EnvironMentors Literature Review Overview ……………………………………………………. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the Literature Review is to enable students to collect background information on their project. The Literature Review will be developed through two activities. First, students will create an Annotated Bibliography of literature and web resources on their project topic. Second, students will write a research paper based on the information they obtained from books, journals, magazines, and websites. BACKGROUND: When initiating background research students must be able to distinguish between a credible source and a non-credible source. The following section includes information on the distinctions between credible and noncredible information. Teachers, coordinators, and mentors should continue to help students distinguish between credible websites, journals, articles, and books. Factors mentors should remind students to look for include: author, copyright information, date last updated (timely), organization’s reputation, and article database reputation. Developing and completing the Annotated Bibliography and Background Research Paper is often challenging for our students. The outline and framework for the Background Research Paper is clearly presented in the following section. Writing skills are often not well developed making this a particularly important time for mentors to work very closely with their students. 2. Identify at least three books, professional journals, or magazine articles related to their project topic. 3. Identify at least three “primary source” Web sites related to their project topic.
4. Properly cite each source. (http://healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/styleg uides/apa.html gives an excellent summary of standard citation formats for a variety of sources.) 5. Prepare a summary of 100-200 words for each literature and web source. 6. Compile a short research paper based on literature and web resources. *** Teachers will have different page length requirements based on grade and skill levels of students. Mentors, please be sure you are clear on the page length requirement for your student. Suggested Rubric Total Value = 10 possible points (2 pts. each) To what extent does the student: Include three primary literature sources and 3 web sites Provide a proper citation for each source. Include a clear and concise summary of the book or article using 100-200 words. Develop a coherent paper on the project topic based on background information from his/her literature and web sources. Used proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling to communicate in a clear and concise manner. ACTIVITIES: 1. Review with students the following Library and Internet Research Skills information. This review will cover primary and secondary sources of information, proper citations of sources, and provides sample annotated bibliography sections.