Journal Master

High like the Blue Sky

Journal Master is a guide for Capstone Journals, specifically made for students in Egyptian STEM schools to help them ace their journals.

Capstone Journals

What are Capstone Journals?

Capstone Journals are a part of the capstone project at STEM schools. Journals are a type of prompt questions designed to monitor and determine the student’s growth and journey in their capstone project in terms of team collaboration, EDP (Engineering Design Process) and school subjects. We will talk about question types later. Capstone Journals make up 40% of Capstone Mark! You can download the latest Rubric for Capstone Journals here.


Important details about journals

  • There are five main journals each semester. One extra makeup journal is made for students who missed one of the main journals with a proper excuse.
  • The best 4 out of the 5 journals are used for the final grade. So you have one extra journal test to mess up! Nevertheless, you should do your best in all tests.
  • A journal test is held on Mondays or Wednesdays during the capstone session, each two weeks (a week with a journal test and a week with no test and so on).
  • The test’s duration is 60 minutes and is done on Google Forms. You must enter your school email; capstone group number and id number so memorize them.
  • There are 3 journal questions in Grade 10 and 4 questions in Grade 11 and Grade 12.
  • The word limit for each question is 250 words. Writing 150-250 words is recommended as writing less than 150 words might result in a bad grade and Google Forms won’t allow writing more. (In fact, Google Forms counts the characters, so in some cases, you might be able to write a bit more than 250 words.)

Journal Grading

There are 4 grades in Journals: Blue, Green, Yellow and Red.


Each journal question gets a grade of its own from the previous grades. Then the journal grade is calculated using the average of all journal questions. Later, the total journal grade is calculated using the average of the 4 journal tests. In grade 10, you have 12 journal questions and thus 12 journal grades to consider. In Grade 11 and 12, you have 16. (excluding the extra journal)


Red, the lowest grade. Only given in the following scenarios:

  • There’s no answer at all.
  • The answer is irrelevant to what the question addressed.
  • The answer is plagiarized by copying another student’s answer or using AI.

Yellow given in the following scenarios:

  • The answer doesn’t address all aspects of the question.
  • The answer is very poorly written and represented that it might be misunderstood.

Green given in the following scenarios:

  • The answer addresses all aspects of the question and displays well-written context.
    A green grade means the answer showed full understanding of the question.

Blue, the highest grade. Only given in the following scenarios:

  • The answer covers the critera of green grade. Additionally, it also displays creativity and specific examples.

Green is the most common grade, blue and yellow are rare and red is very rare.


Question Types:

The First Question - Personal Reflection / Team Collaboration
It has two types, the question can focus on one of them, or a combination of both. Personal Reflection questions aim to test your progress and experience in your new environment and challenges in your STEM school to see how you adapt and face the new trials. Team Collaboration questions aim to evaluate your teamwork and chemistry with your teammates, how you address and solve problems that arise among your teammates and how you divide the roles and tasks among you to see how well you work together.


The Second Question - EDP
The second question focuses on your work in the capstone project and how well you are following the EDP along with the timeline and calendar of your project. It usually asks about the step of EDP you are currently in or relevant questions such as what decisions and steps you took and why you took them.


The third question – Learning Transfer
The third question asks about connections between your capstone project and learning outcomes (LOs). It might be about a simple idea, a mechanism, a concept or anything you have learned in your LOs. This question requires basic understanding of the LOs to answer. Usually, the connection is hard to find, or sometimes there’s no connection at all. So, be creative.


The fourth question in Grade 11 and Grade 12 is also learning transfer.

Tips & Tricks


All tips are equally important. But tips marked with are extra important.

English Tips

  1. Use Clear English
    • Try to write in a way that’s easy to understand. Use good grammar, correct spelling and proper punctuation.
    • It’s recommended to use advanced/academic words, but don’t overdo it. You want your writing to sound smart, not confusing.
    • Avoid using simple connectors like “and” or “so” too much. Use words like in addition, however, moreover, etc., to make your writing flow better. Here is a list with all the good connectors, academic words and more!
    • Make sure your sentences connect well. Don’t just throw ideas one after the other.

