Organizing the Lit Review

"Don't agonize. Organize." Florynce Kennedy


One the things that might seem most difficult about writing your LR is figuring out how to put it all together. Sometimes looking at papers that are already complete isn't very helpful because it doesn't tell you the thought process that got it there. I'm going to try to give you an abbreviated narrative example of what the thought process might look like.


Sally has chosen the topic of differentiation for her literature review. She has gathered and read many articles and books on the topic and has found that several themes emerged in her reading that she would like to focus on in her LR: the benefits of using differentiation, the challenges of using differentiation, and models for implementing differentiation in the math classroom.


Now that she has her themes, she is going to look back at her research and decide which pieces of research she will use to support each theme. Sally wants to make sure that she has a few pieces of research that she can use for each theme, as well as some for the introduction and conclusion. As she sorts the research, she is going to highlight specific passages or quotes that she might like to include in her paper.

As she begins to write her paper, she starts with the introduction. This is the part of the paper where she will tell the reader what she is going to tell them. She decides to start with the definition of differentiation and a discussion of the history of differentiation (when it started to become popular, who did the seminal research, and how it is evolving still today through guided math.) She then introduces the main themes that she will be addressing in the body of her paper: the benefits of differentiation, the challenges of differentiation, and models for implementing it in the classroom.

Now it's time to tell the reader what she wants them to know. She devotes a couple of pages to each of the themes, citing research as she goes along, and transitioning between the topics.

Finally, it is time for her to wrap up her paper by telling the reader what she has told them. She will summarize the information on the three main themes she chose and then will finish with a discussion that is a bit more personal. She will explain what she has drawn from the research and may even talk about where the research in differentiation may go next. Finally, she will end with how she will use her new learning in her math classroom.

I hope this example has helped. So, don't agonize. Organize. And ask questions!