Critique Assignment
Background | Article to Review | Requirements | Scoring Rubric
Critique of a research article highlights the "anatomy" of a research design and its related parts. Such information will help you in preparing the various parts of the research proposal assignment as well as giving some basic skills for reading and consuming research reports in educational literature. Not everything reported as "research" is necessarily valid or trustworthy, particularly on the internet. There is "good and bad" research out there and to competently evaluate such sources, it is important to understand the major components of the research process and some of the basic criteria. Two of the most common problems are the lack of validity and reliability data about the tools or instruments used to collect data from subjects and the unbiased selection and assignment of subjects. Although you would not be expected to evaluate all aspects of a given research investigation, particularly one with overly sophisticated statistical procedures, there are a number of basic "weaknesses" or shortcomings that can be identified and questioned. Chapter 22 in the text, although not part of the formal content in the course, offers an excellent outline of components and criteria useful for critiquing.
The article, "Effect of Interactive Multimedia on the Achievement of 10th Grade Biology Students" is the assigned research article for your critique. The article appears in Gay, beginning on page 528 in your text.
Use these criteria for preparing the article critique assignment. Be brief, but specific. Answer the item or question—do not "shotgun" reply( which means writing down everything that you know and hoping to hit the target!). If there are certain terms unknown to you, please search the index/glossary in the text for these. If these explanations are not helpful, contact your instructor with questions.
Considering the types of Quantitative Approaches to research discussed in Chapter 1, identify this study in one of these classifications. a. Explain why you chose that category.
Describe the purpose of this study by finishing this lead in: “The purpose of this study was to determine whether……………………………….”.
State the major research question being asked in the study. Is the question appropriate (consistent with) to the purpose of the study? a.) Why/Why Not?
Is the rationale or importance of the study clearly and specifically described.? b.) Does it target specific audiences (groups) who would want/need to know these results?"
Identify the independent variable and its factors. a.) Identify the dependent variable and its specific measure, including the scale of measurement.
State the hypothesis of the study. a.) Is it a research or null hypothesis? b.) Explain why you think it does or does not clearly and specifically state expected differences or relationships.
Identify and briefly describe the Limitations (if any) of the study. a.) Delimitations?
Explain why or why not the review of literature provided enough background information for you to understand the nature of the study, including the related problem and issues?
Describe who are the subjects for the study, including the size of the population and sample(s).
Explain how the subjects were selected and grouped?
Is the size of the sample sufficient for the study? a.) Explain.
Describe the method used to collect data and the related measurement tools. a.) Explain why/why not the data are appropriate for testing the hypothesis?
What data/information did the authors provide about the reliability and/or validity of the measurement tool(s)?
What was the purpose of the teacher questionnaire?
Briefly describe these results of the study as follows, in your own words:
a. The differences in posttest scores among those in the control and experimental groups.
b. The differences in previous science grades.
c. Any gender differences?
d. Is the authors’ hypothesis supported? Explain.
16. Are the conclusions of the study related to the hypothesis? Explain.
17. Describe any potential "ethical" problems or issues found in the study?
Rubric for Critique Assignment
For a score of between 100 and
93:
The critiqued addressed ALL questions and related items clearly,
completely, specifically and substantively. It is well written and summarized
with very few grammatical, mechanical, spelling and usage errors and is written
exclusively in the student’s words, with little or no quoting, restating or
listing of the authors’ works, except where appropriate.
For a score
between 92-83:
The critique addressed the GREAT MAJORITY of questions
and items and for the greater part, was written clearly, completely,
specifically and substantively, with only a minimal level of generalization, and
with very few incomplete replies . It is well written and summarized with few
mechanical, spelling, grammatical, and usage errors. It is primarily written in
the student’s words with little quoting, restating or listing of the author’s
work, except where appropriate.
For a score between 82 and
72:
The critique addressed MOST of the questions and items and for
the most part these were clearly, completely, specifically, and substantively
addressed. It is written satisfactorily but has a fair amount of generalization,
incomplete response and grammatical, spelling, mechanical and usage errors. It
is written for the most part in the student’s words but has some unnecessary
quoting, restating or listing of the author’s works, except where
appropriate.
For a score between 71 and 60:
The critique is
incomplete throughout and has not addressed the majority of the questions;
related items and replies too often are too general and succinct, lacking
substantive content and understanding. There are far too many grammatical,
mechanical, spelling, and usage errors and the composition is primarily stated
per the author’s works.
For a score of < 60:
The
critique lacks sufficient preparation and is very deficient in regard to
addressing and understanding the content requirements of the assignment. The
great majority of the questions and items are addressed superficially and
lacking substance and specificity. Writing is ineffective throughout with a
great many mechanical, grammatical, spelling and usage errors. It simply did not
meet the expectations of the assignment.
For a score of
0
Critiqued not submitted as assigned.
Marshall University Graduate
College
EDF 621-E Educational Research and Writing