Capstone unit assignment regarding Reconciliation in Australia.
Assessment Task 3 Systematic Literature Review Report Value: 60% Word limit: Maximum 4000 words. This is a pair assignment. The marking is based on individual contributions. HOW TO PREPARE THE ASSIGNMENT? 1. Based on the feedback received for Assessment Task 1, refine your research question, sub-questions and justification. 2. Decide on your selection criteria. As you search for articles, you may come across multiple publications of all sorts. How would you decide which articles to include in your systematic literature review and which to exclude? Selection criteria form the boundaries of the research and help you decide which articles to include in your review. Selection criteria may be of all sorts. For example, simple selection criteria may include, selecting only publications:- · in the past 10 years; · published in journals with high impact factor (leading journals); or, · which contain certain key words. More complex criteria include aspects related to theoretical frameworks; research methodologies used; type of participants; and other considerations. Think of selection criteria that are most relevant for your study. Keep them simple, with no more than two to three criteria. Your choice of criteria needs to be justifiable. The criteria should not appear as a random choice. Once you decided on selection criteria, you may proceed to search for articles, in accordance to these criteria. 3. Identify appropriate key words and search in scholarly publications. Develop your article list gradually. Begin by searching for at least five academic articles that meet your selection criteria and are related to your topic. You may wish to consult with the librarian regarding appropriate databases and using Boolean search operators to assist your search. If you are unable to find a minimum of five relevant articles, the reasons may be, because: you are not using appropriate key words; your topic hasn’t been researched; the research topic is not situated within any identifiable field of research. Under such circumstances, you may need to either change your search words or go back to Step 1, and change your research questions. Please note: Keep a record of your article searches and article summaries. 4. Your Key words might have elicited a long list of articles. The decision of whether to keep them or discard them is based on the selection criteria. The simplest way to make this decision, is by reading the abstracts. The abstracts will help you decide how well the articles are addressing the selection criteria and are relevant to your research. 5. Once you chose a list of articles to focus on, read the articles carefully. Pay attentions to their referencing of other articles that may be relevant to your research. Search for those other articles and add them to your reading list. As you read through your articles, extract any information that addresses your research questions. Also pay attention to questions such as: What are the main issues that this field is grappling with? What are the unresolved problems in this field? What do researchers tend to focus on, in the field? Remember that you can always go back and change your questions as a consequence of your growing understanding. Please note: · Your final reference list should include a minimum of 12 resources. At least 8 of the resources should be peer-reviewed academic articles published in the last 15 years. · Develop a record (may be presented as a flow chart) of the articles’ selection process. 6. Finally, organize the information in accordance to themes. Common types of organization include: (i) by research questions, where each theme provides answers to one sub-question.; (ii) from the broader issues to the more specific issues; (iii) by concepts/ideas, where each theme covers a different conceptual aspect. Critically discuss the theoretical review. Draw meanings and connections between different parts of the review. Highlight areas of ambiguity and contradictions. Focus your writing on presenting ideas and not authors. The review should not read as a string of publications’ summaries (e.g. author X said this, and author Y said this). 7. Draw conclusions. There are different approaches to writing the conclusions. Use the following questions and suggestions to think of how you may conclude your research. · To what extent were your research questions answered? · Are there any generelizations that you can draw? · What are the implications of your research to policy or theory? · Consider the strength and limitations of your research. · Describe directions for further research. · Draw recommendations for the practice. 8. Read about your chosen Cross Curriculum Priority (CCP) in the Australian Curriculum, and answer the following questions: · Explain the reason for including your chosen CCP within the curriculum and how it is viewed · Describe the three key concepts · Summarise the content knowledge addressed under the Organizing Ideas · How are the Organizing Ideas embedded within the Learning Areas? 9. Explain how the findings of your research contribute to integrating the CCP within Learning Areas for Years 9-10 (you may discuss one specific Learning Area, or the Learning Areas in general). Note: This section should not read as a repetition of the Conclusions section. 