Annotated Bibliography

EDUC 703

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: INSTRUCTIONS

Assignment Description

Collect six articles from peer-reviewed academic, professional journals. Articles are to be on topics as outlined below. All six articles are to be new to you, meaning that you have not used them in any previous assignments in this or another course. Annotate each article in a paragraph or two of at least 300 words. The annotation is to include a brief summary of key ideas in the article and a sentence or two of critical analysis. The critical analysis must be through the lens of course textbooks, video presentations, and/or biblical principles. Cite sources accordingly. After annotating the six articles, write a 200-word statement synthesizing the information. One of the purposes of this assignment is to prepare you to write your final Philosophical Model Analysis. As such, a final aspect of the assignment will be a preliminary thesis statement for that upcoming assignment.

Specific Guidelines

ARTICLE TOPICS: Your articles will be collected in two sets of three each. For the first set of three articles, you will select articles related to an educational thinker from the Gutek textbook that aligns closely with your personal beliefs about education. This individual’s ideas should resonate with you more strongly than any of the others you have studied so far in this course. You need not fully embrace all of the individual’s ideas, and you may certainly have points of disagreement. Overall, however, you should be drawn to this individual’s philosophy of education more so than any others in the Gutek textbook. To clarify, all three articles in this first set should be on the topic of the same educational thinker. For the second set of three articles, you will select articles related to an educational thinker from the Gutek textbook that represents ideas to which you are opposed. This educational thinker should be in a different philosophical camp than the first one you selected for your first set of articles. (For example, if your first set of articles is on John Dewey, your second set should not be on Jane Addams because she is in the same progressive camp. A better selection for your second set of articles would be Aquinas or Bagley because they are from opposing philosophical camps than Dewey. See the chart at the bottom of these directions for guidance if you are confused by this.) Though you may agree with and support some of the ideas or actions of this second educational thinker, there is a key element that you reject—something that is antithetical to your own core values or philosophy of education. All three articles in the second set will be on the topic of this same second educational thinker.

LENGTH: The total assignment is to be at least 2,000 words in length. This does not count the title page or the references themselves. Each of the six annotations is to be at least 300 words in length, and the final synthesis is to be at least 200 words.

STRUCTURE: Download the Annotated Bibliography Assignment template from Blackboard; you may enter your information into the template. The format requires the components listed below:

• Title Page

EDUC 703

• Annotated Bibliography: six articles listed in current APA reference format; under each article, a paragraph of at least 300 words will be inserted for the annotation.

• Synthesis: paragraph of at least 200 words. • Preliminary Thesis Statement: one or two sentences proposing a thesis for the

upcoming Philosophical Model Analysis assignment. • References: a page listing sources other than the articles themselves, which are

already listed in current APA reference format in the annotated bibliography section above. This reference list will include Gutek (2011), worldview articles, video presentations, and any other sources you choose to include in your annotations.

DATABASES: Click on this link to explore Liberty University online library resources. Search scholarly journals. The six articles must be from professional, academic journals. Avoid searching for articles using generic search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.

SUMMARY: This assignment will be submitted via a plagiarism tool, so be careful to summarize the material using your own words. Do not copy the abstract of the articles as this would be considered plagiarism.

ANALYSIS: Though the analysis portion may be brief, it is to be more than just a simple personal opinion. It is to apply other sources as a lens for the critical analysis. For instance, every analysis should cite at least one other source, which may be current course textbooks, video presentations, and/or biblical principles. Cite in current APA format accordingly.

SYNTHESIS: Under the sixth annotation, enter the heading “Synthesis.” Write a statement of at least 200 words. The synthesis is not like an abstract or a comprehensive summary. It is to be based your own conclusions after having considered the ideas of your two selected educational thinkers as presented in the six articles and also as presented in your course textbook(s), video presentations, etc. The synthesis should address how your own ideas have been impacted by these two educational thinkers. How have your ideas changed? What has been affirmed? Also, what implications do you see for current educational trends?

PRELIMINARY THESIS STATEMENT: At the bottom of the assignment, under the synthesis statement, enter the heading “Preliminary Thesis Statement.” Write one or two sentences that you anticipate may serve as the thesis statement to your upcoming Philosophical Model Analysis assignment. You are encouraged to read the instructions to the Philosophical Model Analysis prior to proposing your preliminary thesis statement. Focus on philosophy and not educational practice. Do not address specific instructional practice or the learning environment in this thesis statement. That may be discussed later in the body of your Philosophical Model Analysis to support and illustrate your thesis statement. Here are some suggestions for your preliminary thesis statement:

• Address the purpose and outcome of education rather than its process or practice. • Consider the long-range impact education should make on individuals and on

society.

EDUC 703

• What knowledge is most worth learning and why? • What values are most worth teaching and why? • Based on observations of society, what outcome should education have on

society? The above suggestions are not offered as a formula for you to follow. Most importantly they are presented to help you avoid the most common error in the upcoming Philosophical Model Analysis, which is to focus on instructional practice rather than on philosophical ideas. Because instructional practice should flow out of philosophical beliefs, you are to start with a preliminary thesis statement that addresses philosophy. Avoid first-person pronouns as much as possible. To do this, think in terms of ought and should and write in third-person plural as much as possible.

REFERENCES: Insert a reference list of all the sources you included in the analysis section of your annotations. You need not repeat the references for the annotated bibliography articles themselves. Here, you are citing the sources you used as a lens in your analysis of those articles.

Submit the Annotated Bibliography by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of Module 5: Week 5.

Examples of Philosophic Categories

It is often difficult to apply philosophical labels to individuals. Labels, however, assist in understanding, comparing, and analyzing the ideas people hold. Keep in mind that the labels below are only approximations to assist in understanding which educational thinkers may be similar and which ones may hold opposing philosophical positions. The list below is only a partial list of thinkers addressed in this course. These examples were selected because of the relative ease in applying a label.

Educational Thinkers Philosophical Label Some of these are approximations.

Addams, Jane Progressivism Aquinas Scholasticism; Realism Aristotle Realism Bagley, William Chandler Essentialism; Traditionalism Comenius, Johann Amos Pansophism; Realism Dewey, John Pragmatism; Progressivism Du Bois, W.E.B. Social Reconstructionism Erasmus, Desiderius Idealism; Humanism Freire, Paulo Critical Pedagogy; Liberation Education Gandhi, Mohandas Social Reconstructionism; Critical

Pedagogy; Liberation Education Mill, John Stuart Utilitarianism Owen, Robert Utopianism; Socialism Plato Idealism Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Naturalism; Romanticism

EDUC 703

Spencer, Herbert Social Darwinism