Systematic sense-making: Understanding the applied value of systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Since the early days of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance, the centre has maintained a focus on systematic review methodologies, especially meta-analysis (a.k.a. quantitative synthesis). On January 30, 2025, we will hear from several CSLP members as they outline the basic methodology of systematic reviews and meta-analyses and present findings from recent and ongoing work.

Participants will explain how they have used various review types (meta-analysis, systematic review, scoping review) across a variety of subject areas. This workshop will bring attention to the rationale behind systematic reviews and meta-analyses and the applied value of these categories of research synthesis. The key steps of implementing meta-analytical research will be outlined, emphasizing how they could affect methodological quality.

Systematic reviews produce high-impact publications that aim to provide the ‘big picture’ on a specific theme and thus guide related policymaking, operational practices, and future research. Collectively, the systematic reviews and meta-analyses published during the last two decades by the CSLP Systematic Review Team have collected over 12,000 citations on Google Scholar.

This presentation will be of interest to researchers and students looking to learn more about systematic review methodologies and how they might incorporate them into their own research programs.

About the Presenters

Richard Schmid (Department of Education, Concordia University), Robert Bernard (Department of Education, Concordia University) and Eugene Borokhovski (Affiliate Associate Professor, Department of Education, Concordia University) on the comparative effectiveness of online, blended learning and flipped classroom interventions in post-secondary education. Presenters will use an array of meta-analyses conducted from 2004 to 2023, to summarize major research findings in the field of distance education and blended learning.

Éric Dion (Département d'éducation et formation spécialisées, UQAM) on the strengths, limitations and applied potential of the best studies on effective regular classroom math instruction at the elementary level.

Ghayda Hassan (Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal), Sebastien Alarie-Brouillette (Faculté des arts et des sciences - École de criminology, Université de Montréal), and Wynnpaul Verala (DAN School of Drama and Music, Queen’s University) representing the Canadian Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Extremist Violence (CPN-PREV) on online radicalization and the effectiveness of international de-radicalization programs and policies to counter violent extremism.