LibGuides: ED-5100 v1: Module 2 Resources

Week 3 Lesson Resources

Required: Finding A Research Topic
National University Library. (2024, November 14). Finding a research topic.  
- Finding an appropriate and manageable topic can sometimes be just as hard as researching a topic. A good research topic will have a body of related research which is accessible and manageable. Identifying a topic with these characteristics at the beginning of the research process will ultimately save you time. Follow these suggestions for guiding your thinking process and search for a viable research topic.
Required: Brainstorming
National University Library. (2024, November 14). Brainstorming.   
- The best way to pick a topic is to have plenty of time to think about it very early on. To guide your thinking about identifying a potential topic, follow the suggestions offered on this page.
Required: Determining Information Needs
National University Library. (2024, November 14). Determining information needs.   
- Once you find a potential topic, you will want to determine the types of information required to meet your research needs. Review the various the topics listed on this page to learn about different types of information, and when you should be using each type.
Required: APA 7th Ed Style: Reading And Understanding Abstracts
APA Style. (2023, September 11). Apa 7th ed style: Reading and understanding abstracts.
- Abstracts are short summaries of scientific research articles. This guide will explain how understanding them not only saves time but also helps you conduct better research and write more effectively.
Required: How To Develop A Good Research Topic
KStateLibraries. (2013, August 20). How to develop a good research topic.   [Video]. YouTube. 
- Watch this 4:32 minute video to guide your thinking about how to develop a good research topic.  
Optional: Effective Internet Search: Basic Tools And Advanced Strategies
Cambridge Educational (Producer). (2011). Effective Internet search: Basic tools and advanced strategies   [Video file]. 
- This 27:38 minute video offers strategic, study-related online search methods that viewers may not be familiar with, especially if they’re accustomed to the more recreational side of the Internet. Outlining ways to formulate initial questions about a topic, the program offers examples of frequently used search engines (from Google to specialized databases) and how to take advantage of them using keywords, quotation marks, Boolean operators, nesting, wildcard and truncation symbols, and other typed-in directives.

Week 4 Lesson Resources

Required: Understanding Research In Education: Becoming A Discerning Consumer.
Perry, J. F. L., & Nichols, J. D. (2014). Understanding research in education: Becoming a discerning consumer.   Taylor & Francis Group.  
- Read Chapter 2 titled, “How to Locate Research” (pp. 20-35). This chapter shows you how you can find research studies that might provide potential answers to your questions and offers guidelines on how to distinguish between different types of published articles, and obtain the articles you need.
Required: Learn The Library
National University Library. (2024, December 12). Learn the library.   
- This guide will help familiarize you with how to use the library to conduct research, as well as introduce the general library services that are offered.
Required: APA Style 7th Edition Overview
National University Library. (2024, December 13). APA style 7th edition overview.  
- This guide contains resources to assist you in learning about APA style, and a step-by-step guide for crafting APA Style student papers.

Required: Revised Note-Taking Worksheet
Dunn, S. (n.d.). Revised note-taking worksheet. Unpublished manuscript for the use of National University. 
- Document also found in course.

Required: Writing Is Thinking
FinerThinker. (2023, January 3). Writing is Thinking.   [Video] YouTube.
- Watch this 3:00 minute video to learn how effective note-taking practices enable us to more actively engage with the material and really think about what we're learning. 
 
Optional: SIFT (The Four Moves)
 Caulfield, M. (2019, June 19). SIFT (The Four Moves) [Blog Post]. Hapgood.  
- Want to get better at sorting truth from fiction from everything in between? At applying your attention to the things that matter? At amplifying better treatments of issues, and avoiding clickbait? Since 2017, Mike Caulfield, a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, has been teaching students how how to verify claims and sources with something called SIFT - the Four Moves. This blog explains this strategy.
Optional: Enhancing Critical Thinking With The Cat Test: Check, Ask, Think
Tomaszewski, R. (2024, December 2). Enhancing critical thinking with the CAT test: Check, ask, think.   Faculty Focus.
- Read this article to find out more about the mnemonic CAT test—Check, Ask, Think (Fig. 1). This user-friendly evaluative framework is designed to empower individuals—from those engaged in academic research to those assessing everyday information—to effectively evaluate the credibility and trustworthiness of content across various media channels. 
Optional: Search Like An Expert
Northcentral University Library. (2017, October 12). Search like an expert   [video file].   
- This 9:07-minute video tutorial provides you with the essential techniques to search like an expert, including phrase searching, Boolean operators, truncation and subject searching.
 
Optional: Scholarly Vs. Peer Reviewed Journals (Old)
Northcentral University Library. (2017, October 30). Scholarly vs. peer reviewed journals (OLD)   [Video file].  
- This 7:10-minute video tutorial will review the difference between scholarly and peer reviewed journals, demonstrate how to limit search results, and demonstrate how to determine if a particular journal is peer reviewed.
 
Optional: Critical Note-Taking
University of Reading Library. (2019, August 22). Critical note-taking.   [Video]. YouTube.
- Watch this 4:43 minute video tutorial from the University of Reading Study Advice team on how to save time by taking notes in a thoughtful, efficient way, as opposed to copying out, or highlighting, lots of text.