Questions for the Readings

As you read the articles, think about the following questions and make some brief notes.  If a particular question does not apply to a given article, just put N/A for "not applicable."

1.  Is this a research article, a "think piece," a survey article, or something else?

2.  What did you learn from the article, e.g., a new concept, a new theoretical framework, some new empirical facts, something else, not much?

3.  Is there anything in the article that you disagree with and would like to question or challenge?  Give some reasons/evidence for you disagreement.  This can be from personal experience (but keep this brief -- classes are not bull sessions).

4.  Do you know of other papers that speak to the same topic?  Does the article suggest any (further) studies that could be made?

For research articles,

5.  What was the research question(s)?

6.  What was the answer(s) or partial answer(s)?

7.  What evidence (data) was provided to back up the answer(s)?

8.  How was this evidence (data) gathered, i.e., what was the methodology of the study?  Does it seem appropriate?

9.  How was the analysis of the data done?  Does the analysis seem adequate?

10.  Are there implications for teaching in the article?  What are they?  Are these actually based upon the study or upon the literature reviewed in the paper?

11.  Was there a theoretical framework?  If so, was it appropriate?  Did its use aid in understanding the results? 

12.  Do you have questions about the meaning of any of the words?

13.  To what degree is the study "generalizable"?  That is, to what degree is there enough information about the students for you to feel you could tell whether some other students are very similar?

14.  Was the evidence (whether or not it supports the conclusions) presented in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand way?  Consider both the words and the tables/figures.