The early and recent history of meta-analysis is outlined. After providing a definition of meta-analysis and listing its major characteristics, developments in statistics and research are described that influenced the formulation of modern meta-analytic methods. Major meta-analytic methods currently in use are described. Statistical and other…

Fifty-three research studies on feedback timing and verbal learning underwent meta-analysis. Applied studies using actual classroom quizzes and real learning materials found immediate rather than delayed feedback to be more effective; experimental studies of acquisition of test content indicate the opposite. Laboratory studies of list learning…

An overview of meta-analysis in education is provided. Methodology is discussed and substantive findings from meta-analytic studies are reviewed for six major areas of educational research: (1) instructional systems; (2) instructional design; (3) curricular innovation; (4) teacher education and evaluation; (5) class and school organization; and…

Meta analyses were conducted of computer assisted instruction, computer managed instruction, and computer enriched instruction. Positive effects were usually reported, with variations according to instructional type and age level. Results also indicated that effects varied according to the evaluation design and the type of publication in which the…

A meta-analysis of 26 studies shows that accelerated gifted students outperform students of the same age and ability who are not accelerated and achieve as well as equally gifted older students in the higher grades. Correlational studies suggest that accelerates are equally successful later in life. (MLF)

The assumptions and consequences of applying conventional and newer statistical methods to meta-analytic data sets are reviewed. The application of the two approaches to a meta-analytic data set described by L. V. Hedges (1984) illustrates the differences. Hedges analyzed six studies of the effects of open education on student cooperation. The…

A meta-analysis of findings from 31 separate studies showed that ability grouping has significant positive effects on the academic performance of elementary school children. The benefits of grouping tended to be small in the typical study of achievement --an increase from the 50th to the 58th percentile for the typical student in a grouped class.…

Inter-class ability grouping, i.e., assigning students to classes according to ability, is a controversial topic among parents, teachers, school administrators, and educational researchers. To determine the effects of inter-class ability grouping, a meta-analytic methodology was applied to 85 studies carried out in elementary and secondary…

The meta-analytic approach used in this review is similar to that described by Glass et al. (1981), whose approach requires a reviewer to locate and code studies of an issue, to code study outcomes on a common scale, and to use statistical methods to relate study features to outcomes. The studies considered for use in this meta-analysis came from…

Results from a meta-analysis of 26 controlled studies on the effects of accelerated instruction on elementary and secondary school students are presented. The examination performance of accelerates surpassed the performance of equivalent age and intelligence nonaccelerates and equalled the performance of same-grade but older, talented…

Statistical methodologists have sometimes criticized the use of conventional statistics in meta-analysis, and in recent years a number of them have advocated the use of a special new statistical methodology for research synthesis. An examination of recent books describing this methodology shows that it is seriously limited in its applicability to…

A meta-analysis was conducted of 29 comparative studies located primarily through computer searches of Comprehensive Dissertation Abstracts and ERIC. Studies chosen took place in actual elementary classrooms, reported measured outcomes for both computer-based education and control classes, and were free from methodological flaws. A total of 21…

A meta-analysis of findings from 108 controlled evaluations showed that mastery learning programs have positive effects on the examination performance of students in colleges, high schools, and the upper grades in elementary schools. Effects of mastery programs on student attitudes, instructional time, and college completion rates are discussed.…

The 101 computer-based education (CBE) studies considered for use in this meta-analysis came from three major sources: references in an earlier meta-analytic review of CBE at the college level (J. Kulik, et al., 1980); a computer search of the Comprehensive Dissertation Abstracts and ERIC databases; and utilization of the bibliographies contained…

The second of four symposium papers brings together the results of four separate statistical analyses of findings on computer-based instruction (CBI) in 199 comparative studies, of which 32 were conducted in elementary schools, 42 in high schools, 101 in universities and colleges, and 24 in adult education settings. Each was a controlled,…