A literature review, or research-driven thesis, documents all relevant studies that apply to
a research project. This manuscript is undertaken at the beginning of any data-driven research
study in order to locate, review and delineate those articles and book chapters (primary, peerreviewed sources) that provide theoretical underpinnings, methodological approaches or
emergent results that will inform the manner in which the project is framed, conducted, analyzed
and reported. This is a large manuscript that builds the argument that this research is novel and
necessary within the field.
For the Ed.S. program, all students must complete an original research-based thesis
project that will inform and improve their sport coaching pedagogy. This comprehensive project
will be completed in your final semester. This document must cover all recent, relevant research
on an approved topic and must be professionally written using APA style in order to pass.
Assignment
There is a step-by-step process for completing the thesis. These steps include finding
support materials, selecting relevant materials, creating an outline and writing your literature
review.
Step 1: Select your topic (Due: Approved by Dr. Grant on June 16, 2021 at 12:00
p.m.). The topic for this research-driven thesis is selected by the student. The topic must be
related to sport coaching PEDAGOGY and be a topic that the student is interested in knowing
well. This CANNNOT be a topic that the student has written about in the program to date. In
short, you CANNOT use a draft, submission or assignment from another course, in whole or in
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part, as part of this assignment—it must be COMPLETELY original and new. Do not use the
topics from KSPE 8500 or any course when selecting a topic as well.
NOTE: The following topics have not been successful in the past and will not be acceptable:
strength and conditioning, weight lifting periodization, motivation, practice planning, creating a
yearly plan, and parent communication. Remember, you need to write about PEDAGOGY. You
have learned how to research and can study these topics on your own, but it would not be good
for this assignment.
To help facilitate topics, use the following thesis stem to help write your thesis statement:
The purpose of this study is to examine the pedagogical practices of … in order to ….
Please understand that after the “in order to” should not be to improve teaching or a vague
statement. This needs to be specific and related to the pedagogical practices being examined.
Submit via BlazeView email. And, you must continue to communicate with Dr. Grant
until your topic is approved. Do not assume your topic will be acceptable or has been accepted
without documentation from Dr. Grant, i.e., an email stating approval. You cannot move forward
on your thesis without an approved topic!
Step 2: Find support materials (20-references Project Due: June 23, 2021 at 11:59
p.m.). Once you have an approved topic, start to find as many articles as you can in sports
coaching education on that topic. This seems like a ton of work, but it can be done very quickly.
The key to this step is locating seminal works and relevant support materials. A seminal work is
a foundational article that is viewed by scholars as a necessary starting point or turning point in
the use of the instrument. For instance, as you look over the articles you might see the same
citation (author(s), year) in most of literature reviews (introductions) of articles. Those are the
seminal works and the start to the assignment. You will need to submit 20 references (APA
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style) you plan TO USE in your thesis. This is not an annotated bibliography and you will need
at least 20 articles cited in the final draft.
NOTE: Unless this is a seminal work, all publications for this assignment must be published
from 2005 or later.
Step 3: Select relevant materials. For this part of the assignment, you will need to read
the abstract of the articles you have found. The purpose is to understand the study conducted
and determine whether there might be information that could inform your study. Areas of
importance are the purpose (does it align with what you are investigating), methods (does it
give suggestions for how to collect and analyze data), participants (does it have similar types of
people in the study), and results (could the findings help inform your study). If the abstract leads
you to believe that the article addresses one of these four areas, then you keep it. If none of these
areas match or you do not believe you can use the manuscript, you will reject it.
NOTE: Keep a copy of the rejected abstracts in case you need to go back and widen your scope
for the thesis.
Step 4: Create an outline. One of the most underrated and useful tools for writers is an
outline. An outline is a specific, logical framework created for the sole purpose of detailing the
arguments of a manuscript in a uniform manner. Outlines allow writers to concentrate on the
progression of the paper prior to writing, which is when the author should only focus on word
usage, sentence structures and grammar conventions. By creating an outline, the writing process
is much faster and accurate.
Step 5: Write an abstract (Due: June 30, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.). An abstract presents the
major features of the paper in no more than 150 words. Using a published, scholarly manuscript
as an example (make sure it is a literature review manuscript), create the abstract. The parts
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include the thesis statement, summary of the methods, results (can be the areas of interest), and
conclusion. Use published literature reviews as a guide—only a guide! And, yes, you have a
methods section that must be included.
Step 6: literature review RD (Due: July 11, 2020 at 11:59 p.m.). This document
should align with the following expectations. The body of the paper should be at least 25
pages in length and use at least 20 resources (cited in the manuscript and referenced using
APA style). Use correct conventions for writing a literature review, i.e., APA style headings.
