Chapter two
Literature Review (starting a new page)
Discuss the literature but it is not necessary to go into exhaustive
depth. Assume that the reader has some knowledge in the field.
A review of earlier work provides an appropriate review of the secondary
research and recognizes the priority of the work of others to the
work you are doing. You must cite work that you refer to in your
paper. The purpose of a literature review is to show where the work
you are doing is going to fit in with the work others have done
in the same subject. Nothing is created in a vacuum. Make sure that
the reader understands the importance of your project in relation
to work undertaken by others.
The reader is
not impressed that you explain EVERY type of instructional multimedia
or EVERY developmental psychologist. You need to be concise. You
can discuss developmental psychologists, learning theories and type
of instructional multimedia together. You need to review the literature
so that your work is understood in the context of what has gone
before.
This is where
you can also include reviews other multimedia work out there that
is targeted to your user group. Do NOT depend on your own critical
analysis, but rather review and cite published critiques of the
work if you can find them. There are published reviews of multimedia
work out there. Do not use reviews that you find in Amazon. Those
reviews are not written by experts in the field. You should also
include screen captures of the artefact being critiqued. This is
NOT critical to your review of the literature. But if you find expert
reviews of educational multimedia work, this is where you would
include it.
Close this chapter
by stating the purpose and rationale of your work and how it fits
in with the literature.
After you have
introduced the problem and developed the background material, you
are in a position to tell what you did/will do.
Again... tips:
DONT QUOTE... learn to paraphrase and reference material. Quoting
text just means that you're really good at copying out of a book
or off the web. Learning how to interpret other's research is critical
to your understanding of how to apply that knowledge. You do, however,
reference the information since it is not yours.
This chapter
should be able to be written in approximately 1500-2500 words.
I'm not impressed that you decide to turn in 100+ pages of a
'Literature Review'. You are not writing a Ph.D. dissertation here!
I'm also serious that you should be able to write this chapter in
approximately 1500-2500 words. If you find that yours is longer,
then you need to review and delete. |