Reference no: EM132651382

Part 1: Dissecting a Research Article

Locate a peer-reviewed article related to early childhood development - a topic of interest to you, such as music and cognitive development. The article should be no older than 5 to 7 years.

A good place to search is the college database or Google Scholar. Peer-reviewed articles, also called scholarly sources, are written by experts in a field and written to keep others interested in that field up to date on the most recent research, findings, and news (see Module 1 Learning Objects).

Dissect the research article, paraphrasing the material found related to:

Purpose or hypothesis of the study

What the author(s) hoped to find

Issue being researched

Other research done on the topic

Theorists or theories used as a framework for the study

How participants were found or recruited

Demographics of the participants

Summary of the discussion and conclusions (the main points you took away from the reading)

Limitations

Recommendations for further research

Part 2: Dissecting a Popular Article

Locate an article in the popular media on the same topic as the research article.

A popular media article is not found in a scholarly journal. These are articles you would find in a magazine you can purchase at the book or grocery store; something online at sites such as The Huffington Post, CNN, or a parenting or teacher website. A rule of thumb: if the article does not have scholarly resources, it is considered popular media.

Compare and contrast the two articles. In the comparison and contrast, complete the following:

Synopsis of each article

Explanation of how the articles are the same

Explanation of the differences between the two (be specific). (For example, is one article more credible than the other? What makes this so?)

How comparing and contrasting the articles affects your feelings about and understanding of the topic

How each article applies to work in early childhood education