ENGL 097 English Express (Moore)

For students in Julie Moore's English 97

Find Research & Theory on Education

Find Research and Theory on your Education Topic 

Search in library databases to find scholarly articles. This is the same tool you used to find magazine and newspaper articles.

  • Limit to peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles to find scholarly sources. By the way, be sure to still assess if it's a scholarly article. (For example, scholarly journals contain book reviews of scholarly texts. These are not scholarly articles.)

  • To find the most relevant articles, you will need to consider many more. Try multiple keywords and search different databases.

  • Focus primarily on the introduction and discussion/conclusion sections of a scholarly article. That's where they will layout where the scholarship in the field stands, what the article will set out to do, and what the authors learned and didn't learn. 

Type in relevant keywords to find useful sources. Try a range of words!

  • Example: cultural values AND education

One Search - of all Library Databases

Education Databases

Sample Search in ERIC: International Students AND support

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Search in ERIC for international students AND support

Sample Source: "Navigating a Third Space to Support International Students in the U.S."

Abstract:

The present article explores the experiences of two international graduate students who studied in the United States and how they dealt with the challenges of living in a new country. The researcher was inspired by Bhabha's (1994) third space theory and aimed to investigate how these students tried to create a space for themselves in the classroom to overcome cultural differences. The data has been collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed using Gee's (2011) discourse analysis method. The study concluded that providing international students with a designated space in the classroom to address their cultural challenges could greatly benefit them, and teachers can actively facilitate this space.

Multidisciplinary Library Databases

Google Scholar Search

Sample Search Limited to Scholarly Journal Articles in Academic Search Complete

Limiting to academic journals in Ebsco's Academic Search Complete database

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screenshot of the search results, highlighting the filters to use to limit by source type

Higher Education Research Institutes

Find Academic Books

Use the Holman Library One Search to find books on your education and /or cultural focus. 

Note that you cannot check a box for peer-reviewed sources to limit to scholarly books. You need to judge each book individually. Is this an in-depth, academic study and discussion? 

Search Tips

Library databases do not use natural language. Learn how to be an effective researcher! Use search language:

  • AND to connect key ideas and to narrow and focus your search, You get fewer and more relevant results with AND.

    • Example: education AND culture

  • OR to broaden your search with synonyms and related words.

    • Example: "higher education" OR college OR university

  • TRUNCATION or an * (hit the shift key and the number 8 simultaneously) to use the root of a word to find multiple forms of the word.

    • Example: immigra* = immigration OR immigrants

Other search tips:

  •  Add one search term at a time, so you understand what works and what doesn't.
  • Keep searches simple using keywords to capture core ideas. Search on ethics AND medical care AND immigrants rather than: Do immigrant communities receive an adequate standard of health care?
  • Use a variety of search words to find different perspectives and information.
  • Be flexible and persistent!