Writing a research article Christian Spannagel University of Education Heidelberg...

Writing a research article

Christian SpannagelUniversity of Education Heidelberg

[email protected]://cspannagel.wordpress.com

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Overview

• Structuring a research article• Style• Layout• Referring and quoting• References• Further aspects

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Structuring a research article: IMRaD

• Introduction• Method• Results• and• Discussion

Important!

For further instructions have a look at:„Regulamento académico para os cursos de graduação e de mestrado“, Maputo 2010, Apêndice II

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IMRaD

• Abstract• Introduction• Theory• Experiment

– Method– Results– and– Discussion

• Conclusion and Future Work

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Introduction

• Motivating the research question• Theory and empirical work: findings of

others• Specify research question and/or hypotheses• ends sometimes with an overview over the

sections of the article

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Method

• subjects: who? How many?• Experimental design• Dependent and independent variables• describe questionnaires used• Procedure• mention statistical methods used

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Results

• Only the pure results– Results of statistical tests– Diagrams

• NO INTERPRETATION at this point

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Discussion

• What do the results mean?• Are the hypotheses confirmed or rejected?• Possible interpretations?• Limitations of the study

– Think of internal and external validity!

• Conclusions and further work– Which questions have not been answered?– Are there any more questions? How could they be

answered?– Ideas for further studies

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Style

• Write short sentences which are easy to understand.

• Avoid repetitive formulations.• In many scientific communities, the words

„I“ and „we“ should not be used in articles.

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Wheeler‘s Rules of Writing (extract)

• Motivate! Motivate! Motivate!• Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!• The power of the present• The power of the active• Put the key word first (or early in the

sentence)• Rhetorical rule of threes• Appeal to experiment and logic (and not to

the professions)

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Layout

• Margem, fonte, …: see „Regulamento académico para os cursos de graduação e de mestrado“, Maputo 2010, Apêndice II

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Referring and quoting (APA style)

• Refer to literature you have used!• Examples:

– Short-term memory is limited in capacity (Miller, 1956).

– Short-term memory is limited in capacity (Miller, 1956; Chandler & Sweller, 1991).

– Miller (1956) found that short-term memory is limited in capacity.

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• Refer to literature you have used!• Examples:

– Short-term memory is limited in capacity (Miller, 1956).

– Short-term memory is limited in capacity (Miller, 1956; Chandler & Sweller, 1991).

– Miller (1956) found that short-term memory is limited in capacity.

• NOT:– Miller (Miller, 1956) found that short-term memory is limited in

capacity.– Miller found that short-term memory is limited in capacity (Miller,

1956).

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• Number of authors >2 and <6:– First mention: all authors

(Mandl, Gruber & Renkl, 2002)– Then only the first with „et al.“

(Mandl et al., 2002)

• Number of authors >= 6– only with „et al.“, also the first time mentioning

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References and quoting (APA style)

• The „&“ only in references in brackets, not in the text– Situated learning belongs to constructivist

theories (Mandl, Gruber & Renkl, 2002).– But:

Mandl, Gruber and Renkl (2002) state that situated learning belongs to constructivist theories.

• Two references with the same name(s) and year:– (Salomon, 1993a)– (Salomon, 1993b)

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Refering or quoting?

• Only quote really important statements with the original words of the author; otherwise just refer to him with your own words.

• Quoting:– Original text in quotation marks– Author, year AND page number(s)!

• Example for quoting:– “Pure discovery did not work in the 1960s, it did not

work in the 1970s, and it did not work in the 1980s, so after these three strikes, there is little reason to believe that pure discovery will somehow work today.” (Mayer, 2004, p. 18)

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Refer to primary sources!

• Example 1:Miller refers to Jones in a book.Don‘t refer to Miller if you could refer to Jones! (or, at least to both)But: Also READ Jones!

• Example 2: Miller says „all aliens are green“ and refers to Jones („all aliens from Mars are green“) and to Smith („all aliens from Jupiter are green“)– If you want to say „All aliens are green“, refer to Miller.– If you want to say „All aliens from Mars are green“, refer to

Jones. (but NOT without reading Jones!)

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Plagiarism is forbidden!

• Don‘t copy & paste!• Quote (using original words) or refer to

(using your own words)• Always mention the original authors!• Scientific writing means refering to ALL

sources you have used.

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References: APA style

• Book:– Horton, W. & Horton, K. (2003). E-learning tools

and technologies. Indianapolis: Wiley.– Niegemann, H. M., Hessel, S., Hochscheid-Mauel,

D., Aslanski, K., Deimann, M. & Kreuzberger, G. (2004). Kompendium E-Learning. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer.

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• Edited Book:– Dempsey, J. V. & Sales, G. C. (eds.) (1993).

Interactive instruction and feedback. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

– Salomon, G. (ed.) (1993). Distributed cognitions. Psychological and educational considerations. New York: Cambridge University Press.

• Article in an edited book:– Shuell, T. (1996). Teaching and learning in a

classroom context. In D.C. Berliner & R. Calfee (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (pp. 726–764). New York: Macmillan.

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• Journal article:– Chandler, P. (2004). The crucial role of cognitive

processes in the design of dynamic visualizations. Learning and Instruction, 14, 353–357.

– Ertmer, P. A., Evenbeck, E., Cennamo, K. S. & Lehman, J. D. (1994). Enhancing self-efficacy for computer technologies through the use of positive classroom experiences. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(3), 45–62.

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• Article in proceedings:– Plaisant, C., Kang, H. & Schneiderman, B. (2003).

Helping users get started with visual interfaces: multilayered interfaces, integrated initial guidance and video demonstrations. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Crete, Greece, June 22–27, 2003. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 790–794.

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• Resource in the web:– Spannagel, C. (2010). Wikipedia als Quelle?

http://cspannagel.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/wikipediaals-quelle-2/ (Last accessed on 31th Jan. 2010).

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References: regulamento style

• CEIA, Carlos. Normas para apresentação de trabalhos científicos. 2. ed. Lisboa, Editorial Presença, 1997.

• DUARTE, Stela, DIAS, Hildizina e CHERINDA, Marcos (orgs.). Formação de professores em Moçambique: resgatar o passado, realizar o presente e perspectivar o futuro. Maputo, EDUCAR, 2009.

• SEVERINO, Antônio. Metodologia do trabalho científico. 21. ed. rev. e ampl. S. Paulo, Cortez Editora, 2000.

„Regulamento académico para os cursos de graduação e de mestrado“, Maputo 2010, Apêndice II

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References: Important!

• Only refer to sources in the text which are listed in the references section.

• Only add literature to the references section you have referred to in the text!

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Further aspects

• Let someone proofread your article before supervision

• Double-check the references, the list of figures, the list of tables, …

• Think of copyrights and licenses!– Some pictures in the internet are free or

published with a free license (Creative Commons, …)

– Many pictures are not free!• Ask the author or• don‘t use it.

Writing a research article Christian Spannagel University of Education Heidelberg...

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