Review of Related Literature At this point you should make an initial foray into the professional literature, the formal record of other people’s experiences, to try to better understand the problem on which you are focusing. The literature may suggest other ways of looking at your problem and help you to identify potential promising practices that you might use in your classroom to correct the problem. To borrow the words of Kemmis (1988), “Can existing research throw any light on your situation and help you see it more clearly?” (p. 55). Reviewing the literature is a valuable contribution to the action research process that could actually save you time. Often, teacher researchers think that they know what their problem is but become stymied in the process because they weren’t really sure what they were asking. Taking time to immerse yourself in the literature allows you to reflect on your own problems through someone else’s lens. You can locate yourself within the research literature and find support for what you are doing or be challenged by what other researchers have done and how they have tackled a particular problem. At the end of the process, you ought to be informed enough about the literature that you could talk to colleagues about the major themes that emerged. Similarly, you should be able to talk about “promising practices” that were discussed. Sometimes, teacher researchers will claim that they cannot find any published research related to their area of focus. This invariably leads to questions of relevance and importance. After all, if nobody else has researched the problem, perhaps it is not worthy of investigation! However, as the following personal and serious illustration demonstrates, lack of published research on a topic does not mean that the topic is not important. About 15 years ago my son, who was five years old at the time, inexplicably began to pass blood in his urine—a pretty scary sight for any parent. After many invasive medical tests over a six-month period, we finally opted for a procedure that required general anesthesia in order to determine the cause of the blood. The surgeon emerged from the operating room and pronounced, “I have some good news, and I have some bad news!” The good news was that the surgeon was able to diagnose the cause of the internal bleeding—a rare, benign, and non-life-threatening condition called trigonitis. The bad news was that the surgeon was unable to tell us why our son had developed the condition or how to treat it! I was shocked at this revelation from the surgeon, a pediatric urology specialist. How could my son be bleeding internally and there not be a medical explanation? The surgeon responded that, because the condition was rare, benign, and non-life-threatening, it simply did not warrant research! My point here is not to be melodramatic but rather to make a case for the importance of your own research, regardless of whether it has been researched (and published) by other pr ...

1. Review of Related Literature
At this point you should make an initial foray into the
professional literature, the formal record of other people’s
experiences, to try to better understand the problem on which
you are focusing. The literature may suggest other ways of
looking at your problem and help you to identify potential
promising practices that you might use in your classroom to
correct the problem. To borrow the words of Kemmis (1988),
“Can existing research throw any light on your situation and
help you see it more clearly?” (p. 55).
Reviewing the literature is a valuable contribution to the action
research process that could actually save you time. Often,
teacher researchers think that they know what their problem is
but become stymied in the process because they weren’t really
sure what they were asking. Taking time to immerse yourself in
the literature allows you to reflect on your own problems
through someone else’s lens. You can locate yourself within the
research literature and find support for what you are doing or be
challenged by what other researchers have done and how they
have tackled a particular problem.
At the end of the process, you ought to be informed enough
about the literature that you could talk to colleagues about the
major themes that emerged. Similarly, you should be able to
talk about “promising practices” that were discussed.
Sometimes, teacher researchers will claim that they cannot find
any published research related to their area of focus. This
invariably leads to questions of relevance and importance. After
all, if nobody else has researched the problem, perhaps it is not
worthy of investigation! However, as the following personal and
serious illustration demonstrates, lack of published research on
a topic does not mean that the topic is not important. About 15
years ago my son, who was five years old at the time,
inexplicably began to pass blood in his urine—a pretty scary
sight for any parent. After many invasive medical tests over a

