Writing a Scientific Research Paper
Project Team
Alynn N. Tongrod, Ekaterina Bodarenko, Ummay U. Shegupta, Ezzedeen Shahada, Cafer Bakac, Andres Cardona, Dennis A. Rivera
Supervisors and course
Prof. Dr. Maria Bannert, TUM Medienzentrum (Elvira Schulze), RTL WS16/17
About the project
The project used a MOOC focusing on writing a theoretical framework to support graduate students pursuing a Master in Research on Teaching and Learning (RTL). Benefiting from a MOOC’s connective nature in a distance learning environment, this project included the criteria for selecting the platform, the activities developed, and the storyboard used for the realisation of the aforementioned MOOC.
Project overview
We designed a MOOC course that aimed to help learners understand the formation of a theoretical framework from the very core concept of a theory through conducting their own literature review and write a theoretical framework of a research study. To this end, our MOOC was divided into 3 sessions. The first session aims to describe what a theoretical framework is and its role in a scientific paper. The purpose of session two is to introduce the six steps for writing a theoretical framework and provide specific examples about how to do in-text citation in APA format. Finally, the third session provides additional recommendations to revise and edit the theoretical background; this section also aims to assess the students´ learning through peer-reviewed activities. Each session includes guided explanations, examples, and activities that would afford learners the opportunity to apply their knowledge as they progress through the sessions. Their progress would be fed through quizzes designed to let learners test their knowledge. Here, peer-review tasks will also play an important role for an objective feedback that would also connect learners to personal working networks.
The MOOC we designed about writing a theoretical framework includes activities that allow students to work independently (via video lectures), engage in collaborative working environments (via online forums or discussion boards), receive feedback by peers on their work (through peer-reviewed feedback), receive grades and feedbacks on the content that they are supposed to learn (through quizzes and surveys), and further their understanding of the content via wikis.
Example of MOOC
