Week 18

Searching for Academic Research - 5 stepsThe following steps provides a basic overview of the process you will go through when performing a literature search.

1. Define your topicBefore you can begin your literature search you need to define your topic area.

2. Do some background readingBefore you begin your search properly it can be useful to undertake some general, background reading on your topic. This will help you to familiarise yourself with the topic and some of the key ideas and issues associated with it. It will also give you insights into some of the key terminology connected to your topic, which will become important later on. 

3. Create research questions and keywordsCreating a research question or questions will help you to structure your literature search (and also your literature review). It may be that you want to develop an overarching research question and then a couple of sub questions that allow you to focus on specific aspects of your topic. You may also want to consider the parameters you are going to place on your literature search. For example, are you going to focus on a specific geographic area (e.g. New Zealand)? Will you confine your search to a specific time period (e.g. the last 5 years)? Will you just be focusing on a specific area of education or school (e.g. primary schools, secondary schools etc)?

You also will need to come up with a list of keywords or terms to structure your search around.

Are there any problems with the following research questions?

•  Can the Inquiry learning approach meet the Curriculum requirements for Yr 5&6 students?
•  What are the benefits, drawbacks and the factors influencing the use of modern technological practices in NZ education?
•  What are the factors that make gamification of learning most effective in increasing motivation and engagement for struggling literacy learners?

The research question for your literature review should be open-ended,  and not be answerable with a simple “yes” or “no” or a few factual statements. Terms too broad or vague such as "modern technological practices" and presumptions like "most effective in..." should be avoided. You can read more about formulating a research question here: What Makes a Good Research Question?

What makes these good research questions for a literature review?

• How might having a growth mindset impact on student learning?
• What impact does game-based learning have on student engagement?
• How does self-regulation impact on the engagement of secondary school students?
• What are the effects of personalised learning on student achievement and engagement?
• How can collaboration enhance learning in a primary school classroom?

A good research question for a literature review is clear, focused, not too broad or too narrow, and can be answered by collecting and analysing research findings in the relevant literature.

4. Identify possible sourcesThere are a range of different sources that you can engage with. The Unitec library website has helpful video tutorials, which will provide you with more detailed information on how to search for each of these sources. Some of the most common sources of research literature include:

Books and eBooks:The library has many eBooks as well as hard copies. Search for books using the keyword search function on the library catalogue. For more information, the following Unitec web page provides video guides for how to search the catalogue for books and eBooks.

Journal Articles:Journal articles are one of the best sources for academic literature. The most important research is published in journals, and because they are published regularly they tend to contain more up-to-date information than books. There are lots of education journals, many of which focus on a specific area of education (e.g. teacher education and professional development, technology, pedagogy, curriculum etc). The majority of journals operate a rigorous peer review system, which means that all articles have been reviewed by other academics before they are published.

There are several ways that you can locate journal articles:

• Use websites such as Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Ministry of Education Library and Google Scholar (Note that to access the full versions of many of the articles that you find on Google Scholar you will need to use the library online catalogue).
• Databases – you can conduct keyword searches on academic databases to find relevant articles. For more information, the following Unitec web page provides video guides for how to search the catalogue for journal articles.

Grey Literature:You also may want to consult 'grey literature'. Grey literature refers to academic material that has not been formally published. The Fourth International Conference on Grey Literature in Washington, DC, in October 1999 defined grey literature as follows: "That which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers."

Grey literature includes reports (including technical reports, statistical reports, governmental reports, policy reports), theses, conference proceedings and official documents that have not been published commercially. Research reports are published by a range of institutions and organisations, for example Ministries of Education, think tanks, not for profits, consultancies, private research organisations etc. Most conferences will also publish their proceedings papers as well. The best way to locate these is to conduct a keyword search using an Internet search engine.

For more information, the Unitec web page provides video guides for how to search the Web for resources.

Reference Lists:Use the reference lists at the end of books, journal articles and reports to help guide your literature search. Also, if an author references a source in their writing that sounds interesting, use the reference list to find the source. It is always best to go back to the original source rather than relying on another author’s interpretation.

5. Organise and keep track of your sources
You might find it helpful to develop a way of keeping track of all the different sources that you are engaging with. You may want to do this informally in a Word document or spreadsheet or you can use specially designed referencing software. Mendeley is a free and easy to use reference manager and PDF organiser (https://www.mendeley.com).

Interpreting and critically assessing literatureIt is important that when you read research literature, you are critically engaging with it. Questions you might find useful to ask yourself when reading an article might include:

• Are there clearly stated research questions?
• Does the article explain why the topic is important?
• Is the research design and methodology described? Does it seem appropriate for the area of study?
• If there are research subjects, is the sample fully explained (number, age, selection method, profile etc.)?
• What is the data analysis like? Are the results clearly explained?
• Are there any ethical issues that are raised / important?
• What are the conclusions? Are they a reasonable reflection of the data analysis?
• What are your overall impression of the article? Was it interesting? Useful? Could it help inform your own Teaching as Inquiry project?

Tools for Online CollaborationIf you choose to complete the literature review assignment as a group or seek peer support, there are a number of tools that can be used for online collaboration, including Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.