LibGuides: Education, learning and teaching: Home

Get a head start - Preparing for an assignment

To help you get off to a great start with your first assignment the Academic Librarians have created a short course for you: Preparing for an assignment

It takes only 15 minutes and will introduce you to different information sources, how to search for and select resources and also covers basic referencing.

Who is this guide for?

We've made this guide to support anyone researching education and pedagogy.

How do I use this guide?

We've designed this guide to help you work out what kind of information you need, plus where and how to find it.

Use the boxes on the left-hand side to go through the following sections:

Home - get in touch with us and find information for new GCU students
Researching your topic: get started with types of information sources, planning your search and search tips
Using databases: select subject-specific databases to help you find journal articles and other information
Evaluating information: decide whether what you've found is credible
Referencing and plagiarism: create a reference and find out how to avoid plagiarism

Key links and journals

If you're in a hurry, here are some key links to help you get started. Our Using databases page includes more in-depth information and support.

Databases
Selected journals

Discover
Discover is the main GCU library search and is a great place to start searching for information. You can find books, e-books, journal articles and newspaper articles across all subjects.
British Education Index (BEI)
Includes literature on research, policy and practice in education. Its strengths are in evaluation and assessment, technology and special educational needs. Mainly UK-focused.
Education Research Information Online (ERIC)
ERIC is a database containing articles and research on all aspects of education and pedagogy. It is sponsored by the US Department of Education, so has a US focus.

If you are accessing these links off-campus, you may need to log in again. Look for any kind of option called 'Institutional Login' or 'Log in via my institution'.