Research Methods for Education
SAGE Journal Articles
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Journal Article 1: Yeh, C., & Santagata, R. (2014). Preservice teachers’ learning to generate evidence-based hypotheses about the impact of mathematics teaching on learning. Journal of Teacher Education, 66, 21–34.
Abstract: This study examines the development of a specific sub-skill for studying and improving teaching--the generation of hypotheses about the effects of teaching on student learning. Two groups of elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) were compared: one group that attended a typical mathematics-methods course and one that attended a course integrating analysis skills for learning from teaching. Data consist of PSTs’ comments on video clips of mathematics instruction administered before and after course completion. Findings reveal that PSTs at the beginning of the program struggled to generate hypotheses with relevant evidence, often equating teacher behavior or student correct answers as evidence of student understanding. After course participation, PSTs who attended the course with integrated analysis skills significantly improved in their ability to generate hypotheses based on student evidence whereas their counterparts continued to display difficulties. Implications for teacher education and future research are considered.
Journal Article 2: Torraco, R. J. (2016). Writing integrative literature reviews. Human Resource Development Review, 15, 404–428.
Abstract: This article presents the integrative review of literature as a distinctive form of research that uses existing literature to create new knowledge. As an expansion and update of a previously published article on this topic, it reviews the growing body of literature on how to write literature reviews. The article identifies the main components of the integrative literature review, provides examples of visual representations for use in literature reviews, and describes how to write literature reviews that are integrative, definitive, and provocative. The article concludes by discussing the role of the integrative literature review in assessing future directions for policy and practice and in catalyzing further research.