2. six-month period, we finally opted for a procedure that required
general anesthesia in order to determine the cause of the blood.
The surgeon emerged from the operating room and pronounced,
“I have some good news, and I have some bad news!” The good
news was that the surgeon was able to diagnose the cause of the
internal bleeding—a rare, benign, and non-life-threatening
condition called trigonitis. The bad news was that the surgeon
was unable to tell us why our son had developed the condition
or how to treat it! I was shocked at this revelation from the
surgeon, a pediatric urology specialist. How could my son be
bleeding internally and there not be a medical explanation? The
surgeon responded that, because the condition was rare, benign,
and non-life-threatening, it simply did not warrant research! My
point here is not to be melodramatic but rather to make a case
for the importance of your own research, regardless of whether
it has been researched (and published) by other professionals.
Just because your area of focus is unique to you does not make
it any less important. It is your problem and you own it. Do not
be disheartened if your review of the literature fails to provide
you with helpful insights.
Too often the review of related literature is seen as a necessary
evil to be completed as fast as possible so that one can get on
with the “real research.” This perspective reflects a lack of
understanding of the purposes and importance of the review and
a feeling of uneasiness on the part of students who are not sure
how to report the literature. Nonetheless, the review of related
literature is as important as any other component of the research
process and can be conducted quite painlessly if approached in
an orderly manner. Some researchers even find the process quite
enjoyable!
The review of related literature involves the systematic
identification, location, and analysis of documents containing
information related to the research problem. The term is also
used to describe the written component of a research plan or
report that discusses the reviewed documents. These documents
can include articles, abstracts, reviews, monographs,

3. dissertations, books, other research reports, and electronic
media effort. The major purpose of reviewing the literature is to
determine what has already been done that relates to your topic.
This knowledge not only prevents you from unintentionally
duplicating another person’s research, but it also gives you the
understanding and insight you need to place your topic within a
logical framework. Previous studies can provide the rationale
for your research hypothesis, and indications of what needs to
be done can help you justify the significance of your study. Put
simply, the review tells you what has been done and what needs
to be done.
Another important purpose of reviewing the literature is to
discover research strategies and specific data collection
approaches that have or have not been productive in
investigations of topics similar to yours. This information will
help you avoid other researchers’ mistakes and profit from their
experiences. It may suggest approaches and procedures that you
previously had not considered. For example, suppose your topic
involved the comparative effects of a brand-new experimental
method versus the traditional method on the achievement of
eighth-grade science students. The review of literature may
reveal ten related studies that found no differences in
achievement. Several of the studies, however, may suggest that
the brand-new method is more effective for certain kinds of
students than for others. Thus, you may reformulate your topic
to involve the comparative effectiveness of the brand-new
method versus the traditional method on the achievement of a
subgroup of eighth-grade science students—those with low
aptitude.
Being familiar with previous research also facilitates
interpretation of your study results. The results can be discussed
in terms of whether and how they agree with previous findings.
If the results contradict previous findings, you can describe
differences between your study and the others, providing a
rationale for the discrepancy. If your results are consistent with
other findings, your report should include suggestions for the

4. next step; if they are not consistent, your report should include
suggestions for studies that may resolve the conflict.
Beginning researchers often have difficulty determining how
broad and comprehensive their literature reviews should be. At
times, all the literature will seem directly related to the topic,
so it may be difficult to decide when to stop. Determining
whether an article is truly relevant to the topic is complicated
and requires time. Unfortunately, there is no simple formula to
solve the problem. You must decide using your own judgment
and the advice of your teachers or advisors.
The following general guidelines can assist you:
· • Avoid the temptation to include everything you find in your
literature review. Bigger does not mean better. A smaller, well-
organized review is definitely
· preferred to a review containing many studies that are only
tangentially related to the problem.
· • When investigating a heavily researched area, review only
those works that are directly related to your specific problem.
You will find plenty of references and should not have to rely
on less relevant studies. For example, the role of feedback for
verbal and nonverbal learning has been extensively studied in
both non-human animals and human beings for a variety of
different learning tasks. Focus on those using similar subjects
or similar variables—for example, if you were concerned with
the relation between frequency of feedback and chemistry
achievement, you would probably not have to review feedback
studies related to non-human animal learning.
· • When investigating a new or little-researched problem area,
review any study related in some meaningful way to your
problem. Gather enough information to develop a logical
framework for the study and a sound rationale for the research
hypothesis. For example, suppose you wanted to study the
effects of an exam for non–English speaking students on GPA.
The students must pass the exam to graduate. Your literature
review would probably include any studies that involved
English as a second language (ESL) classes and the effects of

