Assignment 1: Community contributions  

Value 35%  

This assignment includes the establishment of your research portfolio including five reflective writing contributions over the term. These can be written in an informal manner, but you should make use of the web format by integrating links, images, videos, podcasts, etc. into each post where appropriate. Each contribution should be at least 500 words unless otherwise specified below. Writing prompts for the five posts:

1. A personal introduction, your journey here, what brought you to this work, and a self-assessment of your current knowledge and gaps in becoming a researcher.

2. An articulation of your research using the ‘Topic, problem, purpose, question’ methodology from Creswell, 2012. 

3. A two-page summary of your research area intended for submitting your SSHRC application (presented as a two-page summary or roughly 1000 words).

4. Review three journals that you have read or want to publish in. Review scope of journal, types of articles, common methodologies, and research approaches. Explore editorial board members, submission criteria review, and other insights (presented in roughly 1000 words).

5. Conduct a review of doctoral dissertations related to your research interests using Proquest, Thesis Canada, and EBSCO Open Dissertations. For comparison explore the structure of documents (narrative vs 3-paper), theoretical frameworks employed, description of methodologies, overview of findings, and explore suggestions for future research.  

These can be completed in any order, but should be done by the final class November 27.  

Evaluation Criteria

  • A thoughtfully constructed research portfolio organized to present the five initial reflections
  • Reflections should clearly address the prompt and contain reflective and analytical components for each contribution.
  • Makes appropriate use of the web format by integrating links, images, videos, podcasts, etc. into each post where appropriate.
  • Includes multimodal elements. For example, your reflection may be presented as a podcast, video, image, digital story, etc.
  • Adheres to web accessibility guidelines

Assignment 2: Presentation of Literature Review  

Value 25%  

Each student will present a 15-minute overview (plus 5 minutes for class discussion) of their in-progress literature review paper.

Your literature review and this presentation are closely linked. You present the literature review paper as a written synthesis and your presentation provides an overview of that synthesis presented orally to the class. I encourage you to use slides to accompany your presentation that show key information related to the review.

This article provides a solid overview for planning the presentation including setting the goal for the review, considering the sections that you might use to structure the presentation, and tools that might support the creation of the deck.

I am wary of giving examples, and, as well good ones are very hard to find! However, I pulled a few sample slide decks from the American Educational Research Association annual conference repository. Some of the ones below are described as systematic reviews, note that this is not expected from you. I still think the structure may provide some inspiration for you.

I encourage you to be creative with your presentation. The goal is to showcase your understanding of existing research, identify gaps or debates in the field, and establish a foundation for your own research. It demonstrates your ability to present research, synthesize information, and critically analyze previous work by presenting the current state of knowledge on a topic and highlighting what is still unknown.

Presentations begin October 30.

Evaluation Criteria

  • A well-prepared 15-minute presentation of the key ideas, research, and questions emerging from your literature review
  • Use multimedia as needed when presenting
  • Each presenter will be given 5 additional minutes for peers to provide questions, feedback, and insights to each presenter

As requested, a detailed rubric is available to help guide the development of your presentation.

Assignment 3: Literature Review  

Value 40%  

Prepare a literature review (3,500-4,500 words excluding references) on a topic related to your research interests. The paper should be prepared using APA 7, make use of your Zotero library, and be written with a journal or conference in mind for publication.  

The literature review is a rigorous process of analyzing previous studies, their methods, and their findings in order to orient oneself to create a new, meaningful contribution to the field. This requires that you develop a deep understanding of existing scholarship as a prerequisite for generating new knowledge in your area of research. See Scholars Before Researchers: On the Centrality of the Dissertation Literature Review in Research Preparation for more rationale on the importance of the literature review in doctoral work. There is a useful rubric within that paper you can orient your work towards.

I understand this may be your first attempt at writing a literature review, so I will provide constructive feedback. You have time ahead to develop this skill as you work towards your dissertation.

While you may not submit the article for publishing, you should target the work based on the journal/conference scope as identified through the journal analysis task in assignment one. 

Due November 27

Guidelines

  • The author clearly expresses the scope and purpose for the literature review
  • Describes the literature review methodology and search parameters
  • Contains numerous sources and salient quotes to support the argument
  • Accurately represents sources Uses high quality research and journals
  • Clearly and consistently presented
  • Correctly uses APA 7th Edition style throughout, including citations and references
  • Uses a minimum of 15 high quality and appropriate references

Rubric Criteria for the Literature Review Paper

I will use the following criteria to asses the literature review. This is derived from the official peer review form of the OTESSA Journal. Many journals will use a form such as this to help reviewers assess articles submitted for peer reivew. This is intended to provide you an experience of an actual journal review process.

  • Does the introduction provide sufficient background and references?
  • Is the description of the research problem sufficient?
  • Has the work been situated appropriately (i.e., has the work been situated in the broader research literature, provided perspective(s) or theoretical framework)?
  • Is there methodological and analytic rigour as required by the inquiry approach employed?
  • Are the research methods described sufficiently?
  • Are the findings presented clearly?
  • Are the conclusions and/or recommendations substantiated?
  • How is the clarity and style of language (of objectives or purpose, arguments, grammar, spelling, APA, etc.)?
  • Is the submission original or novel?
  • Does the author convey the significance of the work in the context of educational discourses?
  • What s the overall quality of presentation?
  • Does the author provide a sound argument in the conclusion of the work?
  • Is the submission of interest to readers?