  2. Structure Your Answer
    • Write like an essay (It can be a paragraph or an essay, but it should be divided like an essay):-
      • Intro: Short and catchy. Mention the main idea of your answer.
      • Body: The main part. Explain your points in detail. One point per paragraph is a good idea. For example, if the question is asking for 1 advantage and 2 disadvantages of a certain material. Your body must have 3 small paragraphs, one for each point.
      • Conclusion: A short summary of what you said or a smart conclusion to your answer.
    • It helps to write in paragraphs and leave spaces between them. Makes it easier for you to organize your thoughts and for the evaluators to grade them!
    • Aim for around 200–250 words. Quality is key, but quantity matters as well.

  3. Style and Tone
    • Don’t write like a robot or like you’re copying from a textbook. Be yoursef. Be authentic.
    • Don’t try too hard to impress the reader with fancy words. Answer the question directly but in detail and with examples. Just be clear, confident, and straightforward.

Tips for Each Question Type

  1. Personal Reflection
    • This is about you. Use “I” a lot.
    • Talk about a real (or realistic) experience where you learned something or changed.
    • It’s better to show your growth than just say “I improved.” Example: Instead of “I learned teamwork,” say “Working with my team taught me that sharing ideas creates better solutions.”
    • Show your mistakes too. Being real makes your answer stronger.
    • Always connect back to the question. Stay on point. Don't write about your whole life story.

  2. Team Collaboration
    • Similar to personal reflection, but about your team.
    • Use both “I” and “we.”
    • Mention how you worked with your teammates, learned from them, and had disagreements but solved and reflected upon them as a team.

  3. EDP (Engineering Design Process)
    • Think of this like reflecting on your project, not just yourself.
    • Show what step you’re in. You can say it directly or hint at it.
    • Don’t explain the EDP steps like a textbook. Talk about what you did in your capstone project that resembles the EDP.
    • Give real examples. Even if they didn’t happen yet, imagine they did.
    • Keep it focused on the project: a problem you faced, how you solved it, and what you learned.

  4. Learning Transfer
    • Use as many subject-related terms as you can. If it’s a math question, use formulas. If it’s chemistry, use equations.
    • First, explain the idea or concept quickly. Not all evaluators are knowledgeable in the subject of the question. (Some are totally unrelated)
    • Then show clearly and strongly how that helped your capstone project.
    • Mention your prototype or what you’re working on. Let the evaluator understand your project briefly.
    • Don’t throw random facts. Every detail should connect back to the project. (Applies for all question types, but specifically for Learning Transfer because it's easy to start writing about the subject in general and forget about the question's purpose.)

General Advice

  1. Time Management
    • Give each question a specific amount of time and try to finish it before that time is up. For example, in grade 10, there are only 3 question. So hypothetically, each question shouldn't take more than 20 minutes. However, you should leave time for thinking, for revision and for any unexpected difficulties. Therefore, 15 minutes per question is a good amount, and that leaves 15 minutes for the rest. In grade 11 & 12, 12 minutes per question (only typing) is preferable. And that leaves 12 spare minutes. Practice your time management before the actual test.
    • Before you start writing, spend 1–3 minutes thinking. Highlight the key points in the question and plan what you’ll say.
    • The order of answering the questions is up to you. Some start with the hardest, or the easiest to save time. However, I advice you to start with the easiest. Most of the time, you won't be able to answer the hardest question perfectly, completely, or at all! So it's better to invest time in the easier questions to guarantee a high grade at them.

  2. Be Prepared
    • Read the question carefully. Don’t skip words like “give two reasons” or “mention a disadvantage.” Missing details can hurt your grade.
    • If you don’t understand the question, at least write something related. Don’t go completely off-topic.
    • Remember work and steps you have taken so far in your capstone project. Memorize possible useful formulas and equations. Most journal questions tend to be impossible to answer in a normal realistic way. Expect the unexpected and don't be afraid to use your imagination in some cases (but don't be too far-fetched. Keep it real.)

