literature reviews

Submitted by Katie Perry on June 8th, 2026

Short Description:

Practical strategies for teaching AI-assisted lit reviews while keeping human analysis and critical thinking central.

Attachments:

Attachment	Size
Copy of AI Might Summarize, But It Can’t Think_ Teaching Toolkit.docxdisplayed 25 times	12.9 KB

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this session, students will be able to:

1. Critically evaluate AI-generated research summaries by identifying strengths, limitations, missing perspectives, and potential inaccuracies.
2. Assess the credibility and authority of information by verifying sources, citations, and claims presented in AI-generated outputs.
3. Develop and refine research strategies by using AI tools to generate keywords and then applying those terms in scholarly database searches.
4. Use citation tracking techniques (backward and forward searching) to identify influential sources and trace scholarly conversations within a research area.
5. Compare AI-generated research overviews with database search results to identify gaps, omissions, and differences in coverage.
6. Analyze scholarly literature for themes, patterns, and gaps using close reading techniques.
7. Synthesize information from multiple sources to support explanatory or argumentative literature reviews.
8. Apply lateral reading strategies to evaluate the credibility, relevance, and accuracy of AI-generated information.
9. Select and use AI research tools appropriately based on their strengths, limitations, and intended purposes.
10. Describe the role of AI as a research support tool rather than a substitute for scholarly inquiry and critical analysis.

Discipline:

English Environmental Studies Political Science Psychology Sociology Women's and Gender Studies

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated):

There are several activities in the document - they don't have to be used all together! Pick and choose activities to get students to think critically about LLM outputs.

Suggested Citation:

Perry, Katie. "AI Might Summarize, but it Can't Think: AI-assisted lit reviews." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2026. https://projectcora.org/assignment/ai-might-summarize-it-cant-think-ai-assisted-lit-reviews.

Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.

All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License

Submitted by Olga Koz on April 27th, 2022

Short Description:

The assignment supports students' ability to explain their research in less than 50 words effectively. Students briefly introduce themselves and their research projects by answering the following questions in the discussion board post:

Your dissertation committee chair
The topic of your research. See the topic structure (elements).
Research Questions. See research question structure
Research design. See the guide to research design
Where are you in the dissertation process? See the guide to the Education Dissertation.
Students are also asked to critique other students' theses.

Relevant links:

Education Dissertation Research Topic Research Question Research Design

Learning Outcomes:

The objective is for students to summarize their doctoral dissertation research compellingly and develop research communication skills.

This assignment is a part of the course on the literature review design. It prepares students to conduct a literature review that aligns with the research question, topic, and design.

Discipline:

Education

Information Literacy concepts:

Searching as Strategic Exploration (Frame 6)

Individual or Group:

Group

Ability Level:

Graduate / Masters / Doctoral

Tags:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated):

The assignment is the part of the first module of the course, in which students introduce themselves, and their research is the first step in planning a literature review for a research proposal.

Students are asked to post the thesis on the discussion board, and other students are required to answer the questions:

1. What elements of the topic and research question are missing?

2. Would you recommend narrowing the topic?

3. Are research questions and design connected?

Assessment or Criteria for Success

Assessment Short Description:

1. Students were able to submit research questions and designs aligned with each other. 2. Students include all required elements in the topic and question. 3. Students can notice mistakes in formulating research questions and topics. 2. Would you recommend narrowing the topic? 3. Are research questions and design connected?

Suggested Citation:

Koz, Olga. "50 words thesis." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2022. https://projectcora.org/assignment/50-words-thesis.

All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License