How to Write A Literature Review in Action Research A Simplified Thematic Approach

     Teachers conduct action research with the goal of improving teaching and learning. The first step is to identify the problem and construct the research question(s). The next step is the literature review. The purpose of the literature review is to know what other people have said about the problem identified and the solution. The literature refers to relevant peer-reviewed articles that will help in identifying and locating information and evidence materials for best practice solutions and interventions. The articles can include grey literature which are materials and research produced by associations or organizations since they are, likewise, appropriate resources. The articles selected will be evaluated and synthesized under a thematic heading to develop the paragraphs forming the body of the literature review. 

Searching for Appropriate Scholarly Materials 

          Research through the university library and/or data bases like Google Scholar, ProQuest, Ebsco, etc. using keywords taken from your research question to refine your research to only related materials including books, articles, dissertations, thesis, and conference proceedings. 

Examples of keywords from my research question “How will Freckle help improve the 6th grade performance in ELA and Math?” are: Intervention, use of technology, what is Freckle? Freckle reviews, studies in Freckle, Student Performance (in) ELA, or Math. To not lose time, I scan through the material and/or read the abstract first to see if I can use it. 

Themes 

For each of the articles you selected, identify and analyze the information related to your selected topics. Look for recurring ideas or patterns like causes of problems, best practice solutions and intervention. Keep an eye on methodologies, action research design, data collection, and gaps in literature. 

For example, I identified my six themes, namely: What is Freckle? Studies on Freckle, Interventions and Purpose, Intervention Strategies, Benefits of technology, and Community Reviews on Freckles. 

Synthesize  

Using the themes, synthesize or combine related articles into paragraphs to make up the body of the literature review. Next is to present these ideas in order according to your purpose. I found the Inverted Pyramid concept of presentation immensely helpful. It can be pictured as a triangle pointing downward or an upside-down pyramid, so the themes are presented from broad to specific. Because Freckle is a software or app that the school has already adopted and started to implement in school, I want to know if it will help improve the performance of the 6th grade students in ELA and Math. So, following the Inverted Pyramid concept, I arranged my themes from broad to specific as follows: 

 

Inverted Pyramid Concept

Outline of Literature Review 

These are the steps I followed when I submitted my literature review in my action research class at ACE (American College of Education).  

1. Introduction 

2. Review of Current Literature 

3. Gaps in the Literature 

4. Summary and Conclusions 

Title and Introduction 

The title Literature Review is bold and centered. There is no heading for Introduction. Just start with an introductory sentence on the topic that hooks the reader, restate the problem in the study verbatim, restate the purpose of the study verbatim, introduce the best-practice solution (s) and intervention (s) identified in the literature, and introduce the major sections of the literature review. 

Review of Current Literature 

The title Review of Current Literature is bold and centered. Gather information from 5-6 peer-reviewed research articles within the past 5 years, Discuss the articles as a group (1-2) paragraphs and synthesize the articles by combining ideas from multiple articles under themes. Use a heading to designate each theme (bold and flush left). Include best- practice solution (s) and intervention (s) appropriate to the problem, issue, concern or need as a theme) 

In my review of current literature, as I mentioned earlier, what helped me get organized and coherent was my use of the inverted pyramid concept to present my review and findings. For example, I started with the first heading “Intervention and Purpose” where I defined “Intervention,” its purpose, and the targeted math and reading skills. Next are the “Intervention Strategies,” the use of direct, explicit systematic instruction, providing differentiated instruction and the continuous monitoring of progress and providing plenty of feedback, of teachers teaching reading strategies (rereading, summarizing main ideas, self-monitoring, reflecting), and math strategies (math facts, problem solving strategies like looking for patterns, clue words, estimating, drawing, using formulas) and reteaching students in diverse ways the missing knowledge in small groups or using technology. Under the heading “Benefits of Technology” I said technology enhances student engagement and interaction, offers new learning techniques, and boosts productivity and creativity. Teachers use technology as an instructional tool and through the app can collect data and provide feedback for students to improve and receive differentiated instruction to accommodate their individual learning styles. Technology is an effective tool for intervention and through the apps, teachers can give diagnostic assessments to the students, get results, and assign individual work to do. 