5. culture-specific grading practices as well as studies that
identified strategies to improve the learning of ESL students. In
a few years, there will probably be enough research on the
academic consequences of such an exam on non-English
speaking students to permit a much more narrowly focused
literature review.
A common misconception among beginning researchers is that
the worth of a topic is directly related to the amount of
literature available about it. This is not the case. For many new
and important areas of research, few studies have been
published. The effects of high-stakes testing is one such area.
The very lack of such research often increases the worth of its
study. On the other hand, the fact that a thousand studies have
already been done in a given problem area does not mean there
is no further need for research in that area. Such an area will
generally be very well developed, and subtopics that need
additional research will be readily identifiable.Action Research
and the Review of Related Literature
Action researchers disagree about the role of the literature
review in the research process. Some researchers have argued
that reviewing the literature curtails inductive analysis—using
induction to determine the direction of the research—and should
be avoided at the early stages of the research process (Bogdan
& Biklen, 1998). Others suggest that the review of related
literature is important early in the action research process
because it serves the following functions:
· • The literature review demonstrates the underlying
assumptions (i.e., propositions) behind the research questions
that are central to the research proposal.
· • The literature review provides a way for the novice
researcher to convince the proposal reviewers that he or she is
knowledgeable about the related research and the intellectual
traditions that support the proposed study (Marshall &
Rossman, 1995).
· • The literature review provides the researcher with an
opportunity to identify any gaps that may exist in the body of

6. literature and to provide a rationale for how the proposed study
may contribute to the existing body of knowledge.
· • The literature review helps the researcher to refine the
research questions and embed them in guiding hypotheses that
provide possible directions the researcher may follow.TABLE
3–1 Conducting a Literature Review
· 1. Identify and make a list of keywords to guide your
literature search.
· 2. Using your keywords, locate primary and secondary sources
that pertain to your research topic.
· 3. Evaluate your sources for quality.
· 4. Abstract your sources.
· 5. Analyze and organize your sources using a literature matrix.
· 6. Write the literature review.
Source: From Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis
and Application (10th ed.), by L. R. Gay, G. E. Mills, and P.
Airasian, © 2012. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Conducting a literature review follows a basic set of
steps. Table 3–1 outlines the basic process you take when
reviewing the literature.
LAN Design Steps Study Guide
First step in LAN design is to establish and document the goals
of the design
Requirements of network design:
1. Functionality – provide user-to-user and user-to-application
connectivity with speed and reliability
2. scalability – ability for network to grow without major
changes to overall design

7. 3. adaptability – design can adapt and implement new
technologies as they become available
4. manageability – easy network monitoring and management to
ensure on-going stability
Critical components of LAN design:
1. function and placement of servers – should use 100 Mbps or
more
a. servers provide file-sharing, printing, communication, and
application services
b. servers run specialized operating systems (netware, windows
NT, UNIX, LINUX)
c. categorized into 2 classes
i. enterprise servers – supports all the users on network by
offering services (e-mail, DNS); should be placed in MDF
ii. workgroup servers – supports specific set of users, offering
services such as word processing and file sharing; should be
placed in IDF
2. select correct devices to decrease collisions
a. media contention – excessive collisions caused by too many
devices
3. segmentation – splitting a single collision domain into two or
more collision domains
a. use bridges or switches creates more bandwidth availability

8. b. bridges and switches forward broadcasts not collisions
c. bridges and switches broadcast = FF-FF-FF-FF-FF
4. bandwidth vs broadcast domains
a. bandwidth domain is everything associated with one port on a
bridge or switch also known as a collision domain
b. all workstations compete for the same LAN bandwidth
resource
1st step in designing a network is to:
· gather data about the organizational structure
· history
· current status
· projected growth
· operating policies and management procedures
· office systems and procedures
· viewpoints of employees
· analyze requirements
· availability – measures the usefulness of the network
· throughput
· response time
· access to resources

9. · determine network traffic load
· cost
2nd step in designing a network is to develop LAN topology
(star/extended star)
1. Layer 1 – physical cabling
a. Type of cable (cat 5 for horizontal runs, fiber for backbone
and risers)
b. Distance limitations
i. 100 meters for cat 5
1. 3 meters – computer to telecommunication outlet/wall plate
2. 90 meters – wall to horizontal cross connect (patch panel)
3. 6 meters – HCC to switch
ii. 2000 meters for fiber
c. make a logical topology diagram
i. location of MDF and IDF
ii. type and quantity of cabling
iii. detail documentation of all cable runs
2. Layer 2 – devices to use to provide flow control, error
detection, error correction, and reduce congestion

