• Systematic reviews in education: producing and acquiring knowledge in times of crisis and social change

    Systematic reviews in education: producing and acquiring knowledge in times of crisis and social change


There was significant demand for rigorous evidence during the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, the education sector moved quickly to commission systematic reviews to support choices that had to be taken. Policymakers’ concerns about the effects of lockdown restrictions during the crisis, for example, led to reviews on the potential impact of school closures on learning outcomes.

The pandemic re-emphasised the importance of methodologically rigorous evidence synthesis to inform decision-making and further illustrated the problem that producing systematic reviews is often resource intensive and time-consuming, with reviews often falling quickly out of date. In the current era of data abundance and advances in research complexity, the challenges of completing well-conducted reviews to (often short) timetables are growing.

The articles in this special feature bring together different types of evidence syntheses dealing with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on the educational system, as well as papers engaging with methodological developments in systematic reviews, such as bibliometrics and machine learning.

Articles are published open access and can be read freely online by anyone; please see the article list below.

Publication date: from 2nd October 2024



Editors

Dr Janice TripneyAssociate Professor of Social Policy, Social Research Institute, IOE - Faculty of Education and Society, UCL, UK
Dr Sabine WollscheidResearch Professor, The Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU), Norway


Article list

Research article


Methodological issues in technology-mediated qualitative data collection: a mapping of research undertaken in schools during the Covid-19 pandemic

Leanete Thomas Dotta, André Freitas and Rita Tavares de Sousa

2024-10-09 Volume 22 • Issue 1 • 2024

Also a part of:

Special feature: Systematic reviews in education: producing and acquiring knowledge in times of crisis and social change

Uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning in systematic reviews of education research

Henrik Karlstrøm

2024-12-04 Volume 22 • Issue 1 • 2024

Also a part of:

Special feature: Systematic reviews in education: producing and acquiring knowledge in times of crisis and social change

Review article


The UK Prevent Strategy’s ‘fundamental British values’: a qualitative systematic review of perspectives from the education sector

Mark Reed and Rebecca Rees

2024-10-02 Volume 22 • Issue 1 • 2024

Also a part of:

Special feature: Systematic reviews in education: producing and acquiring knowledge in times of crisis and social change

Evidence use in higher education decision-making and policy: a scoping review of empirical studies from 2010 to 2022

Christoph Thiedig and Antje Wegner

2024-11-06 Volume 22 • Issue 1 • 2024

Also a part of:

Special feature: Systematic reviews in education: producing and acquiring knowledge in times of crisis and social change

Innovation through the implementation of technology in the context of school education: a systematic review

Thiago Freires and Amélia Lopes

2024-11-13 Volume 22 • Issue 1 • 2024

Also a part of:

Special feature: Systematic reviews in education: producing and acquiring knowledge in times of crisis and social change

Experiences and consequences of remote schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic for children and youth in the Nordic countries: a scoping review

Heid Nøkleby, Lars Jørun Langøien, Tiril Cecilie Borge and Trine Bjerke Johansen

2024-11-27 Volume 22 • Issue 1 • 2024

Also a part of:

Special feature: Systematic reviews in education: producing and acquiring knowledge in times of crisis and social change