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Teaching methods that individualize and adapt instructional conditions to K-12 learners' needs, abilities, and interests help improve learning achievement. The most important variables are the teacher's role in the classroom as a guide and mentor and the adaptability of learning activities and materials. This Campbell systematic review assesses the overall impact on student achievement of processes and methods that are more student-centered versus less student-centered. It also considers the strength of student-centered practices in four teaching domains: (1) Flexibility: Degree to which students can contribute to course design, selecting study materials, and stating learning objectives; (2) Pacing of instruction: Students can decide how fast to progress through course content and whether this progression is linear or iterative; (3) Teacher's role: Ranging from authority figure and sole source of information, to teacher as equal partner in the learning process; and (4) Adaptability: Degrees of manipulating learning environments, materials, and activities to make them more student-centered. This review presents evidence from 299 studies (covering 43,175 students in a formal school setting) yielding 365 estimates of the impact of teaching practices. The studies spanned the period 2000-2017 and were mostly carried out in the United States, Europe, and Australia. This review confirms previous research on the effectiveness of student-centered and active learning. It goes further in suggesting the teacher's role promotes effective student-centered learning, and excessive student control over pacing appears to inhibit it.

This systematic review builds upon the work of Abrami et al. (2006) and McGreal and Anderson (2007). It seeks to provide a synthesis and discussion of publicly available government policy documents with regard to e-learning in Canada. In total, 138 policy documents from Canadian provinces and territories and several federal agencies, dated from 2000 to 2010, were identified, retrieved and analyzed using prescriptive and emergent coding approaches with the purpose of uncovering and describing areas of commonality and inconsistency and, hence, determining where discussions about e-learning are lacking. The review confirmed that Canadian policy makers view technology as offering various potential benefits to learners, but also revealed a troubling lack of specific details, consistency and coordination in facilitating the development of e-learning to fulfill these optimistic expectations. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)

This study examines the achievement outcomes accompanying the implementation of a Grade 3 laptop or so-­called "ubiquitous computing" program in a Quebec school district. CAT­3 reading, language, and mathematics batteries were administered at the end of Grade 2 and again at the end of Grade 3, after the first year of computer implementation. Overall gain was found in all three content areas, but was differential when compared with the norms of the CAT­3. Additionally, some evidence suggested a differential gain for lower and middle-­level learners during the school year. Teachers were administered an instrument called the "Technology Implementation Questionnaire" (TIQ) that assessed the purposes and extent of technology integration. Negative correlations were found in reading achievement gain for items associated with the higher use of communicative, evaluative, and creative uses of computers. Open-­ended teacher responses indicated the need for more professional support for instructional implementations of computing.

This review provides a rough sketch of the evidence, gaps and promising directions in e-learning from 2000 onwards, with a particular focus on Canada. The authors searched a wide range of sources and document types to ensure that we represented, comprehensively, the arguments surrounding e-learning. Overall, there were 2,042 entries in their database, of which they reviewed 1,146, including all the Canadian primary research and all scholarly reviews of the literature. In total, there were 726 documents included in the review: 235--general public opinion; 131--trade/practitioners' opinion; 88--policy documents; 120--reviews; and 152--primary empirical research. The Argument Catalogue codebook included the following eleven classes of variables: (1) Document Source; (2) Areas/Themes of e-learning; (3) Value/Impact; (4) Type of evidence; (5) Research design; (6) Area of applicability; (7) Pedagogical implementation factors; 8) A-priori attitudes; (9) Types of learners; (10) Context; and (11) Technology Factors. The authors examined the data from a number of perspectives, including their quality as evidence. In the primary research literature, they examined the kinds of research designs that were used. They found that over half of the studies conducted in Canada are qualitative in nature, while the rest are split in half between surveys and quantitative studies (correlational and experimental). When they looked at the nature of the research designs, they found that 51% are qualitative case studies and 15.8% are experimental or quasi-experimental studies. The findings of this review showed that studies that can increase the general understanding of "what works" in e-learning settings are underrepresented in the Canadian research literature. This article discusses the results of the research as well as implications for K-12 practitioners, post-secondary education, and policymakers.

