Your analysis of the 5 elements form the body of your paper, while your purpose, to critique the article by analyzing its strengths and weaknesses, is stated in the introduction.

All research articles contain these 5 elements, in this order, generally:

1. Research question/problem, and generally, the author’s purpose for writing the article
2. Literature review and/or a theoretical/conceptual foundation
3. Methodology: data collection and data analysis section
4. Results or findings
5. Discussion or implications

Download the assigned article. Look for the elements and mark them, if that is helpful, and reflect on what you read, thinking of how you would analyze each part’s strengths and weaknesses. What is unclear? What is unanswered? What more would you have liked to know?

Because reading and analyzing journal articles may be new territory for you, a few points about this article might be helpful:

1. The research question and purpose are located early in the introduction. (Note: while all articles have an introduction, it is not usually labeled, as such.)
2. While not called conceptual framework, the section titled “The Concept of Reflection in Learning” actually is that, while the literature review is called “The Uses of Learning Journals.”
3. What is usually called “Methodology” is called “Research Methods.”
4. The results or findings in this article are quite long and contain a number of subheadings.
5. The discussion/implications section is broken into 2 parts in this article called “Implications and Conclusions,” though you could put them under a single heading.

Assignment Directions:

Submit a double-spaced, four- to five-page paper in a Word file with the following parts:

• A title page that contains your critique’s title and related information (See APA manual, 6th ed., p. 41). Page 2, at the top, should contain the paper’s title again centered
•  An introductory paragraph that states the author’s last name, date, and the central focus of the article. Then, in this same paragraph, write a purpose or thesis statement—that is, your purpose or intent in writing this critique (the “what”) and a brief “map” for “preview” statement of the 5 elements you intend to develop in the body to support your purpose. Do not title this section “Introduction.”
• A body that breaks the 5 elements of a research article into “level two” headers, starting the first sentence of each paragraph with a topic sentence that focuses on the strengths and/or weaknesses of that element. Be sure to support each point with evidence from the article, using quotes or paraphrases, for example (see the chapter “Crediting Sources” in the APA manual for more instruction on this topic).
• A conclusion that restates your purpose and summarizes the article’s overall strengths and weaknesses. You might also discuss briefly what you learned from this article and in what ways you found it interesting or useful to do this first article critique.

Other requirements:

• Include a reference page, fully citing the article, using APA guidelines (see the “Reference Examples” chapter in the APA manual for more instruction on this topic) and other chapters as needed for editorial style, expression of ideas, and format of text.
• Then, finally, consider these points:
  • Use direct quotes sparingly, cite accurately, use quotation marks appropriately, etc.
  • For any paraphrases, be sure to give credit to the author.
  • Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.