The review of literature should include the following parts: introductory paragraph that presents
the topic and its importance to sport coaching pedagogy (ends with the purpose statement of the
literature review), a brief methodology for the steps followed to produce the literature review,
discussion of pertinent areas of importance on the topic, and end with conclusion of the findings
that presents suggestions for improving sport coaching pedagogy and possible future research
topics. As always, writing style, grammar and correct spelling of words are expected. If you
have all the sections, you will earn 100% on this portion of the assignment as the assignment is
complete, but, this is not indicative of the quality.
Step 7: Peer Review (Due: July 18, 2020 at 11:59 p.m.). Students will be paired or
placed in groups of three. Each member of the group will review one literature review RD and
provide substantive suggestions. THIS IS NOT A GRAMMAR CHECK! The focus is
organization, logical progression, clarity, concision, and overall flow of the paper. This is a
global reading of the paper and not proofread in which all mistakes are corrected. Only address
the areas addressed above.
Step 8: literature review final draft (Due: July 28, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.). This
document should align with the following expectations. The body of the paper should be at
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least 25 pages in length and use at least 20 resources (cited in the manuscript and
referenced using APA style). Use correct conventions for writing a literature review, i.e., APA
style headings. The review of literature should include the following parts: introductory
paragraph that presents the topic and its importance to sport coaching pedagogy (ends with the
purpose statement of the literature review), a brief methodology for the steps followed to
produce the literature review, discussion of pertinent areas of importance on the topic, and end
with conclusion of the findings that presents suggestions for improving sport coaching pedagogy
and possible future research topics. As always, writing style, grammar and correct spelling of
words are expected.
Grade Criteria
Grading will be based on both quality and precision. APA formatting is required for
acceptance. Late papers WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED and result in a failing grade for the
semester.
Due Dates
There are several due dates for parts of the assignment submitted throughout the
semester:
- Topic: June 16, 2021 by 12:00 p.m. – Write as a purpose statement. The focus must be
on pedagogy! Submit via BlazeView email. Thesis must be adopted within one week of
the submission date. Failure to submit the initial topic on time will result in a no grade for
this assignment. (5% of Thesis Grade) - 20 References: June 23, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. – Must be in APA style in every aspect.
Submit via BlazeView dropbox. (5% of Thesis Grade)
COURSE ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS 7 - Abstract: June 30, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. – Must be in APA style in every aspect and no
longer than 150 words. Submit via BlazeView dropbox. (5% of Thesis Grade) - Thesis Rough Draft: July 11, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. – Must be in APA style and submitted
to an assigned classmate for feedback (use partner’s BlazeView email including
instructor as CC) and to instructor for completion grade (use rough draft dropbox). For
full credit, it must be a complete RD. (5% of Thesis Grade) - Peer-Review of Rough Draft: July 18, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. – For credit, substantive
suggestions and corrections needed for the entire RD. Submitted to Dr. Grant and Peer
via appropriate BlazeView dropboxes. (10% of Thesis Grade) - Thesis Final Draft: July 28, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. – Must be in APA style in every aspect
and at least 25 pages (body of paper) and using 20 references. Submit via BlazeView
dropbox AND LiveText assignment. (70% of Thesis Grade)
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Discussion/Assignments
Overview
Discussions have a vital role in this course. Online courses could separate students and
isolate them. In a cohort, it is critical that students and instructors investigate topics within the
course in a constructivist manner so as to create new knowledge and learning based on the
experiences and opinions of all students, or those within groups. Additionally, the ability for
students to analyze articles and consume the pertinent information found therein. Therefore,
students are expected to read the materials for the course and participate in the audio/video
recorded discussions twice during the semester.
Assignment
Twice during the semester, each discussion group will meet online (virtually) and record
a discussion of at least 60 minutes on the various readings (Readings Parts 1-3 for discussion one
and Readings Part 4-6 for discussion two). These must be audio or video recorded and submitted
via GoReact dropbox (free program and you will be invited to join via email from the company).
Dr. Grant will assign groups. The groups will discuss meeting times, dates, and online platform
for recording the meeting using the discussion boards on BlazeView. Begin each meeting with a
host and self-introductions of each member. Then, begin discussion of the readings. The
discussion should not be scripted in any way. The host starts the discussion with a question and
the allowing the group to talk about the various topics within ALL readings for the discussion.
REMEMBER: this is a discussion of the readings (like a book club); this is NOT primarily about
your experiences! Focus on the ideas of the authors instead of what you have done or have
practiced in your coaching; this will result in a deduction in the grade.
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Grade Criteria
All grades will be based on the content of the discussions, individual participation, and
focus on the manuscripts (all assigned for the discussion). The audio/video recording must be at
least 60 minutes in order to be graded.
Due Dates
Discussion one (Readings Parts 1-3) is due by June 30, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. Discussion
two (Readings Parts 4-6) is due by July 21, 2021 by 11:59 p.m.
