After reviewing the following instructions, read, summarize, and critique the attached article.

In Week 1 and Week 2 students began to learn the basics of APA Style. In Week 3 students transition from learning basic APA Style formatting to learning the basics of reading and writing about scholarly research. Students will critique many articles throughout their program; therefore, the skills addressed in this assignment are important to learn.  Your ability to critique a research article will improve considerable over time as you learn more about research methods and statistics. Focus on quality by limiting unnecessary “filler” information (the stuff many freshmen do in an undergraduate program).  Be very direct, factual, logical, and clear.

Assignment Instructions:
For this assignment, include the following: 1) cover page, 2) introduction, 3) two main sections (use section headings) including a summary (e.g., background, methods, results) and an article critique (e.g., strengths, limitations), 4) a conclusion (use a section heading), and 5) a references list (separate page).  Attached is an example of how your article critique might look.  We encourage you to save the attached example to your Learner Toolbox.

This paper should be two pages long.  Students are encouraged to review the Grading Rubric to better understand the exact criteria they will be graded on.

NOTE: Students new to research may be challenged with understanding how to critique an article and what to include in their critique.  To help you understand what information to include, review the attached example, as well as search the internet for other resources that might help you.  This is good practice as you will encounter many topics and activities unfamiliar to you during your graduate program.

References

Rakes, G. C., & Dunn, K. E. (2010). The impact of online graduate students’ motivation and self-regulation on academic procrastination. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 9(1), 78-93.