Integrative data analyses have recently been shown to be an effective tool for researchers interested in synthesizing datasets from multiple studies in order to draw statistical or substantive conclusions. The actual process of integrating the different datasets depends on the availability of some common measures or items reflecting the same…

Predatory journals are a blemish on scholarly publishing and academia and the studies published within them are more likely to contain data that is false. The inclusion of studies from predatory journals in evidence syntheses is potentially problematic due to this propensity for false data to be included. To date, there has been little exploration…

Problem Statement: Among individuals aged 12 years or older, 14.3% (40.0 million) reporting the use of an illicit drug in the previous year. Given the prevalence of drug abuse, it is increasingly important to determine effective screening practices, treatment procedures, and best practices among various subpopulations to identify drug use-related…

Searching multiple resources to locate eligible studies for research syntheses can result in hundreds to thousands of duplicate references that should be removed before the screening process for efficiency. Research investigating the performance of automated methods for deduplicating references via reference managers and systematic review software…

Rapid reviews have been widely employed to support timely decision-making, and limiting the search date is the most popular approach in published rapid reviews. We assessed the accuracy and workload of search date limits on the meta-analytical results to determine the best rapid strategy. The meta-analyses data were collected from the Cochrane…

Data extraction is a crucial, yet labor-intensive and error-prone part of evidence synthesis. To date, efforts to harness machine learning for enhancing efficiency of the data extraction process have fallen short of achieving sufficient accuracy and usability. With the release of large language models (LLMs), new possibilities have emerged to…

Introduction: The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviews rigorous research on educational interventions with a goal of identifying "what works" and making that information accessible to educators and policymakers. In rating the quality of causal research, the WWC has historically prioritized internal validity over external validity. One…

Immersive technologies strive to enhance users' digital experiences by enabling more interactive, engaging, and realistic virtual environments. Despite the growing popularity and advancements in immersive technologies, achieving widespread user acceptance remains a significant challenge. In addition, previous acceptance models may not fully…

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,…

Synthesis of (Z)-alkenes is challenging because the (E) stereoisomers are usually more stable. Energy transfer photocatalysis has emerged as an efficient strategy for (E) [right arrow] (Z) alkene isomerization. We report the development of an advanced undergraduate laboratory experiment that introduces students to contemporary organic…

In this second-semester organic chemistry lab experiment, students work collaboratively using a combination of chemical synthesis and NMR spectroscopy to investigate the diastereoselectivity associated with the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reduction of two ketone substrates having carbonyl groups flanked by an [alpha]-chiral carbon with…

Risk of bias (RoB) assessments are a core element of evidence synthesis but can be time consuming and subjective. We aimed to develop a decision rule-based algorithm for RoB assessment of seroprevalence studies. We developed the SeroTracker-RoB algorithm. The algorithm derives seven objective and two subjective critical appraisal items from the…

Background: Learning analytics (LA) collects, analyses, and reports data from the learning environment, to provide evidence of the effects of a particular learning design. Learning design (LD) outlines the conceptual framework for a meaningful interpretation of Learning analytics data. Objectives: The study aims to identify the most relevant…

The exponential increase in published articles makes a thorough and expedient review of literature increasingly challenging. This review delineated automated tools and platforms that employ artificial intelligence (AI) approaches and evaluated the reported benefits and challenges in using such methods. A search was conducted in 4 databases…

This paper describes how students conceptualize real-life phenomena in which two or more quantities are covarying in an augmented reality environment. With this technology, real-world phenomena and virtual representations may be connected simultaneously. We aim to investigate how students connect elements of the two worlds when conceptualizing…