Reconstructing Undergraduate Dissertations: A Conceptual Framework for Collaborative Capstones, Employability, and Societal Impact

Background and Aim: Traditional undergraduate dissertations often prioritize individual scholarly inquiry, which, while fostering academic autonomy, can underutilize opportunities for collaborative skill development and generate research outputs with limited broader community utility. This conceptual paper proposes a collaborative group-project framework for reimagining undergraduate dissertations to support graduate employability and produce tangible institutional and community legacies. The study aims to articulate a theoretically grounded framework, provide a structured implementation model, and derive testable propositions regarding employability competencies and institutional outcomes. Materials and Methods: This paper adopts a conceptual framework development approach, drawing on an integrative literature synthesis of competency-based education, experiential learning theory, and graduate capital frameworks. The methodology synthesizes theoretical and empirical literature from major academic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) to construct an operational model suited for higher education capstone reform. Results: The resulting framework articulates four primary components: (1) curriculum reconstruction for embedded competency building, (2) group-based collaborative dissertation structures, (3) tangible legacy outputs (such as functional prototypes, policy frameworks, and community resources), and (4) operational implementation protocols addressing team formation, dual-mode assessment, faculty mentorship, and governance risks. Student employability enhancement and institutional legacies are modeled as theorized outcomes requiring empirical evaluation rather than proven effects. Conclusion: The proposed framework provides a theoretically sound basis for pilot implementation and empirical evaluation, offering higher education leaders a structured alternative or complementary pathway to conventional individual dissertations. Principal limitations include the absence of empirical field validation, highlighting the need for future comparative and longitudinal research.