Research evidence concerning the effects of adaptive teaching and individualized learning remain relatively inconclusive, while there is obviously a need for better understanding how K-12 formal education may be more successful in addressing students' personal needs and interests, accounting for their diverse abilities with the main goal of advancing their learning. The proposed systematic review will not only rely on the most rigorous and comprehensive methodology of meta-analysis, but also should be conceptually sound (i.e., thoroughly exploring educational practices to find consistent links among a multitude of individual pedagogical approaches) and timely (i.e., account for the most recent developments in education). The main research question of the proposed meta-analysis is: Can more Student-Centred (SC) (i.e., more adaptive and individualized) approaches to K-12 instruction be distinguished from more Teacher-Centred (TC) approaches in terms of their effect on student achievements and what substantive and demographic factors moderate these effects? The review outcomes will inform education practitioners and research community of the best instructional practices, preconditions for their successful implementation and potential pitfalls, as well as of directions for further empirical research in the area.

This article contains a second-order meta-analysis and an exploration of bias in the technology integration literature in higher education. Thirteen meta-analyses, dated from 2000 to 2014 were selected to be included based on the questions asked and the presence of adequate statistical information to conduct a quantitative synthesis. The weighted random effects average was g [superscript ++] = 0.393, p <0.000. The article goes on to report an assessment of the methodological quality of the thirteen studies based on Cooper's ("Research synthesis and meta-analysis: a step-by-step approach." Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2010) seven stages in the development of a meta-analysis. Two meta-analyses were found to have five out of seven stages where methodological flaws could potentially create biased results. Five meta-analyses contained two flawed stages and one contained one flawed stage. Four of the stages where methodological flaws can create bias are described in detail. The final section attempts to determine how much influence the methodological flaws exerted on the results of the second-order meta-analysis.

The trend towards using research knowledge to improve policies and practices is on the rise. However, despite considerable effort and notable progress in recent years, it seems that school practitioners continue to make little use of research and it is not clear what conditions would facilitate or obstruct this use. This review focuses exclusively on the available empirical research about (a) the use of research by school practitioners and (b) the determinants of use, and identifies future directions for research.

This research study employs a second-order meta-analysis procedure to summarize 40 years of research activity addressing the question, does computer technology use affect student achievement in formal face-to-face classrooms as compared to classrooms that do not use technology? A study-level meta-analytic validation was also conducted for purposes of comparison. An extensive literature search and a systematic review process resulted in the inclusion of 25 meta-analyses with minimal overlap in primary literature, encompassing 1,055 primary studies. The random effects mean effect size of 0.35 was significantly different from zero. The distribution was heterogeneous under the fixed effects model. To validate the second-order meta-analysis, 574 individual independent effect sizes were extracted from 13 out of the 25 meta-analyses. The mean effect size was 0.33 under the random effects model, and the distribution was heterogeneous. Insights about the state of the field, implications for technology use, and prospects for future research are discussed. (Contains 1 note and 3 tables.)

This paper describes a range of models and methods for synthesizing diverse forms of research evidence. Although this topic is applicable to many contexts (e.g. education, health care), the focus here is on the research traditions of distance education and online learning. Thirteen models and methods are described, and seven examples from distance education and online learning are used to illustrate them. The models are classified as systematic, purposeful, and mixed and are described and compared in terms of purpose, methodological aspects, and expected outcomes. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Examines the major changes that have occurred in the field of educational technology (ET) during the years 1968-89 from three perspectives: (1) the professional literature, (2) the curriculum of Concordia University's (Quebec) graduate program in ET, and (3) the views of 408 Concordia graduate students. Results are analyzed and resulting trends are suggested. (48 references) (LRW)

Examines meta analysis as a technique for reviewing literature, with a particular focus on the literature of instructional development. An example using meta analyses to study mastery learning is presented, and a summary of meta analytic studies of instructional variable effects on student achievement is included. (38 references) (LRW)

Describes a study of junior college students that examined the interrelationship of structural cueing and graphic organizers, two prose processing adjuncts intended to convey the presence and nature of structure in text to learners with high, middle, and low level reading skills. Treatment of the experimental and control groups is explained, and aptitude treatment interactions are discussed. (31 references) (LRW)