Systematic Review of Adaptive Learning Research From 2009 to 2018

There has been an increase in the use of learning technologies such as MOOCs, social media, open educational resources, synchronous online technologies, adaptive technologies, mobile technologies, etc. These technologies are referred to as emerging technologies, a term that indicates that their status and use in educational contexts is still fairly fluid (Veletsianos, 2010). Early research in an area typically focuses on what Borko (2004) refers to as “existence proofs,” or one-off studies of individual implementations. It takes time for a more systematic, mature body of research to emerge, and for research gaps to fill in. In response, this special issue brings together a collection of systematic review articles, each focusing on a different aspect of emerging learning technologies. This has led to a need for a strategic approach to review research on the use of these emerging learning environments and technologies. A systematic review is a methodology used to systematically examine secondary data from published studies and synthesize and report findings based on the research questions. Meta-analysis studies are also considered as systematic reviews. In effect, the intent of the special issue is to provide an overview of the current state of research on various emerging technologies, to characterize the major findings or implications of this research, as well as to identify gaps and opportunities for future researchers. Listed below are the abstracts from the seven teams of panelists. Each will present for 8-10 minutes followed by a question and answer session at the end. Social Media and the School Context: A Scoping Review of Research in Education and Related Fields Vanessa Dennen, Hajeen Choi, and Kari Word, Florida State University This scoping review of research explores which disciplines have studied social media as it relates to education and, more broadly, use by students of high school and college age. The sample explores ten years of research (2009-2018). A search of Web of Science yielded 580 relevant peer-reviewed articles published through the end of 2018, with 260 (44.8%) of these articles focused on education. Research in this area has been on a steady upward trajectory since 2009, the first year when relevant social media articles appeared. About half of this research was conducted in North American settings, and quantitative surveys were the most popular data collection method. Findings show that within education, the dominant themes of research were use as a teaching tool, school communication, digital literacy, social issues, and teacher professional development. Outside of education, the dominant themes were negative behaviors, health issues, identity development and management, digital citizenship, and teen culture and relationships. This review shows several areas where education researchers and practitioners would benefit from attending to research conducted outside of our discipline. Although the field of educational research sufficiently addresses issues like teacher professional development and pedagogical uses of social media, the larger issues that affect our students and, in turn, the school context are being explored in other disciplines. A Comprehensive Systematic Review of MOOC Research: Research Techniques, Topics, and Trends from 2009 to 2019 Meina Zhu, Wayne State University Mimi Miyoung Lee, University of Houston This study examines the research methods, topics, and trends of empirical MOOC research to gain a comprehensive understanding of the MOOC phenomenon through reviewing 477 empirical MOOCs research published from 2009 to June 2019. The results indicate that: (1) the majority of studies adopted quantitative research methods followed by mixed research methods and qualitative research methods, (2) the most frequently adopted data collection method was survey, followed by platform database and interviews, (3) almost half of the studies used at least two data collection methods such as survey and interview, (4) the majority of researchers adopted descriptive statistics for data analysis, followed by inferential statistics and content analysis, (5) the research topics primarily focused on students, followed by design-focused, context and impact-focused, and instructor-focused. Among these student-focused topics, learner retention, learning experience, social learning, and engagement were the most mentioned, and (6) the affiliations of the first authors of the MOOC studies were mainly from the U.S. followed by China and Spain. Implications and future research were discussed. Systematic Review of Adaptive Learning Research from 2009 to 2018: Examining Learner, Content, and Instructional Characteristics Florence Martin and Yan Chen, University of North Carolina at Charlotte This systematic review of research on adaptive learning used a strategic search process for published research to synthesize findings on adaptive learning. A total of 61 articles on adaptive learning were analyzed to describe the current state of research and identify gaps in the literature. A number of descriptive characteristics including publication patterns, instructional context, and research methodology components were recorded. The count of adaptive learning articles published fluctuated across the decade and peaked in 2015. During this time, the largest concentration of adaptive learning articles appeared in Computers and Education. The majority of the studies were conducted in higher education in Taiwan and United States, and the greatest concentration was in the Computer Science discipline. The studies were also examined for their research focus, adaptive strategies, and adaptive technologies. The research was aligned to various instructional design phases, with more studies examining design and development, and implementation and evaluation. In terms of adaptive strategies, the authors examined both adaptive sources based on learner model and adaptive targets based on content and instructional model. Learning style was the most examined learner characteristics while adaptive feedback and adaptive navigation were the most examined adaptive targets. This study has implications for adaptive learning designers and future researchers on the gaps in adaptive learning research. Future studies might focus on the increasing availability and capacities of adaptive learning as a learning technology to assist individual learning and personalized growth. “Like, Comment, and Share”: Professional Development Through Social Media in Higher Education Tian Luo, Old Dominion University, Candice Freeman, Old Dominion University, Jill Stefaniak, the University of Georgia In recent years, professional learning networks (PLNs) and online learning communities of practice (CoPs) enabled by social media have emerged as a conduit and communal space for faculty members to engage in professional learning. This systematic review provides a current synthesis of research surrounding social media and professional development in higher education. Articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 20092019 were reviewed and 23 articles that met our selection criteria were included for further analysis and synthesis in this review. The findings suggest that research and practice on social media-supported professional learning is still in its infancy stage. Despite that social media-supported PLNs and CoPs show potential for contributing to faculty professional learning, challenges exist in sustaining faculty participation and engagement, as well as effectively navigating the social media space, especially for novice social media users. Practical implications and future research recommendations are discussed. A Meta-Analysis of Wearables Research in Educational Settings Published 2016-2019 Byron Havard, University of West Florida The integration of wearables in education environments to enhance teaching and learning is an emerging area of research. However, many studies lack the rigor of formal research designs and results are inconclusive. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine the overall effect of wearable use on learning and motivation outcomes and describe the characteristics of the studies that contribute to this effect. Searches for wearables research were conducted in three databases that yielded 144 results after duplicates were removed. Searches in four additional databases did not reveal any supplementary results. Coding based on specific inclusion criteria resulted in 12 studies with 20 effect sizes published between January 2016 and August 2019. It should be noted that while this result was statistically significant, the heterogeneity was also statistically significant. A discussion of the findings, implications, and limitations are provided. A Systematic Review of Mobile Game-based Learning in STEM Education Fei Gao, Bowling Green State University Research on mobile game-based learning has been gaining attention in the past few years. To understand the potential of mobile game-based learning in STEM education, a systematic review was conducted. Based on a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 articles published during the years of 2010 through 2019 were included. Analyses were conducted to identify the contexts of studies, research foci, research methodologies, measures, research instruments, and the mobile game features. The findings suggest that the majority of studies on mobile game-based learning in STEM education were conducted with elementary and middle school students. The studies covered a variety of topics in math and science, but there is a lack of long-term interventions. Multiple measures and instruments were adopted in most of the reviewed studies. However, limited studies moved beyond the simple comparison of game-based approach and traditional approaches. Mobile features such as portability, social interactivity, and contextual sensitivity were more frequently studies as compared to c