Identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature; and suggest the next step or steps in solving the problem.”

Submit an introductory literature review that would be similar to the introduction of the manuscript for a research paper. This will provide a conceptual overview of a topic of your choice (related to learning and motivation), synthesizing for the reader what research has been previously conducted on the topic, what theoretical frameworks have guided this work, what is currently known about the topic and what is not (yet) known. This paper should NOT be a simple listing of previous studies that have been conducted and what was done in those studies. Instead, you should build a story about what the status of current knowledge is on your topic based on your scholarly examination of the literature; YOUR VOICE and YOUR SYNTHESIS of the literature on this topic as an author must be clear in this literature review.
Submit a rough draft of the introductory literature review. It should be at least 7-10 pages and include references to at least 10 peer-reviewed journal articles that report on original studies that have been conducted (not secondary sources).
Some writing tips:
1. Every journal article begins with a literature review. Model yours after one from this class or a previous class you’ve taken that you found easy to read.
2. Do not begin paragraphs by mentioning a study or authors. Start paragraphs with a thought, important point you want to make, or a question that you will address in that paragraph.
3. Keep your focus narrow–select a small number of variables that are related to the topic you’ve selected and review the research that has been conducted to study the impact of those variables on your topic. You want to aim for scholarly depth rather than comprehensive breadth. This will help you with #4 below.
4. Your literature review should end with a statement of critical research questions that are of interest to you, and two or more specific hypotheses that you one might design a study to test.
5. Review the evaluation rubric before you turn in your paper to make sure you have hit all of the expected elements.
Note: *A scholarly journal article is one that has been peer reviewed. An original research article includes the first time report of a research study or studies the author(s) conducted including methodology, results and discussion. If your article does not have a Methods section, it is not the right type of article for this assignment. If you’re not sure about the article you have selected, please ask your instructor.
According to the APA manual (p. 10),
“Literature reviews are critical evaluations of material that has already been published. By organizing, integrating,and evaluating previously published material, authors of literature reviews consider the progress of research toward clarifying a problem. In a sense, literature reviews are tutorials, in that authors define and clarify the problem; summarize previous investigations to inform the reader of the state of research; identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature; and suggest the next step or steps in solving the problem.”
Be sure to use APA style, including appropriate grammar, spelling, and mechanics, as well as citations and references.