Reviewing Literature

Selecting an Area of Focus Should involve teaching & learning Should focus on your own practice Is something you feel passionate about Is something you want to change or improve Is something within your control Can be completed by end of school year

Reflect on What Matters to You Reflective Contexts Philosophical Environmental Historical Theoretical Political Reflective Lenses Self Peers Students Literature

Reconnaissance Gather preliminary information by analyzing: – Who? – What? – Where? – When? – Why? Identify critical factors/variables – How? What can you observe and measure? – Evidence!!! How do you know?

Why do We Need to Review the Literature? Dig deeper. Dig deeper. Search wider. Search wider. Change viewpoint. Change viewpoint. Save time. Save time. At the end of the review you should be able to competently discuss the major themes and the “promising practices” of your research with your colleagues.

Access to ERIC By calling LET-ERIC ( ) By calling LET-ERIC ( ) Accessing the online AskERIC Virtual Library Accessing the online AskERIC Virtual Library Through the AskERIC on-line question and answer service Through the AskERIC on-line question and answer service By ERIC on CD-ROM By ERIC on CD-ROM

Other On-line Resources Databases EBSCOHOST Galileo ERA Professional Organizations nctm.org nsta.org www2.edtrust.org crede.berkeley.edu

Writing a Review of the Literature Summarize each study Summarize each study Record full citation (APA) Record full citation (APA) Record page numbers for quotes Record page numbers for quotes Look for themes, trends, patterns Look for themes, trends, patterns Construct the narrative. Construct the narrative. Write concluding statement Write concluding statement.

Introduction Narrative Justifies your research Justifies your intervention Provides rationale for outcomes and variables Establishes your credibility – this contributes to validity of the study Describes what is new or different in terms of contribution to present practice.

Sequencing Your Introduction Tell a story! Why is the learning goal important? Why is it important to your students and school? Which students have difficulty? Why? What have you and others done in the past? What are some promising practices (lit review)? Who should benefit (lit review)? Why? Therefore, you want to investigate ….

Introduction: Link, Flow, & Claims Each paragraph should have one main idea. Link - each paragraph should be connected to preceding and following ones. Flow - logical sequence. Claims - should be justified. – Based on information from lit review. – Based on personal experience

The Concluding Statement Provides a starting point and context for your own research. Provides a starting point and context for your own research. Explains the potential contribution of your work to published research. Explains the potential contribution of your work to published research. Describes promising practices that you have discovered in the research and how these will impact your study Describes promising practices that you have discovered in the research and how these will impact your study.

Research Questions Generic: Will Independent variable cause change in Dependent variable? Will MyTreatment increase StudentOutcome?

Research Question Hypothesis “Change” – Hypothesis – there will be a difference – Test – two-tailed t-test “Increase” – Hypothesis – there will be an improvement. – Test – one-tailed t-test Justify the hypothesis in the Introduction.

Research Questions and Title Generic: Effects of MyTreatment on StudentOutcome(s) for MyStudents StudentOutcome(s) – focus on main outcome – e.g. “learning physical science” MyStudents – focus on main characteristics – e.g. “first-grade” or “special needs”

Research Variables Your Intervention is the independent variable. Student outcomes are the dependent variables. – knowledge, skills, behavior, or attitude Student characteristics are covariates. – e.g. gender, SES, LEP, race/ethnicity All variables will be – introduced in introduction – detailed in methods

Defining Variables Name variables carefully Use these names consistently Define variables so they are observable or measurable All variables should have been discussed in Introduction. All variables will be elaborated in Methods.

Defining Variables - Examples Independent: Repeated readings. Repeated readings is an instructional strategy where … (Rafferty, 2002). Dependent: Motivation. Motivation is the extent to which a person feels interested in learning content and willing to participate in class activities and independent assignments This will be measured by an attitude survey. Covariate: Poverty. Students are categorized as high-poverty or low-poverty according to their eligibility for free and reduced lunch.

Questions?