10. Structure the assignment in accordance to the sub-headings provided below. ASSIGNMENT STRUCTURE 1. Title page including: Title of project; the chosen cross-curriculum priority; students’ names; students’ IDs. 2. List of contributions. Fill in the table below by ticking off (√) aspects to which each partner contributed, and the relevant page-numbers in which the contributions appear. Contributions to Contributions by Peer 1 Name: Contribution by Peer 2 Name: Contribution Page numbers Contribution Page numbers Formulating the selection criteria Searching for articles Reading and summarising articles Writing the Introduction chapter Formulating the research questions Writing the systematic literature review Writing the conclusions Applying APA 6th addition referencing in-text Writing the Reference list 3. Introduction (approximately 500 words) The aim of the introduction is to situate the research within a research field and to justify the need for the research. Give the reader a sense of where this research is coming from. What field of research does it belong to? Describe the motivation for your research. In a few sentences explain broadly what is known about your topic and focus on what is not known. Identify the knowledge gap that your study aims to address. 4. The research question and sub-questions (approximately 100 words) Clearly articulate your research question and the sub-questions, as illustrated in the instructions for Assessment Task 1. 5. Selection Criteria (approximately 150 words) Describe your selection criteria. Clearly justify your choices for each criterion. Explain the relevancy of the criteria to your research questions and to the development of the review. 6. Systematic literature Review (approximately 5000 words) This chapter constitutes the systematic literature review. The aim is to compare studies and provide a comprehensive and exhaustive summary of current evidence relevant to your research questions. Treat the literature as your data. Critically evaluate, interpret and synthesise the literature-data to draw meanings and answers to your questions. 7. Conclusions (approximately 250 words) Describe the implications and recommendations arising from your research. 8. Implications for Cross-curriculum-priority integration within the Australian curriculum (approximately 500 words) a. Introduction explaining the reasons for including the CCP; key concepts; content knowledge within the Organizing Ideas; embedding the organizing ideas within the Learning Areas. b. Discussion of the contribution of the research findings to integrating the CCP within Learning Areas for Years 9-10. 9. References Use accurate APA 6th addition style. A minimum of 12 articles required, six of them are peer-reviewed articles published in the past 15 years. Note: Word count does not include the title page, peer contributions and references. Penalty applies for exceeding the word count limit in more than 10%. Peer- contribution must be clearly articulated. Assignments without clear identification of peer-contributions in accordance to the above table, will not be marked. Upload the assignment as a Word document. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA Criteria Value Introduction: The research is situated within a research field and it is clear where it is coming from. The motivation and justification for the research are clearly articulated. The knowledge gaps related to this study are identified. 10 The research question and sub-questions: The research questions are connected to all other parts of the study including: the Introduction, the Literature Review and the Conclusions. They provide an anchor for the study. 5 Selection criteria: Appropriate choice and justification of selection criteria. The criteria are relevant and provide appropriate boundaries for the research. 5 Systematic literature review: Critical analysis of the literature. The writing is focused. The choice of articles is appropriate. The literature review is well organised and has a good flow. The ideas are coherent and clear. The information is synthesised appropriately. 15 Conclusions: The implications and recommendations are relevant and derived from the literature review. 5 The implications of the findings for cross-curriculum-priority integration within the Australian curriculum: Appropriate summary of the CCP within the Australian Curriculum. There is clear and direct link between the systematic literature review and CCP implementation within the Australian Curriculum’s Learning Areas. Critical evaluation of the contribution of the research findings to the integration of the CCP within the Learning Areas. 10 References: Adherence to APA 6th edition style. In-text citations are accurate. Reference list is accurate and consistent with the in-text citations. Includes at least 12 articles, six of which are from peer-reviewed academic journals, published in the past 15 years. 5 Overall style of writing, adherence to sub-headings, structure and flow. 5 TOTAL 60 Penalty for exceeding the word limit. -10 4 RQ: How is Reconciliation (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relationships) addressed at schools? SubQ. 1: What are the barriers for teaching reconciliation at schools? SubQ. 2: What are the enablers for teaching reconciliation at schools? AT3: * Look at how schools have implemented RAP previously. * Has RAP been effective at schools? Student engagement about the topic and why it’s important (leading back to research question). * What could be done to improve reconciliation at schools? (eg. Invite people from the Indigenous community, celebrate National Reconciliation Week with students, etc.) *Firstly, do teachers need to educate themselves about this topic and reconciliation? Gaps in Research: 1. While there are discussions on how reconciliation is addressed in education, there are no studies which compare different ways in which it is addressed in an educational setting. 2. Although it has been revealed that most teachers were not adequately informed to teach Indigenous cultures and histories to students, there are no studies that discuss the ways teachers can truly educate themselves about the issue. 3. No research explores non-Indigenous student engagement and participation