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Faculty Toolkit for Research Paper Alternatives

Literature Reviews

A literature review is designed to summarize, synthesize, and discuss the current state of knowledge about a topic. Students review books, articles, and other sources of information pertinent to their research topic to critically analyze and synthesize prior research to inform their own research question.

Assignment: review literature on a specific topic related to your course during a set period of time.

Objective: provides students the opportunity to engage with the scholarship.

Sample assignment

Infographic with the three benefits of a literature review for students

 

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Literature Reviews:

  1. Synthesize information across disciplines and domain knowledge
  2. Often they require students to seek out primary documents and report on substantive findings
  3. Familiarize students with theoretical and methodological approaches in scholarly thought
 

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