Article Summary Guidelines

Article Summary Guidelines

(With a very big thank you to Dr. Overbaugh)

The purpose of the article summaries is twofold, first you will be gathering and reading papers focused on your topic early in the semester. Second, it is hoped you can use these summaries to construct your final research paper. You can copy and paste what is needed making the writing process that much easier.

This is how I approach these types of things. Read over this assignment sheet and the lit review tips carefully. As you read the article, take notes in the margin. Then, use those notes to summarize your article. If it bothers you to write on the papers, use note cards.

There are two types of articles you can read, those containing experimental (empirical) data. These articles usually have an introduction, a review of the methods and results and a discussion of these results. The other type of article contains no empirical data; these can be research reviews or descriptions of systems. Either type of article is fine. It depends on your chosen topic. In fact, you may want to read some in each category.

Before you start writing, I urge you to review the tips on writing a literature review at http://www.odu.edu/~aadcock/the%20literature%20review.htm

Article summaries are worth 3 points each (5 article summaries are due) and the final paper will be worth 10 points towards your final grade.

Submit your reviews via email or the Blackboard Digital Drop Box. Files should be a .doc or .rtf format. Use the following naming convention:

ArticleSummary[#LastName].doc

ArticleSummary[#LastName].rtf

(Don’t include the [ ] just fill in the relevant information)

Below are guidelines and a template for you to follow. Read it over carefully before you start writing.

Articles with empirical data (i.e., research based articles, quantitative research articles…)

Use the template below for your article summaries. Make sure and keep the section headings. The review may not be longer than two, double spaced pages and will be graded for succinctness, clarity, and completeness.

Reference

Complete reference in APA 5.0 style

Summary

Summarize/paraphrase the literature review and rationale for the experiment.

Design

Sample
Description of sample (groups involved; e.g., 5th grade students school, 60% free/reduced lunch) and what was measured. Below are some criteria you want to look for in your articles.

For Quantitative Studies:

Independent Variables
Characteristics of the sample (e.g., auditory and visual learners)

Dependent Variables
What is being measured (e.g., grades, time on task, absenteeism)

Treatment

Describe briefly the treatment to which the sample was subjected. You should describe the class content here.

For Qualitative Studies:

Qualitative Details and Methodology
Discuss the aspects of the study that lets the reader know why the study was conducted, the way data was gathered and organized (e.g., observation, interviews, etc.)

Analysis and Results
Summarize the results of the experiment. Make sure you include the type of statistic and the significant findings (statistics may not be used for qualitative studies, be sure to mention this)

Critical Summary

Your perceptions of the usefulness of the article. Did you like it? Why? Did you dislike it? Why? Include your personal thoughts on the reliability of the author[s] main points, first person is fine here and in the next section.

Application

Explore what you gained from the article that you can apply to online learning.

Articles with no empirical data (i.e., non-research based articles, descriptions of online learning environments without assessment of effectiveness, etc.)