The capstone project is intended to be a culmination of the skills and knowledge gained throughout the Nanodegree program. It provides students an opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency and ability to independently develop and complete a project from concept to deployment using the tools and techniques learned.

To help guide students through this ambitious independent project, Udacity provides both mentorship support and a structured peer feedback system. Mentors are industry professionals who review student work and provide guidance to help ensure projects meet specifications and stay on track. Students also rely on feedback from their peers to improve their work before final submission.

Each student is assigned a dedicated capstone mentor from Udacity’s pool of experienced mentors at the start of the capstone. Mentors have deep expertise in the relevant technical field and have additionally received training from Udacity on providing constructive guidance and feedback. The role of the mentor is to review interim project work and hold check-in meetings to discuss challenges, evaluate progress, and offer targeted advice for improvement.

Mentors provide guidance on the design, implementation, and deployment of the project from the initial proposal, through standups and work-in-progress reviews. Students submit portions of their work—such as architecture diagrams, code samples, and prototypes—on a regular basis for mentor review. The mentor evaluates the work based on the program rubrics and provides written and verbal commentary. They look for demonstration of key skills and knowledge, adherence to best practices, and trajectory toward successful completion. Their goal is to steer students toward high-quality results through constructive criticism and suggestions.

For complex projects spanning several months, mentors typically scheduleindividual video conferences with each student every 1-2 weeks. These meetings allow for a more comprehensive check-in than written feedback alone. Students can then demonstrate live prototypes, discuss technical difficulties, and receive live coaching from their mentors. Meeting frequency may increase as project deadlines approach to ensure students stay on track. Mentors are also available via email or chat outside of formal meetings to answer any questions that come up.

In addition to mentor support, students provide peer feedback to their fellow classmates throughout the capstone. After each work-in-progress submission, students anonymously review two of their peers’ projects. They evaluate based on the same rubrics as the mentors and leave thoughtful written comments on project strengths and potential areas for improvement. Students integrate this outside perspective into further iterations of their work.

Peer feedback ensures diverse opinions beyond just the assigned mentor. It also allows students to practice evaluating projects themselves and learn from reviewing others’ work. Students have found peer feedback to be extremely valuable—seeing projects from an outside student perspective often surfaces new ideas. The feedback is also meant to be shaped as constructive suggestions rather than personal criticism.

Prior to final submission, students go through an internal “peer review” where they swap projects and conduct a deep code review with another classmate. This acts as a final checkpoint before projects are polished and submitted to the mentors for evaluation. Students find bugs, pinpoint potential improvements, and get another set of eyes to ensure their work is production-ready before the evaluation process begins.

The structured mentoring and peer review procedures employed during Nanodegree capstones are essential for guiding students through substantial self-directed projects. They allow for regular project monitoring, issues to surface early, and work to iteratively improve according to feedback. With support from both mentors and peers, students can confidently develop advanced skills and demonstrate their learning through a polished final portfolio project. The combination of human expertise and community input helps maximize the outcome of each student’s capstone experience.