JOURNAL ARTICLES REVIEW
Read and review three journal articles (research studies) on a topic of interest to you in the field of child development. *All three articles MUST relate to the SAME topic. Journal articles must be research based. This means they must discuss the data collected, report their findings, etc. Possible topics include effects of video games/technology on the brain, fetal alcohol syndrome, ADHD, mental health issues in childhood, prenatal drug exposure, nutrition, child abuse, birth order, bonding, self-esteem, blended families, effects of television, effects of child care on children’s development, school readiness, children of divorce, learning disabilities, importance of play, discipline, cross-cultural child rearing, etc. This is not an exhaustive list but rather represents a broad spectrum of possibilities. If you are uncertain whether a topic is appropriate, please send me a message with your idea and I will get right back to you.
Please try to use the Delta Library resources available to you either online or in person to gather research for this project. Popular magazines (People, Cosmo, etc.) and newspaper articles are NOT research studies and will be disallowed. This is intended to be a research-based assignment using the library. Please use this link to access the Delta Library:
http://library.deltacollege.edu
Another resource you may wish to consult is Google Scholar. http://www.scholar.google.com
Your review must include the following information which will be written up as three separate entities (you will complete Part I for EACH of the three articles) but submitted in one assignment into the portal:
Part I
A. Bibliographic information for each article: Title, journal name, volume, date of publication, pages numbers or web site (points will be deducted for incomplete information. If you review an article and the required information is not available, i.e. no author’s name, indicate that the information is not available).
B. A brief summary of each article. (Retyping the abstract if the article has an abstract is NOT acceptable. Use your own words).
C. Type of research (Was it a case study, a naturalistic observation, a survey, an experiment, etc? If the type of research conducted is not evident, indicate so and then give it your best guess).
D. Purpose of each of the articles
E. Population studied in each article (Infant, toddlers, preschoolers, school age children parents of infants, etc?)
F. Conclusions presented in the article (not your personal conclusions about the article).
Part II
Critique of the three articles reviewed (Part II is only done once):
A. Compare AND contrast the results of the three articles. Were they consistent with each other? If not, how did they differ? What was the reason for the differences, in your opinion? Thoughtful, objective critiques are expected. This section must be at least three fully developed paragraphs in length since you are comparing and contrasting the results of three articles. Points will be deducted for a short comparing/contrasting section of the review.
B. *Do you feel that these articles would be valuable for parents, teachers, or child caregivers to read? Why or why not? Would you recommend them? (Please, no snow jobs. If you felt they were valuable, say so. If not, say so. Your grade is not based on whether or not you agree with me or anyone else and one of the purposes of this assignment is to learn that a lot of good stuff is out there and that a lot of junk is out there).
C. *What value did you derive from reading these articles? Note: When summarizing and citing the conclusions of the articles, you must present information in your own words. Many times I have read student reviews that state "the results of our research indicate…" Hmm… did the student really conduct the research? I think not! Use your words and resist the temptation to copy from journal articles and research reports, aka plagiarism. Plagiarists get zeros.
Your journal article review should be at least 1000 words in length and points will be deducted for incorrect spelling and grammar.