According to Onwuegbuzie & Frels (2016), literature review is the most appropriate way of familiarizing oneself with previous findings and research methodology used in previous research. While writing a literature review, a researcher has to ensure that, certain steps are followed. One of the most significant steps is choosing a working topic such as “Effect of Smart Learning on Higher Education” (Galvn & Glvan, 2017). Such a topic is an interesting area of study, and will provide a starting point in coming up with a credible and meaningful research paper. With the emergence of technology, it has become of essence to incorporate the same in higher education. Expectedly, researchers have developed interest in this field, to determine the impact it has on higher education. For that reason, the researcher has to implement literature review for this research by ensuring scholarly and credible sources on the mentioned topic are summarized in an organized way, and synthesized appropriately. The following discussion will focus on the way a researcher would implement literature review for “Effect of Smart Learning on Higher Education.”
In view of the identified topic, the first thing for the researcher is to read as many literatures as possible regarding the impact of technology on education. When it comes to actual writing, the researcher has to begin by showing what has already been researched by previous researchers. In other words, the literature has to demonstrate the current thinking on the impacts smart learning has shown on higher education (Onwuegbuzie & Frels, 2016). By so doing, the researcher is simply evaluating research what has been previously conducted on the chosen topic. One has to ensure to remain objective and avoid including personal opinions. The summary and analysis on the sources identified should be accurate and complete. In the case on the chosen topic, the sources chosen for literature review should be relevant to it. In the same vein, while choosing the sources, the researcher should avoid some outdated and old sources. In other words, the sources should contain updated and latest developments on the impact of smart learning on higher education (Onwuegbuzie & Frels, 2016).
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To ensure proper implementation of the literature review, the researcher is supposed to evaluate and summarize all the sources. This is an important step as it allows one to summarize the significant ideas in the sources appropriate in meeting the needs of the literature review purpose. In this case, relevant sources on impacts smart learning has on higher education will have to be considered. While doing so, the researcher gets a chance to identify the information gaps in the sources, and any questions that the sources have not addressed appropriately (Onwuegbuzie & Frels, 2016). Considering that some individuals in the targeted audience might have not been privy to the area of research, the review should be organized properly to accommodate them. The literature should be in a straightforward language that makes it easy to comprehend. Interested parties should read it and identify with the effects that smart learning has had on higher education (Galvn & Glvan, 2017).
A literature review on the chosen topic should begin with an introduction, which contains a statement that will provide guidance on the central insight on the synthesis. With the use of research questions, the central insight message should be in a way that it connects the chosen sources with the information synthesized on the way smart learning has transformed higher education (Galvn & Glvan, 2017). The literature review body should be well organized to support the idea that technology has impacted education in colleges and universities. In the case of our topic, the literature review will be organized using main ideas. For instance, the major points may revolve around improvement on academic performance, motivating learners, and making learning interesting among others. The researcher should ensure every paragraph begins with phrase that captures the major idea (Galvn & Glvan, 2017). A paragraph is supposed to contain information from numerous chosen sources, depicting patterns, differences or similarities between them. The conclusion part of the review should aim at reminding the readers of the significant themes the researcher has found regarding effects of smart learning in higher education.
Lastly, while implementing the literature review on the topic under scrutiny, the researcher should strive to analyze and evaluate the identified sources. One should deviate from writing descriptions, as that only shows the research lacks a guiding concept. For instance, in the view of the topic on impacts smart learning has on higher education, the topic sentences in each paragraph should serve as summaries of the major points (Galvn & Glvan, 2017). In other words, by reading them, the reader should feel they are clearly positioned and developed logically from the start to the end. The literature review should avoid common mistake of describing how a certain research was conducted, and instead, assume an analytical approach (Fink, 2013).
In overall, implementing a literature review on a topic such as “Effect of Smart Learning on Higher Education” is a daunting task. It demands assuming an analytical approach, in a bid to synthesize the relevant information in the identified sources. The paragraphs should be organized systematically, and each should contain similarities, differences and patterns of the identified sources. By so doing, the reader gets a unique perspective on what researchers have found out, regarding the impacts of smart learning in colleges and universities.
References
Fink, A. (2013). Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. 4 th Ed. New York, NY: SAGE Publications
Galvn, J.L. & Glvan, M. C. (2017). Writing Literature Reviews: A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis
Onwuegbuzie, A. J. & Frels, R. (2016). Seven Steps to a Comprehensive Literature Review: A Multimodal and Cultural Approach. New York, NY: SAGE