10. a. Bridges
b. Switches
i. Can microsegment
ii. Eliminates collisions
iii. Reduces size of collision domains
iv. Can allocate bandwidth on a per-port basis
c. Asymmetric switching – allows more bandwidth to vertical
babbling, uplinks, and servers. Provides switched connections
between ports of unlike bandwidth
3. Layer 3 – use routers which:
a. Allows communication between segments based on layer 3
addressing
b. Allows connectivity to WANS
c. Stops broadcasts from reaching other LAN segments
d. Provides scalability
e. Adds structure to layer 3 addresses
f. Filters data-link broadcasts and multicasts
3rd step in designing a network is to create logical and physical
network maps – document, by site and network within the site,
the IP addressing scheme
Components of network documentation – least performed task in

11. a network
1. Cut sheet diagrams
a. Diagrams that indicate the path of the physical wiring layout
b. Type of cable
c. Length of each cable
d. Type of termination for each cable
e. Physical location of each wall plate or patch panel
f. A labeling scheme for easy identification of each wire
2. MDF & IDF layouts – contains a physical and logical layout
a. Rack mounts
b. Auxiliary equipment
c. Servers
d. Patch panels
3. server and workstation configuration details – fill out about
each host attached to the network
a. make and model of computer
b. serial number
c. floppy drives
d. hard drives

12. e. DVD/CD-Rom drives
f. Sound and network cards
g. Amount of RAM
h. Physical location, user, and network ID
i. Purchase date and warranty information
4. software listings – of standard and special software
a. operating system software
b. application software
5. maintenance records – all repairs to all equipment included in
the network
6. security measures
a. soft security – user rights, password definition, firewall
support
b. physical security – how MDF and IDF’s are locked, who has
access, how hosts are protected
7. user policies – how users can interact with the network and
consequences
Security policies
· minimum password length
· maximum password age

13. · unique passwords
· times of logon
· don’t use family or pet names for passwords
· screensaver password protected
Data recovery methods – protecting data from loss
· Tape backup – duplicating all stored data to magnetic tape.
Works with a flag or switch. Uses an archive bit which only
backs up what has been changes
· pros – low cost
· cons – stores data sequentially; drains system resources
(bandwidth, processor power)
· Fault tolerant disk configurations
· Use of uninterrupted power supplies (UPS)
5 types of backup operations:
1. full backup – all files on the disk are stored on tape and the
archive bit for all files is set to off
2. incremental backup – backup all files that have been created
or modified since full backup; only work in conjunction with a
full backup
3. differential backup – backup all files like incremental backup
but the difference is that even though the file is saved to tape,
the archive bit is not reset, so each time differential backup is

14. done, all files modified or created since the last full backup will
be stored again
4. copy backup – backup user selected files to tape; does not
reset archive bit to off
5. daily backup – backup only the files that are modified on the
day of the backup; doesn’t reset archive bit to off
Fault tolerant storage devices – a redundant set of devices
categorized by RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks)
levels 0 – 5
RAID types:
1. RAID 0 – stripes data across multiple disks, no parity, no
redundancy. Used for speed
2. RAID 1 – disk mirroring writes data to two identical
partitions on separate hard disks thus creating an automatic
backup. Provides full redundancy but requires twice as much
storage space
3. RAID 2 – writes data across multiple hard disks, with error
checking. No longer used
4. RAID 3 – stripes data one byte at a time and has a dedicated
parity drive. Very expensive
5. RAID 4 – stripes data one sector at a time and has dedicated
parity drive. Expensive and slow
6. RAID 5 – stripes data and parity across multiple disks (at
least 3). A separate parity disk is not required abut full data
redundancy is achieved. On NT system, the boot and system
partitions cannot be located on a RAID 5 disk array. Very fast;

