Meta-analysis is a widely used methodology to combine evidence from different sources examining a common research phenomenon, to obtain a quantitative summary of the studied phenomenon. In the medical field, multiple studies investigate the effectiveness of new treatments and meta-analysis is largely performed to generate the summary (average)…

Modeling reading comprehension processes is a critical task for Learning Analytics, as accurate models of the reading process can be used to match students to texts, identify appropriate interventions, and predict learning outcomes. This paper introduces an improved version of the Automated Model of Comprehension, namely version 4.0. AMoC has its…

The use of text mining tools can help librarians improve the precision of searches, increase search sensitivity, and translate search strategies across multiple research databases. When combined with the intuitive approaches that librarians commonly use, text mining tools help reduce biases by improving the objectivity, transparency, and…

This article introduces an open-source software package--R for Qualitative Data Analysis (RQDA). RQDA is an R package for analysis of text-formatted data, which is compatible across operating platforms. It is user-friendly and seamlessly integrates with R, which makes it possible to conduct statistical analyses on qualitative coding. Alternative…

Interactive web-based applets have proven effective in teaching statistics. This article presents new implementations of web-based applets primarily targeting a traditional introductory statistics course in two particular areas: (a) using real-time response data to engage students in simulations and (b) generating randomized datasets for…

Integrating the use of large datasets into our teaching provides critical and unique opportunities to build students' skills and conceptual knowledge. Here, we discuss the core components needed to develop effective activities based on large datasets, which align with the 5E learning cycle. Data-based activities should be structured around a…

To accelerate scientific progress by advancing the spread of open access and free and open source software and hardware in academia, this study surveyed university professors in Canada to determine their willingness accept "open source (OS) endowed chair professorships." To obtain such an "open source endowed chair," in…

Researchers often study dynamic processes of latent variables in everyday life, such as the interplay of positive and negative affect over time. An intuitive approach is to first estimate the measurement model of the latent variables, then compute factor scores, and finally use these factor scores as observed scores in vector autoregressive…

This work presents two electronic systems experiments with resonance tubes, which generate automatically a sequence of several sound wave frequencies in a range defined by the user and then verifies the amplitude of each one in real-time, allowing for the immediate data visualization in a graph. Besides, they save all the frequency values and the…

The application of chemistry concepts in biological settings plays an important role in the interdisciplinary field of drug discovery and development. This is true for molecular docking, where an understanding of intermolecular forces and noncovalent interactions is useful for rational drug design and development. Here we report the design and use…

When searching for scholarly documents, researchers often stick with the same familiar handful of databases. Yet, just beyond these limited horizons lie dozens of alternatives with which they could search more effectively, whether for quick lookups or thorough searches in systematic reviews or meta-analyses. Searchsmart.org is a free website that…

The article seeks to provide new perspectives on the gender gap that characterizes free software, from the review of a series of experiences that have been taking place in Argentina in recent years, which aim at building bridges between free software and feminism. The empirical corpus selected for this work is built upon a series of interviews…

In this Methods Showcase Article, we outline a workflow for running behavioral experiments online, with a focus on experiments that rely on presentation of complex stimuli and measurement of reaction times, which includes many psycholinguistic experiments. The workflow that we describe here relies on three tools: OpenSesame/OSWeb (open source)…

Research administration is a matter of concern for institutions of higher education. While national trends reveal a lack of interest in investing in higher education institutions through federal and state allocations, such institutions have turned to sponsored research as a means of addressing critical issues of instruction, research, and public…

This research investigated how the bug tracker database of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Moodle is developed as an application of crowd work. The bug tracker is used by software developers, who write and maintain Moodle's code, but also by a wider public world of ordinary Moodle users who can report bugs. Despite many studies of the…