Creating S-Diagram for Writing Literature Review

Keywords: research writing, literature review, mind-mapping, schematic diagram

Abstract. Diagram can serve as a visual input facility in writing literature review (LR). This paper
introduces S-Diagram as a technique for organizing LR which is based on the specification of a
research work. The specification of the research work mainly focuses on two parts: issues or
problem of the research; and possible solutions for that particular research. This paper provides an
overview of S-Diagram and also a brief discussion on how this technique can be applied to students
in writing their academic reports.

Introduction
Literature review carries most heavy weight especially in writing research proposal. In reviewing
literature, there are a few crucial things need to be identified such as research area, topic, problem,
gap, literature, scope and strategy or methodology. Students need to do the searching, categorizing,
arranging, selecting, skimming and re-arranging the related informations. These processes are very
tedious if there is no efficient and proper technique being implemented.

Currrently, students tend to simply and bluntly write LR from the sources without placing it in a
right flow or with no relationship. Lack of understanding the whole research will result to poor
writing amongst students. In addition, reading and writing is not a habit for them. As a result, the
proposal and final report they produced are in a ‘poor shape‘. With a poor shape of report,
supervisors and reviewers have difficulties to evaluate the reports. There are a lot of academic
writing books and articles published. However, the materials are hard to be followed by the novice
researchers such as students.

The objective of this study is to provide an overview of S-Diagram. This paper intends to provide an
overview of S-Diagram and also discusses how it can be applied as a learning aid for students to
organize their thoughts and ideas efficiently for their LR.

The rest of this paper is structured as follows: The next section discusses the background of study.
The model of the new technique is described in the case study section. Last section gives a brief
discussion and a conclusion.

The Background of Study

S-Diagram can be described as a visual type of learning technique that is to extent inappropriate to
the complexities of the subject matter. This diagram is a simplified representation of thoughts and
ideas related to the research work. People say, ‘when you draw links, you see things‘.

Seeing, listening, touching things and moving are a natural part of learning. Seeing or visualizing
things in different forms can make a big difference. Visualization involved the use of diagrams,
modeling, graphic, video and text as well. Example of visual type of learning technique includes
mind-maps, schematic diagram, and semantic diagram. According to Arnheim [1], “The visual
medium is so enormously superior because it offers structural equivalents to all characteristics of
objects, events and relations”. Visual and layout can contribute to the effectiveness of a piece of
writing [2].

S-Diagram is a great way for students to write and organize their ideas down and fast enough to
allow comprehension. Beside for organizing thought and ideas in LR, S-Diagram can also help the
reader to relates the solutions and research problem stated in chapter one. S-Diagram has been
applied widely, for instance in organizing documents in a PhD thesis [3].
 Case Study
A group of fifteen final year students was selected to implement this technique. Before
implementing S-Diagram, they need to know some basic knowledge of their research such as the
topic, research question, method and resources and the end product. They need to sketch what are
the issues related tu the problem on the left side of the diagram and possible solutions at the right
side as shown in Figure 1.

Research Topic

Issues and Solutions

Problems Related

Conclusion

Figure 1: Initial model of S-Diagram

Currently, most students utilize the mind mapping technique in the initial stage. They need to do
information searching by reading, understanding and writing. Before start writing, they will draw
the information gathered in a few mind maps. From a paper to another paper, then they will produce
several mind maps after categorizing, arranging, selecting and skimming. When they want to write
in LR, they need to relate the issue or problem with the proposed solution from the generated mind
maps. Here, they need to use S-Diagram to organize the whole research. Finally, they need to draw
a conclusion.

These processes of searching, categorizing, arranging, selecting, skimming and re-arranging will
take few modifications on the diagram. Students could practice using creative thinking to improve
the diagram based on their understanding. Figure 2 and Figure 3 shows the examples of the
SDiagram produced by students.

Discussion and Conclusion

This paper has presented S-Diagram and how it can be applied as an aid to help student improve LR
in their research work. Initial observation suggests, the proposed technique may contribute in
students writing skills. S-Diagram enhances student capability in doing research and to resolve the
difficulties of structuring LR in reports. We will investigate the students and lecturers acceptance by
carry out a proper investigation in the future.

References
[1] R. Arnhelm, Visual Thinking. Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1997.

[2] L. Baines, A Teacher’s Guide to Multisensory Learning: Improving Literacy by Engaging the
Senses, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Alexandria, USA,
2008.

[3] S. Haron, Development of Service Performance Index for Urban Bus Operation Using the
TRANSQUAL Model, Ph.D thesis, USM, 2012.

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