  3. Think Like an Evaluator
    • The person grading your journal is a human, not a machine. Some will read everything. Some won’t.
    • If your introduction grabs their attention, they’ll likely read the whole thing.
    • Some evaluators just look at grammar, structure, and a few strong words. Others care more about your ideas. Some care about the quantity, some care more about the quality. Try to balance everything.

  4. How to Practice
    • Try typing more often to get faster. You’ll need speed in the real journal exam. Practice your typing speed. There are two methods. First, practice typing regularly so your overall speed will increase. Here are some good websites to practice typing: 10FastFingers, Monkeytype and TypeRacer. Secondly, learn touch typing. (Touch typing is the skill of typing using all 10 fingers and without looking at the keyboard) Here are some good websites/apps to learn touch typing: Tipp10, TypingClub, Typing.com.

      • Spoiler Alert: Typing fast is necessary but thinking fast is equally important. Many students type fast but can't form ideas or sentences fast enough to keep up with their typing speed. This cane be solved with practice and preparing ideas and memorizing them beforehand. (By ideas, I mean formulas or equations, project steps you have finished, possible question ideas not a ready journal answer or a part of it. Never do that!)

    • Practice using sentence starters. Learn how to paraphrase. Try summarizing stuff you read.
    • Use websites like Quillbot or PaperRater to check your grammar and flow.
    • Practice old journals. A lot of them!

  5. What to Avoid
    • Don’t start with boring phrases like “As a student at STEM school…” or any generic meaningless sentences.
    • Don’t write way too much. Stick to the word limit.
    • Don’t just copy phrases from old journals or sample answers.

Tips & Tricks That Help

  • At the very start, write a short sentence answering the question directly. This shows the evaluator that you understood the question.
  • Examples, examples and.... examples. They are one of the key differences between a blue and a green grade. Give examples for everything. Make sure they are realistic and detailed. The more useful details, the better.
  • Don’t start by listing EDP steps. Instead, say something like “We were working on solving X...”
  • If the question asks for 2 advantages and 1 disadvantage, only write that. Don’t add more unless you have time and words to spare. (And it's generally better not to write more points than asked for)
  • Use numbers, results, and data if you can—even if they’re made up. Just make sure they sound real.
  • You can use quotes or made-up scenarios to make your intro catchy.
  • When you explain a project or scientific idea, try to sound like you know what you’re doing... as you should.

Final Thoughts

  • A journal is not just an essay. It’s a chance to show your thoughts and progress in a smart and organized way.
  • Be real. Be thoughtful. Be clear.
  • Plan your answer, type quickly but carefully, and make sure it looks neat.
  • Your job is to make the evaluator understand and believe in your answer. If you do that, you’re already close to getting a blue.


The Bitter Truth

The world is unfair. If you follow all these tips and more, have a clear, direct and correct answer and do everything you can. You are still not 100% guaranteed to get a Blue. Even if it deserves one. Why?
Because capstone journals don't get evaluated in the best way. There is a rubric for each question. But sometimes the rubric is not clear. Or the question is impossible and unreasonable. Or it doesn't make sense at all.
Even if the question is clear and your answer is perfect. Sometimes, we don't get the most just results and grades. Each evaluator needs to grade hundreds of journals after each journal test. Therefore, some of them (not all) skim through the answers. Or gave an immediate green without even reading the answer. Some read the introduction and grade the whole thing based on it. Some look at the quantity and number of words. Some have some unique unreasonable standards like a very specific sentence they are looking for or a particular way of typing.
A journal that deserves a blue might get a green and vice versa. Nothing is certain. And you will notice this in the sample journals.
All of these scenarios are wrong. But they happen, and they happen a lot. It's better to not put high hopes on journal grades. You should consider journal tests as... an errand. An errand that needs to be done anyway. 80% of the time, most students will get a green regardless of their answers. Because that's the average grade and most evaluators' "safe" grade. 'I mean, of course your answer is not that perfect to get a Blue but not that bad to get a yellow.'
Despite all of this, never stop to improve and look for flaws in your journal answers and fix them. Despite the unfairness, some students, including my friends and me, managed to get 10+ blues per semester.
Don't lose heart, and do your best!

Sample Journals

Services

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Tutorial

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Practice

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Last updated on 30/7/2025

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