AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING IN REVIEWING ARTICLES: CASE STUDIES AND THEIR PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

A literature review is the process of collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing information from various sources that are relevant to a particular research topic. These sources can be scientific journals, books, articles, research reports, or other credible sources. In higher education, literature review assignments are very common. Students are often asked to conduct literature reviews as part of their coursework. This study aims to determine how students understand and carry out literature review assignments. To that end, the researcher directly observed 4th-semester students of Chemistry Education UNM who were working on literature review assignments. The researcher collected data from their assignments and also the results of the surveys they filled out. By analyzing this data, the researcher wanted to find out to what extent students understood this assignment, what difficulties they faced, and what they thought about the literature review assignment. The results of the study showed that students were generally quite good at understanding the topics they were researching and at finding relevant sources. They could also analyze information from various sources quite well. However, there were still shortcomings in terms of compiling references. Based on the survey results, most students felt that the literature review assignment was very helpful for them in analyzing information and finding relevant sources. However, many students still have difficulty in grouping information and making deeper conclusions from various sources. In addition, difficulties in analyzing information, the large number of articles to be read, and difficulties in understanding unfamiliar language make students overwhelmed and make it difficult to focus on completing literature reviews. This shows that lecturers need to improve the way they give literature review assignments so that students are more trained in thinking systematically.