something great.