In this course, you will be required to create an annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography is comprised a preliminary list of sources you intend to use in your final work. As the name implies, each source is "annotated"; this annotation outlines how the source is relevant to one's research question/topic.
Each entry in your annotated bibliography should consist of an APA reference list entry citation and a short annotation that outlines relevant details from the source. Avoid merely summarizing the source - only include details that are relevant to your own research or otherwise noteworthy.
The following sample annotations are based on the following research question: How do different instructional approaches in research methods courses influence students' perceptions of the value of research?
Crowe, J. A., Silva, T., & Ceresola, R. (2015). The effect of peer review on student learning outcomes in a research methods course. Teaching Sociology, 43(3), 201-213. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X15578033
This study uses a quasi-experimental design to examine the impact of in-class peer review on student learning outcomes in a quantitative research methods course. The authors compared grades for individual assignments and the final course grade in two sections that incorporated peer review and two sections that did not. Although I do not plan to employ a quasi-experimental design, the justification for their research protocols provide ample insight for my own design which will also be looking at different instructional methods. What was most interesting about this study was that no significant differences were observed in final grades or overall learning outcomes between the two groups. The authors suggest that peer review might benefit early-stage assignments in research methods courses but caution that it may not significantly improve final outcomes. This finding helped me move away from focusing too much on grades as a measure and towards perception of the value of the learning. The perception of value is especially important given SAIT's emphasis on applied learning.
Wishkoski, R., Meter, D. J., Tulane, S., King, M. Q., Butler, K., & Woodland, L. A. (2022). Student attitudes toward research in an undergraduate social science research methods course. Higher Education Pedagogies, 7(1), 20-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/23752696.2022.2072362
The authors of this study used a mixed-methods longitudinal design to investigate changes in undergraduate social science students’ attitudes toward research in a required research methods course for both face-to-face and online sections. The authors used existing scales to measure anxiety, perception of relevance, attitudes towards research, and disinterest. The qualitative data came from responses to open-ended questions related to each of the previous measures. This design provided me with valuable ideas for my own research, particularly the scales for perceptions of relevance and attitudes towards research, as well as the incorporation of qualitative data collection. Results indicate that while anxiety generally decreased and positive attitudes increased over the semester, there was significant variation between different sections of the course, with online sections demonstrating more change from the start to the end of the semester. For my own study, I will account for this by either including more sections of face-to-face and online or by only focusing on one modality. Despite this potential limitation in the authors' design, the findings offer valuable insights into how different instructional methods can influence students' perceptions of the value of research, making this source directly relevant to exploring the impact of teaching approaches in research methods courses.
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