If You Give a Student a Literature Review...

...chances are, the student is going to need a village!

Have you ever read the famous "If You Give..." series by Laura Numeroff? They follow a pattern of "if ..., then ..." and at the end of the grand adventure, the story ends just as it begins.

This literature review assignment reminds me very much of that cycle. I found myself reading so many different articles and books, that led me to wanting to read more articles and more books, that led me to wondering and thinking about more possibilities, that led me to having wonderful conversations with others, that led me to some more deep thoughts, that led me to more writing, that led me right back to reading so many different articles!

Additionally, when I sat down to type out my thoughts in a formal APA Literature Review, I discovered that it is WAY too easy to slip into an argumentative essay style. My collaborative learning group member was the first to realize it, after offering to proof my paper. The benefit of being taught in a blended learning environment is I could go back to the lesson, rewatch the video, look again at the posted examples, and then reach out to my colleagues for feedback and accountability. After I had the opportunity to get some feedback, checked where my misconceptions were, review some new learning, etc., that cycle then repeated itself again with APA formatting. (Side Note: Who knew there were so many tiny nuances in APA? Who chose APA as the style to write in? Hmm...I am going to have to do some more reading.) I was thankful, once again, for my collaborative learning group where we share resources and have created a culture that is communicative, supportive, and constructive- wanting all members to be successful to the best of our abilities.

This amazing opportunity was afforded to me by the learning environment our instructor intentionally designed. Without the social support of the learning environment being established with our groups, I would have failed this assignment because I would have realized too late that I had an argumentative essay. Without technology, I wouldn't have been able to communicate with them or collaboratively edit in real-time with commenting. The feedback would have been summative in nature. Without the blended learning environment, I would not have had such an easy time relearning and correcting my misconceptions. I would have had to find and verify my own resources. This is just one small illustration of the benefits of digital learning applied with purpose. I was able to grow in competence and confidence, through some frustrations and challenges, and still manage to feel like I am capable and successful in my learning and understanding of the purpose of a literature review. That APA formatting, on the other hand, let's just say I'm making progress!

Book Referenced:

Numeroff, L. J., & Bond, F. (2022). If you give A mouse A cookie. Laura Geringer Book, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.