Decades of research has assessed the benefits of children's and adolescents' friendships, but friendships among youth often dissolve within a matter of months or years. Studies have investigated predictors and consequences of friendship stability with the expectation that, in order for friendships to have a positive or negative influence on youth,…

Currently, there is no agreement among scientists and science educators on whether heat should be defined as a "process of energy transfer" or "form of energy." For example, students may conceive of heat as "molecular kinetic energy," but the interpretation of this alternative conception is dependent on educational…

This article reviews some of the strengths and limitations of the comparative use of meta-analysis findings, using examples from the Sutton Trust-Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning "Toolkit" which summarizes a range of educational approaches to improve pupil attainment in schools. This comparative use of quantitative…

The impact of misspecifying covariance matrices at the second and third levels of the three-level model is evaluated. Results indicate that ignoring existing covariance has no effect on the treatment effect estimate. In addition, the between-case variance estimates are unbiased when covariance is either modeled or ignored. If the research interest…

Twenty-three single-subject studies aimed at improving the writing achievement of students identified as having a learning disability were analyzed meta-analytically. The effect size phi was used to compare the writing strategies. The dependent measures used to assess the efficacy of the interventions were also coded and reviewed. Results suggest…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the quantity, nature and frequency of intervention research published in Human Resource Development (HRD) journals. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology for this study was a literature review, analysis and synthesis with specific attention to locating intervention research in HRD journals.…

This study synthesizes the methods and findings of published research investigating second language (L2) learners' linguistic development in study-abroad (SA) contexts. Some studies have demonstrated that SA participation is beneficial to learners' L2 development, whereas others have not supported such a relationship. The first phase of this…

Meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) involves fitting models to a common population correlation matrix that is estimated on the basis of correlation coefficients that are reported by a number of independent studies. MASEM typically consist of two stages. The method that has been found to perform best in terms of statistical…

The main aim of this article is to investigate whether there is a significant long-term association between bullying at school and drug use later in life. A meta-analysis is presented based on results from major prospective longitudinal studies with available unadjusted and adjusted effect sizes. Results are based on thorough systematic searches…

In recent years there has been a growing interest to incorporate hypertext glosses into L2 reading materials and accordingly, it has provoked researchers to uncover to what extent and under which moderator variables a specific type of gloss yields more effective outcomes than other types of glossing. The present meta-analysis attempts to examine…

This systematic review and meta-analysis analyzed peer-reviewed research concerning the generalization and maintenance of functional living skills for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Following the application of predetermined inclusion criteria, 31 articles (containing 32 studies) were reviewed and summarized in terms of (a)…

The ability for students to understand numbers and other mathematical symbols is a crucial part of success in mathematics. Accordingly, it is important for researchers to understand the nature of symbolic number processing -- the connections between a symbol or collection of symbols that convey numerical information (e.g., Arabic digits,…

This review examined the relations between grit and academic achievement based on a meta-analysis of 137 studies yielding 156 dependent samples (N = 285,331). Using the robust variance estimation, we found that the correlations of overall grit level with academic achievement were generally weak to moderate (weighted r = 0.19). The correlation of…

This paper analyses meaning-making processes in a blended setting--face-to-face interaction and web forum--purposely created for collaborative learning activity. The analysis focuses on one pair out of 14 dyads. The dyad comprises two female students aged 17 and 18 who attended a Brazilian third-year state secondary school. We envisioned…

The road to second language competence is a long and arduous one, and much of its effort involves learning to recognize and use vocabulary. Fortunately, anytime-anywhere learning with smart phones and smart apps offer a means to lessen the burden and make vocabulary learning more efficient. Accordingly, this study investigated 134 students across…