Reference no: EM133927649 , Length: word count:2000

Introduction to Research for Educators

ASSESSMENT - Emerging Research Question and Analysis and comparison of scholarly articles

ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTION

Summary:
This assignment aims to help you reflect on your own research interests and develop an emerging research question. Based on this reflection and a brief bibliographic search, you will critically analyse a small number of scholarly articles that are relevant to your research question. In light of your analysis, you will review, modify and/or refine your emerging research question. This exercise is intended to be an introduction to critically reviewing academic research articles and to writing a skeletal, ‘mini' review of literature. The assignment also structures the foundation for your study throughout the unit, as the later assignment requires exploring possible methodologies in relation to your research question. Get online assignment help-AI & plagiarism-free-now!

What to do?
Reflect on your emerging research question. Why you are interested in this topic and how does it relate to the role(s) of educational research, as described in unit readings? Using the MU library website, databases, etc., search for three peer- reviewed academic articles, which are relevant to your emerging research question. Write your assignment using essay format, and an appropriate academic style (full sentences, clear structure, coherent paragraphs, introduction, conclusion, etc.) Justify the relevance of these three peer reviewed journal articles, then compare and analyse these articles. Use in-text referencing and appropriate depth of analysis to articulate your ideas.

Assignment Sections
Introduction:
Begin with an introduction (normally one paragraph). The introduction provides a brief road map of your assignment for the reader (e.g. briefly summarize your objectives, the writing processes or sub-sections/topics in the assignment and your key, concluding remarks).
Your emerging research question, background to your ideas and how they relate to the role(s) of educational research:

Following the introduction, include approximately 2-3 paragraphs where you briefly describe your emerging research question and the background to these ideas. Briefly explain which topic interests you as an educational researcher and describe the professional and /or personal context that has brought you to this area of research. Include your very early ideas regarding your emerging research question and a brief description of any shifts in your thinking since the beginning of the Unit. This is to orient the reader and outline the development of your thinking and any challenges you faced in relation to developing a research question, etc. Describe how your emerging research question relates to the role(s) of educational research as explored in Unit readings. At least three unit readings must be incorporated in this section (using in-text referencing, with emphasis on paraphrasing, rather than direct quotes).

Critical analysis and comparison of relevant scholarly articles
Choose 3 peer-reviewed journal articles that are relevant to your research question. Although position and theoretical articles are important in a literature review, for the purpose of this assignment you should use empirical, peer-reviewed articles (i.e. articles that rely on data or observations for the findings), that have been published within the past 10 years. Use Murdoch University Library databases and other resources such as Google Scholar to search for these suitable peer-reviewed journal articles. For this particular assignment, it is not recommended to use book chapters or dissertations (e.g. Masters or PhD theses).

Summarise each peer-reviewed article by discussing the type of research, research design, participants, limitations, advantages and other details of the study (you may want to use a who what, where, when, why and how approach). Critically review and analyse the study by discussing such items as whether the authors' conclusions were supported by the research findings, whether the research design was appropriate for the research question, whether ethics were carefully considered, etc. Finally, explain how each article relates to your research topic.

Synthesis of these research findings
After you have discussed the three articles separately, synthesise the findings from each research study by pulling out the main ideas in the articles and exploring how these ideas are related to one another. Compare and contrast the research findings of the articles. Identify any common themes or ideas and discuss any findings that are different.

Development of your research question
After analysing and synthesising the three articles, return to your emerging research question to further refine and develop your original question. Revisit your original research question and briefly explain how and why your readings have influenced your thinking about the research question. For example, has your focus shifted, has it narrowed, has it changed completely, or has it remained the same? Explain why.

Conclusion
Summarize the main points in your assignment. Add one point of reflection to inspire your audience.
Maximum word count: 2000 words