Road Map for Literature Review

I did an assignment last year, writing a literature review. I was hoping it would be the literature review for my thesis which I was to do as well, but the topic didn't come in time. I was similarly confused. I didn't know whether the literature review should come first or the topic should come first. So I did the literature review with a very broad scope. Our goal was to find the gap. I thought that if I found the gap, I would have found my topic.

To my horror, I did not discover a topical gap, a methodological gap I did, but not a topical gap. I remember that episode with fear and trembling. I remember spending most of my time analyzing that I had very little time to write and I wrote like a guy seeking a treasure without a map, hoping with each paragraph that I would find my treasure. There was so argument, I simply described the landscape.

This time round, here I am! I have a topic with me now. And I want to start with my road map.

"Guideline 3: Create a topic outline that traces your "argument."
Like any other kind of essay, the review should first establish for the reader the line of argumentation you will follow (this is called the thesis in composition classes). This can be stated in the form of an assertion, a contention or a proposition; then, the writer should develop a traceable narrative that demonstrates that the line of argumentation is worthwhile and justified. This means that the writer should have formed judgments about the topic based on the analysis and synthesis of the research literature.
The topic outline should be designed as a kind of road map of the argument... Then the introduction is followed by a systematic review of the relevant areas of the research literature and ends with a conclusion that relates back to the original assertion." (p. 51) - Writing Literature Reviews by Jose L. Galvan

The Author's Voice

I generally prefer reading more personal voices in technical academic writings, but did notice that only the big shots dared to write in that style. It's also more personal for qualitative research than quantitative research. My supervisor told me to write more formally after looking at my Chapter 1. So here, I'm convincing myself of why I should, so I convinced myself once and for all, and I will not have that debate every time I type a sentence.

"A writer's voice, when preparing a literature review, should be formal because that is what the academic context dictates. The traditional voice in scientific writing dictates that the writer de-emphasize himself or herself in order to focus the readers' attention on the content." (p. 49)

That makes very much sense. It's an act of confidence and humility, to tell others to look at what I'm writing, consider it, and decide yourself whether you can trust it. Don't look at me, look at what I have done. "De-emphasizing myself". Yes, I can do that in my writing. Direct attention not to my voice, but use my voice to direct attention to evidence and arguments.

"Notice that academic writers tend to avoid using the first person. Instead, they let the "facts" and arguments speak for themselves." (p. 50)

Quotes taken from first edition of "Writing Literature Reviews" by Jose L. Galvan. Published by Pyrczak Publishing.

The Art of Facilitation

The art of facilitation is to invite voices into the conversation and steer them towards knowledge discovery and concept building. 

For a teacher, the challenge of facilitation is how to incorporate 30 voices into this conversation? Teachers have developed different techniques to cope with this need. 

Firstly, teachers can let students share their opinions one by one, of course limited to a few more vocal students because time doesn't allow.

Secondly, teachers can try to consolidate voices so that more can be heard. Many use the written form, either using google document, butcher paper, or the whiteboard. Usually voices are grouped to come up with a refined combined voice, after grouping, if all voices speak during group time, during class time, all voices are heard. 

The teacher has to inject his or her voice to guide the direction of the conversation. Using their knowledge, their sense of what students know and do not know, and their passion for building student knowledge and understanding up, they guide student learning.