15. need at least 5 disks for full redundancy
The three RAID levels that are supported by most operating
systems are RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5
Volume – a physical unit of storage
Environmental factors that can affect a network:
1. Static
a. caused by lack of humidity
b. make sure all equipment is off
c. make sure you ground yourself before starting to install
equipment
2. Dust and dirt
3. Heat
4. Power conditioning - preventing electrical irregularities
a. Isolating transformer – controls voltage spikes and high
frequency noise
b. Regulators – maintains a constant output voltage. Handles
brownouts and surges
c. Line conditioner – a regulator with an isolating transformer
built in
d. Uninterruptible power supply – battery charger that charges a
batter, that in turn powers the computer

16. 5. EMI and RFI
a. EMI includes power supplies and monitors, florescent lights,
large electric motors, electrical wiring
b. RFI (Radio Frequency Interface) picked up by other
equipment or improper shielded cables
6. Software Viruses
a. Worm – propagates itself across computers, usually by
creating copies of itself in each computer’s memory
b. Virus – “infects” computer files (usually exe files) by
inserting in those files copies of itself
c. Trojan Horse – disguised as a game, a utility, or an
application
Network performance – a measure of a networks quickness and
reliability
· Measured by a baseline – performance level established after
the network has been installed and configured properly. Use a
fluke LAN meter for a baseline
· Baselines should be periodically updated
Two types of networks
1. Peer-to-peer (workgroup network) – designed for small
numbers of workstations (<10)
a. Advantages
i. Cheaper to create and operate

17. ii. Users control own resources
iii. Doesn’t require a dedicated server
iv. No additional software required
b. Disadvantages
i. No central point of management
ii. If user changes password, all passwords on shared resources
must be changed individually
iii. If a shared computer is turned off, those resources aren’t
available
iv. No room for growth
c. Examples
i. Windows for workgroups
ii. Windows 95
iii. Windows 98
iv. LANtastic
2. Client-Server – network operating systems
a. Advantages
i. Provide centralized point of user, security, and resource
management

18. ii. Provide access to resources with one ID and password
b. Disadvantages
i. Single point of failure
ii. Requires specially trained personnel to maintain
iii. Takes special network software and hardware
Client-Server operating systems:
· UNIX
· Kernel based
· Uses NFS
· Novell Netware (versions 3.12, 4.11, 5.0)
· Windows NT
Main function of network operating system is to control the
network by establishing:
· Network user
· Rights
· Login accounts
· Passwords
· Groups
· System profiles and policies

19. Troubleshooting a network
1. identify network/user problem
2. gather data about problem
3. analyze data to come up with a possible solution
4. implement solution
5. if problem isn’t solved, undo change and modify data
6. go to step 3
Hierarchical Network Design Assignment
General Requirements
The college district is in the process of implementing an
enterprise-wide network which will include Local Area
Networks (LANs) at each site and a Wide Area Network (WAN)
to provide data connectivity between all college sites.
Access to the Internet from any site in the college district is
also an integral part of this implementation. Once the network is
in place, the college district will implement a series of servers
to facilitate online automation of all of the district's
administrative and many of the curricular functions.
Since this network implementation will have to continue to be
functional for a minimum of 10 years, all design considerations
should include a minimum of 20x (times) growth in the LAN
throughput, 2x (times) growth in the WAN core throughput, and
5x (times) growth in the District Internet Connection
throughput. The minimum requirement for initial
implementation design will be Fast Ethernet to any host
computer in the network and Gigabit Ethernet to any server host
in the network.

