literature review
TRANSCRIPT
Conducting Literature Review
Conducting Conducting Literature Review Literature Review
A very brief overview A very brief overview
About Me – Dr. Merza Abbas – Assoc. Prof. – Chairman of Graduate Studies,
Centre for Instructional Technology & Multimedia
Achievement?
• Best Thesis/Dissertation Awards – USM : Ibrahim Jbeili (2004) – META: Hamidah Maidinsah (2004)
Tumpang syok sahaja
Ibrahim‛s Award
Why do a master degree? • To do a better job
– To teach better: more effectively, more efficiently, more productively, etc…
– To improve the quality of learning • To move to better jobs • Because it is exciting, challenging, etc…
– Because it‛s there
Why do a master degree? • To do a PHD, to be a researcher • To acquire “constructive” knowledge as
well as “destructive” knowledge • To learn to deconstruct and/or
reconstruct knowledge (how do you know what you know is correct?)
• No real applications except for a PHD or in a research environment
What is a graduate program?
Diploma
Bachelor
Grad. Dip/ Prof. exams
Master
PHD
Skills: Accept w/o question
Critical review of theories: Accept when “proven”
More skills & theories: Accept w/o question
Skills & theories: Accept w/o question
Critical review of paradigms: Accept when irrefutable
Paradigm
Theory
Model
Practice
Structure of
Academic thinking
P R E S C R I P T I V E
Res.
D E S C R I P T I V E
Res.
Structure of Scientific Revolution (Kuhn, 1970)
Paradigm
Anomalies New Paradigm
Normal Science
New Normal Science
Another new Paradigm More Anomalies
Master programs
Doctoral Programs
Objectivist Paradigm
through activation of mental processes such as schemas, strategies, & metacognition
Cognitive
through accumulation of sub-skills and sub-procedures
Cybernetic
through conditioning and use of extrinsic “motivational”processes
Behaviourist
Focus: Mastery of content/skills Theory
Mental processes are predictable:
External factors can change
internal processes
Constructivist Paradigm
through scaffolding, cooperative/collaborative learning,
Social learning
through meaningful & purposeful learning
Humanist
through inquiry and solving real-life problems
Mental Development
Focus: reasoning skills & science process skills
Theory
Mental processes are not predictable:
Knowledge is private & is personally constructed
What is a thesis/dissertation?
• Report of a scholarly investigation – Proof of theory-practice mastery – Genuine & Original thought/argument
• Document to pass a sentence – Verify/fine-tune theories, models, practice – Reject/Debunk paradigms, theories, models
What is in a thesis/dissertation?
• Chapter 1: Introduction – Problem Statement – Research Questions – Hypotheses, etc
• Chapter 2: Literature Review • Chapter 3: Research Methodology • Chapter 4: Results / Data Analysis • Chapter 5: Discussion & Conclusions
Describe nature accurately
Sense & state causal question
Recognize & state Alt. H & Theories
Generate logical predictions
Plan & conduct controlled expt.
Organize & analyze expt. data
Draw & apply reasonable conclusions
Skills for Research & Thesis Writing
Dari Lawson (1995)
Literature Review • What is it? • What is it for? • Where do we start? • How do we do it?
– Quantitative research – Qualitative research
• How do we know we‛ve done a good job? • Worked example(s)
Literature Review: M.Ed. Evaluation Form
• Perkaitan Sumber yang disoroti dengan masalah kajian.
• Terdapat teori/model untuk menyokong masalah kajian.
• Sumber yang disoroti adalah terkini dan mencakupi skop kajian.
What is it? • High quality overview
– Clarity, Flow, Relevance, Recency, Empirical focus, Independence
• With technically accurate citations and references – List all articles cited in text, – Cite all articles listed in reference – Use the APA standard.
What is it for?
• Support for ideas in Chapter 1 • Elaboration of ideas in Chapter 1 • Reference for discussion and
conclusions in Chapter 5 – Must be thorough, exhaustive, & up-to-
date
Where do we start? • Choose a paradigm • Problem Statement (3-5 pages: tentative cause
& effect statements) – Problems = anomalies – Choose a suitable theory/model – Identify Independent Variables (IV) – Identify Dependent Variables (DV) – Identify Moderator Variables (MV)
• Write clear Research Questions – How will the IVs affect the DVs among the MVs? – Develop the Hypotheses
• Derive a Title from the Research Questions • Tip: RQ = Summary of Problem Statement
Information Processing Model
Motivation Executive Control
Long Term
Memory
Short Term/ Working Memory
Sensory Register Senses
Muscles
E N V I R O N M E N T
Response Generator
Learning: process of Encoding and decoding
Stimuli/Knowledge items into meaningful structures
using various cognitive strategies
New Information causes disequilibrium
Piaget‛s theory • Learning:
process of resolving cognitive conflicts Assimilation
Existing Schema in equilibrium
Accomodation
New Schema in equilibrium
Self-regulation
How do we do it? • Expand from the Title
– Expand concepts to content outline – Use cause and effect structure
• Expand from the Research Questions • Expand from the Problem Statement • Take note of the
– Academic Pecking Order – Sources of Knowledge – Who else has done this, in what paradigm, with what
subjects, & with what results: go to ASKERIC, Google, etc. • Tip: Hypotheses are summaries for Lit. Review.
The Academic Pecking Order
Innovators
Developers
Reporters
Students
No name dropping, padding Please!
Sources of Knowledge
• Experience • Authority • Deductive Reasoning • Inductive Reasoning • Scientific Thinking/Research
(Empirical studies)
Concludes with a new theory
Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Forms tentative hypotheses
to test
Detects patterns &
forms
Begins with specific
observations
Confirms original theory
Collects data/ observations
to test H’thesis
forms hypotheses
to test
Begins with a theory that explains an
event
Scientific Thinking
Dari Sopiah Abdullah (2004)
How do you know you‛ve done a good job?
• Does the review support every hypothesis?
• Does the review support Chapter 5? • Up-to-date, thorough, exhaustive,
original? • Can be turned into a book / a monograph?
Tuckman‛s (1999) criteria • Context • Magnitude (number of references) • How empirical & up-to-date • Connectedness to the problem • Well-organized? • Establish significance? • Convincing argument?
Let‛s try an example • Paradigm • Variables • Research Questions • Title • Literature Review Outline
How to improve learning?
Thank you Thank you Thank you