It is also important to critique the research that has been completed as a part of the literature review of any research project.  Becoming a critical consumer of research can help you apply the research results in ways that are meaningful and useful to you.  This, in turn, can help you become a more effective practitioner.

A final purpose of this assignment is to survey a wide assortment of current (hot) research studies. While you may critique a study of any age in real life, we will apply this assignment to this additional course goal.

Choosing the Study

The research study you choose should fit these criteria:

• It should truly be a research study.  The study should have a research question or hypothesis, data, results, and conclusion.
• It should be very recent - 2007 or 2008. This helps us address the goal of graduating with an understanding of current research.
  
• It can be about any topic that is somehow relevant to school library practice*.  You need not limit yourself to typical school library topics, however, because most educational topics relate. We need to know about the hottest new findings in all subject areas, brain research, school reform, even childhood health.  If you can see a connection, the study will probably work.
• If the study relates somehow to your major research project for this class, that is all the better.
  

*If you are not in the SLM track, please use the professional context that is most relevant to you.

Guidelines for the Critiques

Read your article. Jot down any initial reactions you might have.

Next, use a tool to help you evaluate the article. One tool is the Checklist at the end of Leedy & Ormrod (2004), Chapter 1. The list of questions below comes from an earlier edition of this same book. Jot down ideas related to those questions.

Next, begin composing your critique.  I strongly recommend that you use these headings: Summary, Strengths, Weaknesses, Personal Relevance. Feel free to embroider or adapt, but having these major 4 sections will help structure your critique.  Spend no more than one paragraph on the Summary.

We will share these critiques for the benefit of all. 
 
 

It can be intimidating to criticize a published research study.  However, no research study is perfect.  Only by repeating similar studies over time can knowledge be truly established. Notice that you will be discussing strengths along with weaknesses. In the end, the usefulness of a study is judged by how well the strengths balance the weaknesses, and how applicable a study is to the reader's context.

I highly recommend that you recruit a colleague to proofread all of your written work!  This is one of those assignments where mechanics are very important.

Submission Format
It is acceptable to provide your critique in outline or bulleted form, as long as your thoughts are complete.  It is possible to satisfy all the requirements for this assignment in one page of bulleted text or two pages for expository writing.  However, there are no penalties for going beyond these parameters.

Prepare a Word document with these characteristics:

• If you use narrative, it should be double spaced, 12-point font, with numbered pages. 
• If you use an outline, use 12-point font, single spacing with blank lines between sections.
• Provide the rubric at the end of the document with your self-assessment.
• Capture everything in a single document.\
• No prints, please.
  
• Use MAF's filenaming rules.
  

Post your critique in 2 electronic modes:

1. Post to your assignment page, and send link to the Critique Assignment Manager (Andy P.)
   
2. Submit to the WebCT dropbox (within your class) set up for this purpose. One file, please.  Name in this pattern: