Literature Review and Analysis

For the final assignment, students will select a topic in educational psychology. Find at least five scholarly articles, in addition to the textbook, from the Ashford University Library on that topic, and prepare a literature review and analysis in addition to a summary of implications.

A literature review is a summary of how your research articles supported your thesis statement. Be sure to consider opposing views in your literature review. Here are some resources to help you understand the process better:

• Literature review guidelines
• Write a literature review
• Learn how to write a review of literature
• How to write a literature review

Assignment Instructions

To complete the Literature Review and Analysis, follow these steps:

1. Select a topic of interest relevant to the field of educational psychology. Your topic must address one of the categories below:

a. The teacher's role in the diagnosis, treatment, and education of the child with attention deficit hyperactive disorder.

b. Critical thinking and its importance in education in making students better thinkers and developing metacognitive skills.

c. Strategies for adapting the classroom to meet the needs of the exceptional student (ex. Autistic, gifted, English Language Learner, etc.)

d. The current level of violent acts committed in schools and efforts to stop them.

e. The role of genetics and environment in determining intelligence.

f. The effectiveness of various initiatives to improve education such as the "Common Core State Standards."

g. The "Gender Gap" in Education.

h. The impact of affective issues on student learning.

i. Strategies for how and why teachers can incorporate affective activities into their daily instruction.

If you have another topic of interest, please provide your research topic to your instructor for approval during your Week Four, Discussion Three.

2. Narrow your topic and turn it into a question. Your thesis statement aims to answer this question. This can also guide your search forarticles.

3. Once a topic/research question has been selected, search for five research articles from scholarly sources that address your topic. Your articles must be empirically based, meaning they involve a research study. Your articles must also be current, meaning they have been published post-2000.

4. After reading your articles, write your paper. Your paper must have the following criteria. Be sure to use these headings in your paper:

a. Introduction: Be sure to clearly state your topic of choice for your research, why you selected it, and a clear thesis statement. Your thesis statement is your position on this topic. You must be able to support your position with research from your articles.

b. Literature Review (Body of Paper): A literature review is a summary of how your research articles supported your thesis statement. Be sure to consider opposing views in your literature review. See the resources above to help you understand the process better.

c. Analysis: In this section, you will analyze your findings from the articles and answer these questions: With which points did you agree and/or disagree and why? Which points resonated with you and why? Which points need further clarification and why? How does educational psychology support your understanding of your topic? All of your statements need to be supported by evidence from the required sources you referenced to create this review.

d. Summary of Practical Implications: Describe how this knowledge will support your role as an educator. Make a list of three to four practical implications and describe each one.

e. Conclusions: After your review and analysis of the literature, describe the ideas you have formulated based on the research. Describe any lingering questions about the topic you would want to know more about and why further study is warranted.
Click to view an example of this week's final project.

The Final Assignment:

1. Must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

2. Must include an APA formatted title page with the following:

o Title of paper
o Student's name
o Course name and number
o Instructor's name
o Date submitted

3. Must address the topic with critical thought and adhere to the assignment instructions. When thinking critically, you will need to engage in higher levels of thinking that require you to examine, evaluate, and analyze your chosen topic. You will be required to actively reflect on multiple perspectives (to eliminate any bias) presented in your research to support your reasoning. Remember, any claims you make must be supported with evidence from your scholarly research.

4. Must be at least eight- to ten-pages in length.

5. Must include a reference page with all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.