Background: COVID-19 accentuated an evergreen dilemma in evidence-informed policy making--the imperative to synthesise the best available evidence with limited time to produce high quality synthesis. The pandemic prompted the adaptation of evidence synthesis practices to match the urgency of the crisis, and heightened demand by policy makers,…

Systematic reviews have witnessed significant growth across many fields, including education. In this article, we outline the background of this growth, highlight the tendency to focus on methodological considerations, and propose a framework to support education researchers in preparing systematic reviews with broad impact. We draw on our…

Augmented reality (AR), a cutting-edge technology, has the potential to change the way students learn by superimposing virtual items and information onto the real environment. Through more immersive and interesting interactions with digital content, AR might help students better understand difficult concepts and boost their drive to learn. As a…

Utilising novel ways of knowing, aligned with an ecological approach, the Learning in Development Research Framework (LDRF) has been introduced as a different way to guide research and practice in sport. A central feature of this framework is an appreciation of researcher embeddedness; positioned as an inhabitant who follows along with the…

The design research programme learning by imitative and creative reasoning (LICR) studies whether, how and why tasks and teaching that enhance creative reasoning lead to a more productive struggle and more efficient learning than the common but inefficient task designs based on imitating given solution procedures. The purpose of this paper is to…

This article responds to Wright and Nelson's (1995) call for a "creative synthesis" of participant observation and participatory research, which may allow the limitations of both methods to be addressed. It does so by reflecting on the experience of doing long-term research both with and on young Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Although…

Special education in Saudi Arabia was formally established in 1962. The earliest cited literature on special education written in English was a 1970 government report. This article presents results from the first synthesis of internationally published Saudi special education literature over a 44-year period. This synthesis yielded information…

Parental participation and cooperation in children's educational experiences is positively related to important student outcomes. It is becoming increasingly evident that context is a significant factor in understanding academic achievement, and the setting in which a child, family, and school is situated is among the salient contexts influencing…

This article synthesizes research on social capital, school outcomes, internet use, and volunteering to argue that e-mentoring--which is commonly practiced over long distances--could become a powerful way to build greater cohesiveness in local communities. Realizing this potential will require a larger-scale and more coordinated approach to…

This article explores how the evidence base for aspects of early childhood has been explored using systematic research synthesis methods developed at the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre). Three early childhood systematic reviews have been carried out using EPPI-Centre procedures and tools. The…

Research studies that have focused on the educational effectiveness of "Sesame Street" are reviewed, and a summary and synthesis of research results are presented. Educational effectiveness is defined as effectiveness in areas related to beginning schooling and the early years of the child's formal education. From the more than 100…

A national advisory group of the Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women (CCLOW) developed a proposal for an exploratory research project examining how gender and the power balance of male-female relationships affect women's access to/experience of literacy programs. A researcher was selected to conduct the following project…

National evaluations of quality aspects of vocational training programs (VTPs) in five European countries--Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, and Portugal--were reviewed to determine how VTP quality is currently being evaluated and identify a more coherent approach to evaluating VTPs. Special attention was paid to how existing evaluation studies…

This deliverable has been produced in the context of the Knowledge-Practice Laboratory (KP-Lab) project, which is aimed at facilitating innovative practices of working with knowledge in higher education, teacher training, and professional networks. This deliverable is a synopsis of the first experiences encountered during the first 6 months of the…

This document attempts to lay the groundwork for modeling and measuring the "wider benefits" of learning. The introduction distinguishes between two categories of "wider benefits" of learning. The first category is noneconomic benefits (benefits that are not measured directly in terms of additional income or increased…