East Zone Research Monograph Educators who are currently involved in PLC or any educational research study are strongly encouraged to publish your work in our research monograph. For assistance, you can sign up for our AR workshops and project consultations or the Lesson Study Research Modules. Year 2013 Paper Submission Deadlines Submission Deadlines Stage 1 April 2012 opens Stage 2 April to Aug 2012 Stage 3 Dec 2012 Stage 4 Jan 2013 - May 2013 Stage 5 June 2013 Stage 6 Sept 2013 Research Paper Online Registration for EZ Monograph III research paper submission opens Submission of Abstract (first draft) Submission of Research Paper-1 st Draft (Vetted by author(s) RO/HOD/VP before submission) Final Draft to be vetted by EZ Research Centre EXCO Authors received email confirmation of final paper ready for publication Publication of Research Monograph. Online publication of abstract. 1
Guidelines to the Writing of Research Papers 1 Title of Paper Title - 16pt Times New Roman font; Not more than 10 12 well chosen key words. Headers & Name & School Name - 12pt font Research title, research activist name and school name should be aligned page centered. Everything else should be page justified. 2 Authors List all authors full name without Mr, Mrs, Ms, etc ; married female authors should use their maiden surname/names. 3 School Name Include full name of school below author list. School name to be italicized. 4 Email Contact No necessity for email address and school address or telephone number. 5 Abstract Should be between 100 to 250 words. Please provide 3 to 5 keywords to facilitate keyword searches. 6 Content Format A4 size pages of Times New Roman Font 11. 7 Section 1- Introduction This section should not be too long relative to the other sections and especially bearing in mind the need to keep full paper (excluding annex) to 6 to 8 pages. This section gives an overview of the research study and can include: Research Goals: Can take the form of AR research questions or LS Goals, research lesson objectives. Context (current situation) Analysis. Literature Review/evidence to support the rationale of your choice of research goals. Descriptions to the highlighted sections below are some suggestions for your paper. Variations to the format and subtitles are possible, subject to approval by our Research Centre upon submission of first draft. 8 Section 2- Research Methodology This section should explain the rationale for the choice of research methodology. Include the background information of the target research group (students, teachers). Describe the process of your research methodology in this section. For lesson study research, a summary of the planned curriculum and description of how each stage of the lesson study cycle is carried out, as well as a rationale for the design should be included. 9 Section 3 Data Analysis This section examines the data collected from the research study and the extent for which the data/evidence collected support the research questions/goals. Data can take the form of qualitative and/or quantitative data collected from pilot test of the research initiative. You should include the use of suitable data analysis research instrument in carrying out the analysis and present your data analysis findings in the paper. For lesson study research project, this section includes post- lesson research and discussions, pre- and post-test data comparison analysis and the implications. Implications from extracted research lesson transcripts or excerpts of student interaction or teacher-student dialogue can be included. However, detailed transcripts will preferably be included in appendix. 2
10 Section 4- Conclusion This final section is the outcome analysis of your project and includes implications from the research study and/or reflections. It can also include the following: - learning points/personal reflections from the research project - applications & reflections by teachers and/or students - discussion of the implication/impact of the research study for educators. (e.g., how it has affected teachers professional development in terms of teaching pedagogies and content knowledge) 11 Writing Preferences Quantities at the beginning of a sentence should be spelt in full at the beginning of the sentence e.g. Thirty eight pupils were selected for... rather than 38 pupils were selected for... For reference to third party in the paper, use she instead of he as conformation to international research paper format. Actual name of students should not be mentioned explicitly in the paper. All tables, diagrams and pictures should be clearly numbered and given a clear title, placed below the table/diagram/picture. Examples: Table 1: Examples of students mistakes and their remarks Figure 4: Sample students work Do not use Footnote. Refer to references if possible. Please do not submit papers showing the tracking of changes in the word document. Page numbers must all be centre page aligned. 12 References The term for the bibliography should be consistent: the term used will be "References". All references quoted should be listed in the Reference List in alphabetical order using the APA format (See below on details of APA format). References and Acknowledgements must start on a fresh page with a page break. References must come before Acknowledgements. 13 Acknowledgement Include Acknowledgements if necessary. 14 Appendix Appendix can include your detailed lesson plans, observation records, survey forms, survey results, etc. 15 File Tile for submission The title of the soft copy file should include the following terms: - Name of School (in short form) - Title of paper (extracted short form) - Date of submission Example of file title: - East View Pri_Model Drawing_8 April Submit file in MS Word Document (Compatible for MS Office 2003). Email softcopy to moe_researchez@moe.edu.sg by the stipulated deadlines. 3
Guide to Writing REFERENCES References made should be clearly defined. Your paper should close with a reference list showing authors in alphabetical order. Details of Reference list A reference list provides publication information for the sources that are actually referred to within a document. All references quoted must be listed in the Reference List in alphabetical order using the APA format (See below) How to write References 1. Print Book Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year published). Book title. Location: Publisher. E.g. Sturrock, P. (1999). The UFO enigma: A new review of the physical evidence. New York: Warner Books. 2. Journal Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year published). Title of paper. Title of Journal in italic, volume number, page number. E.g. Hitt Espinosa, F. (1977) Researching a Problem of Convergence with Mathematica. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 28 N05, pp.697-706. 3. Electronic Book Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year published). Book title. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx E.g. Schiraldi, G. R. (2001). The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook: A guide to healing, recovery, and growth [Adobe Digital Editions version]. doi:10.1036/0071393722 4. Newspaper Article Author, A. A. (Year, Month day published). Title of article. Newspaper Title, page numbers. E.g. Buggs, S. (2001, December 18). Texas lawmaker to introduce bill to protect employee savings. Houston Chronicle, p.a1. 5. Online Newspaper Article Author, A. A. (Year, Month day published). Title of article. Newspaper title. Retrieved from http://xxx.xxxxxxx.xxx E.g., Cooper, H. (2009, August 23). U.S. military says its force in Afghanistan is insufficient. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com 6. Website Author's last name, initials. (Year published). Title of page in italic. Retrieved from http://xxx.xxxxx.xxx on (date of retrieval) E.g., University of Houston System. (1999, February 5). Community impact report. Retrieved from http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/community/impact/education.html on 12 March 2011. 4
How to do Reference Citations in Your Paper References made in the paper should be indicated by citing within brackets the author s surname and the year of publication as given in the list of references at the end of the paper. APA uses the author-year method of citation. Some examples are: Smith (1983) compared In 1983, Smith compared. In a recent study of self-concept (Smith, 1983), it was found In a recent study of self-concept, Smith (1983) compared It has been shown (Dory, 1990; James, 1987; Talpers, 1979) that.. For 2 authors, always cite both authors. For 3 to 6 authors, first citation includes all authors and subsequently the first author and et al. Example: Williams, James, and Brady (1984) found.[first citation] Williams et al. (1984).[subsequent citations] For more than 6 authors, all citations use first author and et al. Eg. Williams et al. (1985) For citation of work given in a secondary source, cite the original work with the secondary source in the text and give the secondary source in the reference list. Example: John s study (cited in Wong, 1986) found. In this case, you need to include Wong (1986) in the reference list. Quotations For short quotation (less than 40 words), insert into the text and enclose it within double quotation marks; include the page numbers. Example: Smith (1982) found that (p.27) For longer quotation, indent it as a paragraph without quotation marks. Include the page numbers at the end of the quote. You are advised not to include too many long quotations in your paper. Direct quote should be used sparingly in your paper. There is no need to italise quotation. 5