The UMPSA STEM Lab conducted a Structured Literature Review (SLR) Workshop today aimed at helping final-year students strengthen their understanding and writing of Chapter 2 for their senior design projects. Recognizing that the literature review is the foundation of any research, this session focused on introducing students to a systematic way of collecting, analyzing, and presenting existing research, ensuring their work is both comprehensive and credible.
In research writing, there are generally four main types of reviews: narrative review, systematic review, scoping review, and structured literature review (SLR). Among these, the SLR approach is particularly valuable for engineering and technology-based projects, as it enables researchers to identify research gaps and establish a clear direction for their study based on evidence.
During the workshop, students were guided through several key stages of the SLR process, starting from identifying the right keywords, searching for relevant articles across reputable databases, to clustering and categorizing the collected literature according to research themes. Through hands-on practice, participants learned how to use digital tools to organize their sources efficiently, while maintaining critical analysis throughout their writing.
The session not only strengthened students’ academic writing skills but also encouraged research discipline and analytical thinking, both essential for producing high-quality theses.
The UMPSA STEM Lab remains committed to supporting students through capacity-building workshops like this, ensuring that each research project reflects both academic rigor and innovative spirit.
