Library Home: Teacher Education: Articles & Databases

How to find articles

1. Create a Research statement

This can be in the form of a question or a sentence. Just think about what you want to research and write it down in one sentence.

Highlight keywords in research statement

2. Identify the Keywords

Look at your research statement. What are the main words or concepts? They will likely be nouns, and can include phrases. Highlight them.

3. Think of synonyms

Look at the words/phrases you highlighted and think of synonyms or alternate phrases to describe those concepts. Scholarly articles often use words that we wouldn’t use in ordinary life.

Searching in EBSCO- use each search box for each concept

4. Search in the databases

Pick two or three words/phrases from your list. Put each concept in its own search box.

Another search strategy alternative using other synonyms

5. Search again!

Try different combinations of words to get different results. Add more words to narrow down your results. Look at the “Subject” headings for each article to see what keywords are being used the most.

Databases

Education Full Text This link opens in a new window Covers key areas of education and related fields of study, full-text coverage dating back to 1980 and indexing dating back to 1969.
Subject coverage includes: Adult education, Continuing education, Literacy standards, Multicultural/ethnic education, School administration, Teacher evaluation, Teaching methods
Education Research Complete This link opens in a new window Covers scholarly research relating to all areas of education, including curriculum instruction, administration, policy, funding and related social issues.
Topics covered include all levels of education from early childhood to higher education and all educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education and testing. This database also includes full text for books, monographs and numerous education-related conference papers.
ERIC This link opens in a new window Authoritative database of indexed and full-text education literature and resources.
Includes records for a variety of source types, including journal articles, books, conference papers, curriculum guides, policy papers and also provides an education-specific thesaurus.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window Centered on psychology and the behavioral and social sciences with coverage from the 17th century to the present, charting the evolution of psychology over time through peer-reviewed journals, books, and dissertations.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Academic Search Complete offers full-text journals and includes peer-reviewed full text for STEM research, as well as for the social sciences and humanities. Scholarly content covers a broad range of subject areas for academic study, including anthropology, engineering, law, sciences and more.

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*Reused with permission from PGCC Libraries.