NEIU Libraries Research Guides: Education Research Guide: SCED 402M/403M Fall 24

Textbooks and Lesson Plans in the Library Collection

Most of the classroom education materials are located in the Curriculum Materials Collection (CMC) on the 3rd floor of the Main Campus Library. The CMC includes textbooks, teacher resource guides, and fiction and non-fiction written for preK-12.

Search the NEIU Libraries' catalog to find these materials. Best practices include:

Selecting "NEIU Libraries" as the scope (vs. Everything)
Trying only one or two keywords at a time
Using the "Location" filters to find materials in the CMC.

Call number examples:

CMC.TEXT. QA107 .B455 2007 - all textbooks will begin with CMC.TEXT.
CTR. QA41.4 .S65 2011 - all teacher resources begin with CTR.
CMC. QA40.5 .P378 2013 - all materials for juvenile audiences will begin with CMC.

Great Sites for Creating Units and Lesson Plans in Mathematics

CK-12 Foundation
A nonprofit organization that develops free textbooks (and teacher support materials) with the cooperation of teachers from around the country -- CK-12 specializes in math and science, but some other titles are also available.
Khan Academy
Lessons on concepts from math, science, and the humanities presented as free online video clips, designed for use by both teachers and learners.
PBS Teacher Source
PBS Teachers is PBS's website that provides preK-12 educational resources, often in connection with PBS series. Classroom materials suitable for a wide range of subjects and grade levels.
Share My Lesson
The AFT's lesson-sharing site for educators

Finding Articles on a Topic

To find journal articles, choose an education subject database. These are the two most common:

ERIC (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
Index of journal articles, books, theses, curriculum guides, conference papers, standards, and guidelines on a wide range of education topics. Sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.
Education Full Text This link opens in a new window
Provides full text of articles from over 350 journals as far back as 1996, in addition to indexing of more than 770 periodicals dating back to 1983.

Finding Empirical Articles in Education

An empirical article reports original research based on actual observations and experiments. In contrast, a theoretical article uses existing research to present a new theory or advance an existing theory.

ERIC	PsycInfo	Academic Search Ultimate*
Visit "Advanced Search." Locate the filter for "Publication Type." Select "Reports - Research" from the list. Apply any additional filters, then click "Search."	Visit "Advanced Search." Locate the filter for "Methodology." Select "EMPIRICAL" from the list. Apply any additional filters, then click "Search."	Visit "Advanced Search." Locate the filter for "Document Type" Select ": Case Study" and "Report" from the list. Apply any additional filters, then click "Search."

*There is no single way to find empirical articles in Academic Search Ultimate. In this, and many other databases, consider adding one of the following search items to your search:

empirical
study
methodology (or method)
action research
interviews
participant observation OR participants
findings
results
qualitative or quantitative