This led me to my main entry “What is Freckle?” an online platform or app aligned to ELA and Math Common Core Standards and allows students to practice ELA and Math at their own level. It has all the components of an effective Math intervention which include explicit instruction, repetitive and cumulative training in mathematical concepts, immediate feedback, and early reward, and individualized, self-paced learning. It is well designed and fully grounded. Under the heading “Studies in Freckle” four studies were examined. The first study in SY 2020-2021 involved 200,000 students from 891 schools whose yearly growth was measured using historical data. Research findings showed that in Math, the students with no Freckle app use, dropped in performance. Students with moderate use of Freckle experienced less learning loss, and students using Freckle for over 100 days avoided the Covid Slide, which means that their performance was about as expected. The second study in SY 2021-2022 involved 550,000 students who use Freckle and compared to 450,000 who did not use Freckle. The results showed that student growth in both ELA and Math was higher with Freckle users compared to non-users. The third study was done in a rural school in northwest Iowa with the school experiencing teacher shortage, so it turned to technology mediated intervention for intervention. The researcher undertook a study comparing Freckle intervention to teacher directed intervention and found both effective for raising students’ performance with Freckle being less effective for students that have trouble with self-directed instruction. The fourth study, set in California, Freckle was shown to have positive impact to access in Math. 120 students liked to use Freckle and after practicing for one semester, they increased their Math Star score by 0.25 grade level bringing the average up from third to fifth grade level. The first three studies used quantitative methods of research while the last study used both quantitative and qualitative or mixed-research methods and design. 

In the last section “Community Reviews on Freckle,” Freckle was given an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars scoring 4 stars in engagement, 4 stars in pedagogy, and 5 stars in support. Of the 71 respondents, 66 scored the app 4-5 stars. 

I ended my review of current literature with a statement that “Based on my review of intervention strategies, the use of technology for intervention, the features of Freckle, the four studies on Freckle, and the favorable community review, Freckle is the best fit technology for intervention.” 

Gaps in the Literature 

The title Gaps in Literature is bold and flush left. Include information that is missing and could be included in your study. 

For example, in my case, I want to see more study on the impact of Freckle on ELA and a comparative study of Freckle with other software or app in ELA and Math. Which software or app is better? And what is the best way to use these software or apps? 

Summary and Conclusions 

The title Summary and Conclusions is bold and flush left. Conclude the literature review with an explanation of how your action research proposal relates to the literature. Include the best practice or intervention that will be added in the research proposal. Pull together ideas of what is known, what you still need to find out, and the need for your study. Recap the themes and major findings from 5-6 articles.

In my case, I said that after I finished with my review of current literature, I concluded that Freckle is a good intervention tool and will help increase the 6th grade skills in ELA and Math. The literature review has also led me to select the mixed methodology for my research methodology. To find students’ growth, I will collect data from Freckle of students’ Beginning of the Year (BOY), Middle of the Year (MOY), and End of the Year (EOY) tests. I will, also, conduct surveys, make, and record my own observations, interview my co-teachers and students to find their perceptions and experiences with Freckles. The themes in my literature review were  presented in this sequence 1. Intervention and Purpose, and 2. Integration Strategies, 3. Benefits of Technology 4, What is Freckle? 5. Studies on Freckle, and 6. Community Reviews on Freckle. This approach, using the Inverted Pyramid concept, has enabled me to determine or predict the answers to my research questions of “Will Freckle help improve the 6th grade performance in ELA and Math?” and “How will Freckle help improve the 6th grade performance in ELA and Math?” After reviewing the current literature, I predicted a positive outcome for my study.