20. SECTION 1 - WIDE AREA NETWORK
The WAN will be based on a hierarchical model. Three (3)
regional Hubs will be established at the Galway IT, Sligo IT
and Letterkenny IT for the purpose of forming a fast WAN core
network. College locations will be connected with high-end,
powerful routers. Access to the Internet or any other outside
network connections will be provided through SligoIT with
appropriate WAN links. For security purposes, no other
connections will be permitted.
SECTION 2 - LOCAL AREA NETWORK & WIRING SCHEME
The LAN will include both wired and wireless connectivity.
Each Local Area Network (LAN) segment will use the
appropriate Horizontal and Vertical Cabling which complies
with TIA/EIA-568-A and TIA/EIA-569 standards.
Each College consists of 2000 student, 300 lecturers, 40 admin
staff and 30 Network Technicians. The LAN infrastructure will
be based on Ethernet LAN switching. This will allow for a
migration to faster speeds (more bandwidth) to the individual
computers and between MDFs and IDFs without revamping the
physical wiring scheme to accommodate future applications.
In each location a Main Distribution Facility (MDF) room will
be established as the central point to which all LAN cabling will
be terminated and will also be the point of presence (POP) for
the Wide Area Network connection. All major electronic
components for the network, such as the routers and LAN
switches, will be housed in this location. In some cases an
Intermediate Distribution Facility (IDF) room will be
established, where horizontal cabling lengths exceed TIA/EIA-
568-A recommended distances or where site conditions dictate.
In such cases, the IDF will service its geographical area and the
IDF will be connected directly to the MDF in a STAR or
EXTENDED STAR topology.
Each room requiring connection to network will be able to
support 24 workstations and be supplied with four (4) CAT 5
UTP runs for data, with one run terminated at the teacher's

21. workstation. These cable runs will be terminated in the closest
MDF or IDF. All CAT 5 UTP cable run will be tested end-to-
end for 100 Mbps bandwidth capacity. It will consist of a
lockable cabinet containing all cable terminations and electronic
components; i.e. data hubs and switches. From this location data
services will be distribute within the room via decorative wire
molding.
Wireless access should be secure allowing appropriate
personnel to obtain connectivity with internet access.
SECTION 3 - DISTRICT SUPPLIED SERVERS AND
FUNCTIONS
All file servers will be categorized as Enterprise or Workgroup
type services, and then placed on the network topology
according to function and anticipated traffic patterns of users.
You should select the appropriate files servers for the
organisation along with the reasons for your selection.SECTION
4 - ADDRESSING AND NETWORK MANAGEMENT
A complete TCP/IP addressing and naming convention scheme
for all hosts, servers, and network interconnection devices will
be developed and administered by the District Office. The
implementation of unauthorized addresses will be prohibited.
The District Addressing Scheme can be implemented in a
number of ways. Ideas you should consider are Class A, B, and
C Addresses with appropriate subnetting, Network Address
Translation (NAT), and Private Network Numbers.
All computers located on the administrative networks will have
static addresses, curriculum computers will obtain addresses by
utilizing an appropriate server. Each site should use only
addresses consistent with the overall District Addressing
Scheme. A master network management host will be established
at the Sligo IT college and will have total management rights
over all devices in the network. This host will also serve as the
router configuration host and maintain the current
configurations of all routers in the network. Each region

22. location will house a regional network management host to
support its area. The management scheme for the data portion of
the network will be based on the Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP) standards. All routers will be pointed to the
master Network Management host for the purpose of
downloading new or existing configurations. The Sligo IT
college will maintain the super user passwords for all network
devices and configuration changes on these devices will be
authorized from the District Office: i.e., Routers and LAN
Switches.
SECTION 5 - SECURITY
External Threats - Internet Connectivity shall utilize a double
firewall implementation with all Internet-exposed applications
residing on a public backbone network. In this implementation
all connections initiated from the Internet into the schools
private network will be refused. Appropriate internal security
should also be empolyed.
College Floor Plans
Each college floor plan is identical. Make up your own
plan based on the following. Each college has 2 buildings 400
meters apart.
Building 1
2 floors
150 meters long
Each floor has 30 lecture theatres
POP is on floor 1
Building 2
1 floor
50 meters long
20 lecture theatresYour task Plans
Your team of 4 students have been employed by the College
district to design a network that suits their needs. Internal
employees will implement the design, there fore it must be

23. documented efficiently. Here are some examples (not all) of
what is required.
Use appropriate hierarchical design including LAN design,
WAN design, cut sheets, MDF and IDF layouts, Server and
workstation details, User policies, Data recovery methods,
Addressing, VLANs, Servers, Maps, Redundancy, Backup
procedures, Security procedures, routing protocols, Internet
connectivity, wireless etc…
Marks 15% of Continuous Assessment
Due Friday 14th of October
Warning 10% deduction per day late