The Literature Review

The Literature Review

A literature review is a critical survey of what others have already written on your topic. Books, journal articles, theses, government reports, sometimes credible blog posts and conference papers.

In a B.Ed. setting, the literature review is often short. You are not writing a PhD. You are gathering enough background to plan a good intervention. Even a tight review of ten to fifteen sources is enough for a classroom study.

Flashcard

What is a literature review in action research?

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Answer

A critical survey of what others have written on your topic. It tells you what has been tried, where the gaps are, and what theory frames your study. Write it as an argument, not a list.

Why do it

Five reasons. Memorize at least three.

1. You learn what others have tried. If five studies say peer feedback works in writing classes, you do not need to prove that from zero. You can build on it.
2. You avoid reinventing the wheel. Other teachers have made mistakes. The literature describes them. You can save months by reading their work.
3. You ground your study in theory. The literature gives you a theoretical frame: Vygotsky, Bloom, social learning theory, scaffolding. The frame helps you interpret your results.
4. You find your gap. Maybe lots has been written about peer feedback in primary school, but not in high schools in your context. That is your contribution.
5. You build credibility. A literature review tells the examiner that the teacher is serious. She has read. She has thought. She is not improvising.

How to do it

Start with three to five searches on Google Scholar. Use the keywords from your research question. Read the most cited papers first. Save them in a folder. Take notes as you go.

Group the notes into themes. What do most studies say? What do they disagree on? What do they not cover? Those three groups are the structure of your literature review.

Write the review as a story. Not as a list. For example (illustrative names, not real citations): “Most studies agree that peer feedback improves writing. Author A and Author B both reported gains… However, Author C found a different result, possibly because… In classrooms like yours specifically, the literature is thinner, with only…”

That is a review. It builds an argument. It is not just a catalog of papers.

Weak vs strong literature review

A weak literature review reads like this:

“Peer feedback is important. Many studies have shown that peer feedback works. It is widely used in schools. Some studies have looked at peer feedback in writing. Author A wrote a paper. Author B did a study.”

There is no argument, no theme, no gap. Each sentence stands alone.

A strong literature review reads like this:

“Studies on peer feedback in writing classes broadly converge on three findings: students who give feedback often improve their own writing, training is required for feedback to be useful, and peer feedback works less well when the writing task is short. The training-effect findings are the most consistent across studies. The interaction with task length is the least studied area, and that is the gap my Grade 8 essay-introduction study will speak to.”

The same body of literature, organized as an argument. The reader knows what is settled, what is contested, and where this study fits.

Citation honesty

Three rules hold every literature review together. Break any one of them and the rest of your study is suspect.

1. Do not invent sources or quotations.
2. Do not cite a source you have not read.
3. Keep a clean reference list, with full details for every source you mention.

A short reference list at the end of your study is more honest than a long one with citations you cannot defend.

Flashcard

Literature review is not a list. What is it?

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Answer

An organised argument about what is known, disputed, and missing. Group the sources by theme. Show where studies agree, where they disagree, and what no one has yet answered. That gap is where your study fits.