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.: Dissertation Area: Literature Review

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Literature Review

Carl Nattrass

University of Durham
Department of Computer Science
30 – 60 pages
A comprehensive and up to date review of literature in the area. Adequate critical analysis. At the end, present an authoritative statement of the state of the art, including outstanding research and how yours fits in.
 
Table of Contents

1	Introduction – an introduction to the sections of the litrev	3
2	How Students Undertake Research on the Web – An examination of the nature of student studying style and methods. We need to consider the methodology behind the learning.	4
3	The Role of the Web within Teaching and Learning – this section aims to identify the role of the Web within the target area. We need to look at what is currently being used and what is available but not being used – we need to define why some roles are successfully filled while others not. We need to look into relevant studies and research. We do not want to look into future developments and possibilities here	5
4	Web Browsing Tools – this section needs to establish the whats (what tools) and the whys (why they are or are not successfull). identify key tools available for web research, and ascertain their successes and failures.	6
5	Technologies behind the Tools – in this section we need to examine the technologies behind the above tools and how they were used in context. We do not wish to suggest their suitability to our project. We do not wish to pre-empt future tools.	7
6	Summary – Finally, we need to conclude with a summary of our findings and how our research will benefit it.	8
7	References	9
8	Bibliography	10

1	Introduction – an introduction to the sections of the litrev
This literature review examines some of the available literature regarding the locating of relevant educational material on the Web, and how technology can enhance these learning experiences. To begin, the review discusses the current methods that many students employ when browsing the Web for research material. The sources of information and the tools that are widely used by students taking part in learning activities are also considered. This leads the literature review into considering the role that the Web has within the learning and teaching process. Both the benefits and the problems of using the Web as an educational tool are investigated, and consideration is given to whether reliance on the Web is damaging to students ability to undertake serious research activities. Following on from this, an investigation illustrates the abundance of technologies available and considers their lack of successes in mainstream education. Despite that fact that technology has improved exponentially over the last few years, research in Web assisted education has lagged behind and the net result is that students still rely on the plodding technology of search engines to locate their study material. Despite this, there are tools available to students, but their uptake is poor; these tools are reviewed and the reasons behind the poor uptake are considered. From there, the review leads into an examination of the technologies behind these tools, highlighting those which offer the most potential.
Finally, further research proposals are provided which suggest how to make the most of these technologies, along with a short summary of the findings of this literature review.

2	Students and their Research on the Web – An examination of the nature of student studying style and methods. We need to consider the methodology behind the learning.
   
 
3	The Role of the Web within Teaching and Learning – this section aims to identify the role of the Web within the target area. We need to look at what is currently being used and what is available but not being used – we need to define why some roles are successfully filled while others not. We need to look into relevant studies and research. We do not want to look into future developments and possibilities here

Grimes et al. [GRIM01] developed a set of criterion for evaluating the quality of Web resources; 
1)	Authorship. Authors should be identified with credentials evident.
2)	Currency. Dates should be provided for each source, and sources should be timely.
3)	Recommendations. It should be evident that sources should have been through some form of review process.
4)	Perspective. Biases and affiliations should be in evidence.
5)	Audience. Intended audiences should be in evidence.
6)	Style and Tone. Style and tone should be appropriate to research papers.
7)	Quality of Content. Content should be timely, documented, verifiable and accurate.
8)	Organisation of Information. Resources should be well organised and easy to follow and use.
9)	Publisher, Source, Host. The Publisher, Source and Host should be in evidence for the user.
10)	Stability of Information. The Web sites and information stored in them should be relatively stable over time.

Grimes study considered the gap between the quality of Web resources expected by academics and the reality; they found that Web resources when located on academic Web-sites generally fulfilled the evaluation criteria, whereas those taken from non-academic sources fell below that expected.

Grimes found that librarians have a role to play in student guidance; advising them of good quality web sites and encouraging the use of electronic resources.   
4	Web Browsing Tools – this section needs to establish the whats (what tools) and the whys (why they are or are not successfull). identify key tools available for web research, and ascertain their successes and failures. 
 
5	Technologies behind the Tools – in this section we need to examine the technologies behind the above tools and how they were used in context. We do not wish to suggest their suitability to our project. We do not wish to pre-empt future tools.
 
6	Summary – Finally, we need to conclude with a summary of our findings and how our research will benefit it.
 
7	References
[GRIM01]	Grimes D., Boening C., Worries with the Web: A look at Student Use of Web Resources, College & Research Libraries, v62 n1 p11-23 Jan, 2001

8	Bibliography

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