Motivation Mondays aren’t always about trying to get over the Monday blahs. Sometimes the hardest part of motivating yourself on the first morning of the week is not knowing where to begin with the project you’re behind on.

For instance, maybe you’ve done all the readings but you aren’t sure how to start your literature review. That would be pretty common, actually. Many students aren’t sure how to go about writing a literature review, and just as many instructors have a hard time explaining. Others think they know but are completely confused. If you think there’s a chance you could fall into any of those categories, you might want to  review these tips from Dena Taylor at the University of Toronto.  Taylor’s questions will help keep you and your students focused in your literature reviews, but imagine you had a tool to make the actual reviewing a lot easier.

That would be the synthesis matrix. Back in September, Academic Coaching and Writing™ posted about using a synthesis matrix as a tool to help organize and combine your insights as you compile your research. What is a synthesis matrix? Dr. Sally describes it as such:

There are a number of tools that can help you analyze and synthesize your key sources. In this blog, you will learn about using a synthesis matrix to organize the sources in your literature review and integrate them into a unique interpretation that not only serves as the foundation of your study but also contributes to the dialogue in your field and establishes your credibility as a scholar. There are limitless ways of structuring a matrix. This blog will provide several examples of how to construct a synthesis matrix.

Read more from Dr. Sally here.

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