TheLiteratureReviewAssignment:WritingGuidelines

Fowler/Smith/PierceFall2008
Thisdocumentcontainstheguidelinesforwhatyouwillputinwritingandturninfora
graderegardingyourliteraturereviewonDecember1,2008.Thiscomplementsthefirst
documentwepostedwhichcontainstheguidelinestogetyoustartedfindingarticles,and
alsothelitreviewguidelineswediscussedroundrobinoncampus.
Recallfromtheguidelinesforgettingyourreviewstartedthatyouarerequiredtouse8
10relevantresearcharticlestoyourtopicofstudyinyourwrittenreview.Generally,
theseresearcharticlesneedtohavebeenpublishedwithinthelast10years.Whilesome
ofyourresearcharticlescanbefromERIC,theydoneedtobefromresearchjournals
(onlinejournalscanbefine,though).
ThepurposeofaLiteratureReviewistosummarizewhatyouhavelearnedfroman
immersionintheresearchliteraturerelatedtoyourProblemStatementorissuein
mathematicsteaching.ThewrittenLiteratureReviewisanorganizednarrativethat
conveystothereadersofyouractionresearchprojecttherelevanceofpublished
researchtoyourProblemStatementorissueofteaching.
Inaddition,throughtheprocessoflocatingandreadingtheresearcharticlesrelatedto
yourProblemStatementandpayingattentiontootherresearchersresearchquestionsand
methodsofdatacollectionandanalysis,youwillgetnewideasforyourownresearch
questionsandkindsofdatayouwillwanttocollectandanalyzeforyourownstudy.We
wantyoutobereadingthearticlesforyourLiteratureReviewwithanopenmindfor
whattheparticularsofyourownstudymightbecome.Asyoureadothersresearch,keep
notesonthesideaboutideasyouarehavingforyourownprojectregardingaresearch
questionanddatacollectionandanalysis.Youwillmakeuseoftheseideaslater.
RefertotheActionResearchbookbyMills,pp.3944.Theideasonthesepagesforms
thebasisforwhatwewantyoutoturnintousregardingareviewoftheliterature.You
willturntwomaindocuments.ThefirstisaLiteratureMatrix(seepg.43).Thesecond
isawrittenThematicReviewoftheLiterature.
TheLiteratureMatrix
ThereareexamplesandadescriptionofwhataLiteratureReviewMatrixisintheMills
book.Thisisanexcellentwayforyoutoorganizeandkeeptrackofwhatyouare
readinginamatrixform.Thematrixwillhelpyouseepatternsinpastresearchandhelp
youtoseewhereyourownstudyfitswithothersresearch.Youwilllisttheauthorsand
yearsofpublicationofthe810articlesyoufindalongtheYaxisandalongtheXaxis
youwilllistthekindsofResearchThemes/topicsaddressedbythestudies.The
LiteratureMatrixprovidesyouwithamentalmapofwhatyouarereadingandbeginsto
helpyouseewhatstudiesshareincommonandwherestudiesdiffer.YourLiterature
MatrixwillhelpyouseecategoriesofresearchbasedontheThemesconsidered.

ThematicandChronologicalReviewoftheLiterature
UsingyourLiteratureMatrix,youwillalsowriteaThematicandChronologicalReview
oftheLiterature.Hereyouwillconstructacomparisonandcontrastoftheauthorsyou
haveincludedinyourLiteratureMatrix.Lookforpatternsandthemesinyourmatrix(try
rearrangingtheauthorsindifferentwaystofindpatterns)andthenusethepatternsand
themesasawaytoorganizeyourwrittenreview.Makecategoriesofliteratureandwrite
abouthowauthorscompareandcontrastwithinthosecategories.Andwithincategories,
lookchronologicallyfrommostdatedtomostrecentresearchandseeifyounoticeany
changingtrends.EveryauthorlistedinyourLiteratureMatrixshouldappearinyour
writtenreview.Youneedtoorganizeyourliteraturereviewaroundyourthemes,
andnotsimplyreportoneachauthoroneatatime.Ifyouhaveidentifiedmorethan5
themes,thenconsolidate/prioritizethethemessothatyoulimityourselfto35themesin
yourThematicReviewoftheLiterature.Morethan5themestendstoleadtoalackof
focusinyourpaper,andtoomuchworkforyou.
Beginyourliteraturereviewwithaoneparagraphintroduction.Mentionagainyourtopic
foractionresearch,thenbrieflydiscussthethemesyoufoundintheliterature.Then,each
themeshouldgetitsownsection(withaheading),andfinallyaconclusionafteryou
reportallyourthemes(seebelowformoreonyourconclusion).
Recallthatthefirsttimeyoumentionanarticle,giveatwosentencesummary.For
instance:SmithandHartmanstudied35middleschoolteachersparticipatinginan
ambitiousprofessionaldevelopmentprogramfortwoyearsbyconductingclassroom
observationsandmultipleinterviewsofteachersandstudents.SmithandHartmanfound
thatteachersincludedmoregroupworkandclassdiscussionsthelongertheywereinthe
program.Youarejustifyingtothereaderwhythepeopleyouareciting/quotingare
worthlisteningto.
ConcludethiswrittenreviewwithaConcludingStatement.Thisiswhereyoustateina
finalparagraphwhatyourownstudyisgoingtobe,reflectontheimportanceofyour
studyinlightoftheliteratureyouhavereviewed,anddescribethepotentialyouseeyour
workhastocontributetotheexistingbodyofpublishedresearch.Inthissection,you
needtoexplicitlyidentifywhereyourresearchfitsinthebodyofpublished
literature.Youwillwanttomakestatementslike,WhileSmith(2007)alsostudied
homework,herstudyfocusedonfifthgradescienceandmyfocusisonseventhgrade
mathematics.OrThisstudywilllookatjournalwritinginmathclassthesamewaythat
Smith(2003)did.Youneedtocompareyourstudytothoseyoureadaboutandbe
explicitinidentifyingthesimilaritiesanddifferences.
Youmayhavenoticedbynowthatthereisnospecificpagelengthgivenforthis
assignment.Youneedtodiscusseachofthethemesyoufoundintheliterature,and
describehowyourprojectfitswiththeliterature.Youneedtomentioneachofyour

articlesatleastonce.Ifyoudoallofthis,itwillbelongenough.Ifyouhit20pages,you
haveprobablywrittentoomuch.Ifyouarewritingabout35Themes,thatshouldhelp
controlthelength.
AttheendofyourwrittenreviewyouwillincludeaListofReferences.Youwilllistthe
references(orcitations)ofallofthearticlesthatappearinyourMatrixandwritten
reviewaccordingtoAPAstyle.Thisreferencestyleisdescribedthroughexamplesinthe
Millsbook.AsummaryofAPAisinCourseDocuments.Agoodonlinesourceforusing
APAstyleis(youhavetoscrolldowntogettothereferencessection):
http://www.psywww.com/resource/APA%20Research%20Style%20Crib%20Sheet.htm