Mapping out the didactical landscape of biodiversity conservation education: a systematic literature review of empirical research in school settings

The purpose of this study was to present a systematic literature review of empirical research in the emerging field of faculty members' educational technology professional development (ETPD). The focus of faculty members' ETPD is to ensure pedagogically sound technology use in the classroom. Thirty-five articles were identified from a systematic literature investigation, and the results revealed three postures that faculty members may adopt to promote their ETPD: faculty-as-learner, faculty-as-designer, and faculty-as-researcher. These results may help inform stakeholders and policymakers regarding key markers of faculty members' ETPD based on empirical evidence, to promote a sustainable and scalable educational change.

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the prosocial impact of virtual reality (VR) audiovisual content based on a systematic literature review of empirical research on immersive VR media's potential to elicit prosocial behaviors. The illusion of place, verisimilitude, and virtual corporeality are the main elements that underpin the creation of immersive experiences that can turn the user into an active subject of the narrative, engaging with the audiovisual content and feeling the emotions it elicits. A virtual reality system that can offer these three elements provides the means to transform not only the user's sensation of space and reality, but even the users themselves. The question this paper seeks to answer is whether audiovisual VR content can influence an individual's thoughts and feelings about otherness, thereby eliciting prosocial behaviors rooted in a sense of social justice, equality and fairness. To this end, it presents a systematic literature review in accordance with the guidelines of the PRISMA statement, applying a self-deductive coding system based on the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model. The review identifies trends in research on the prosocial potential of VR content, among which perspective taking stands out as one of the most common strategies. In addition, predictors, moderators, mediators, effects, and their correlations are identified in the research reviewed.

Over the last four decades, studies have investigated the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into education. A recent prominent AI-powered technology that has impacted the education sector is ChatGPT. This article provides a systematic review of 14 empirical studies incorporating ChatGPT into various educational settings, published in 2022 and before the 10th of April 2023—the date of conducting the search process. It carefully followed the essential steps outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines, as well as Okoli’s (Okoli in Commun Assoc Inf Syst, 2015) steps for conducting a rigorous and transparent systematic review. In this review, we aimed to explore how students and teachers have utilized ChatGPT in various educational settings, as well as the primary findings of those studies. By employing Creswell’s (Creswell in Educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research [Ebook], Pearson Education, London, 2015) coding techniques for data extraction and interpretation, we sought to gain insight into their initial attempts at ChatGPT incorporation into education. This approach also enabled us to extract insights and considerations that can facilitate its effective and responsible use in future educational contexts. The results of this review show that learners have utilized ChatGPT as a virtual intelligent assistant, where it offered instant feedback, on-demand answers, and explanations of complex topics. Additionally, learners have used it to enhance their writing and language skills by generating ideas, composing essays, summarizing, translating, paraphrasing texts, or checking grammar. Moreover, learners turned to it as an aiding tool to facilitate their directed and personalized learning by assisting in understanding concepts and homework, providing structured learning plans, and clarifying assignments and tasks. However, the results of specific studies (n = 3, 21.4%) show that overuse of ChatGPT may negatively impact innovative capacities and collaborative learning competencies among learners. Educators, on the other hand, have utilized ChatGPT to create lesson plans, generate quizzes, and provide additional resources, which helped them enhance their productivity and efficiency and promote different teaching methodologies. Despite these benefits, the majority of the reviewed studies recommend the importance of conducting structured training, support, and clear guidelines for both learners and educators to mitigate the drawbacks. This includes developing critical evaluation skills to assess the accuracy and relevance of information provided by ChatGPT, as well as strategies for integrating human interaction and collaboration into learning activities that involve AI tools. Furthermore, they also recommend ongoing research and proactive dialogue with policymakers, stakeholders, and educational practitioners to refine and enhance the use of AI in learning environments. This review could serve as an insightful resource for practitioners who seek to integrate ChatGPT into education and stimulate further research in the field.

The potential to realise social legacies through hosting large-scale sport events has gained saliency in policy and academic contexts over the last decade. However, social legacies, such as enhanced civic pride, social inclusion, civic engagement, and quality of life remain largely under researched. This article presents findings from a systematic quantitative literature review of academic articles which empirically investigated social legacies and were published between 2000 and 2016. Seventy-seven articles were examined to find patterns and gaps in the research. Our findings show 34 social legacy types have been examined empirically. However, empirical research on social legacies comes from a limited number of geographic contexts, and the theories and methods employed to research such legacies are also limited, suggesting opportunities for innovation in future research designs. We highlight a role for leisure studies to contribute to richer understanding of social legacies. We also call for greater intentionality by researchers to consider what constitutes social legacy and more meaningful and unique ways to research social legacies and inform practice.

Ethics is a prominent topic in learning analytics that has been commented on from conceptual viewpoints. For a broad range of emerging technologies, systematic literature reviews have proven fruitful by pinpointing research directions, knowledge gaps, and future research work guidance. With these outcomes in mind, we conducted a systematic literature review of the research on ethical issues that have been empirically approached in the learning analytics literature. In our final analysis, 21 articles published in the period 2014–2019 met our inclusion criteria. By analyzing this data, we seek to contribute to the field of learning analytics by 1) characterizing the type of empirical research that has been conducted on ethics in learning analytics in the context of higher education, 2) identifying the main ethical areas addressed in the selected literature, and 3) pinpointing knowledge gaps.

BackgroundThe literature on implementing Electronic Health Records (EHR) in hospitals is very diverse. The objective of this study is to create an overview of the existing literature on EHR implementation in hospitals and to identify generally applicable findings and lessons for implementers.MethodsA systematic literature review of empirical research on EHR implementation was conducted. Databases used included Web of Knowledge, EBSCO, and Cochrane Library. Relevant references in the selected articles were also analyzed. Search terms included Electronic Health Record (and synonyms), implementation, and hospital (and synonyms). Articles had to meet the following requirements: (1) written in English, (2) full text available online, (3) based on primary empirical data, (4) focused on hospital-wide EHR implementation, and (5) satisfying established quality criteria.ResultsOf the 364 initially identified articles, this study analyzes the 21 articles that met the requirements. From these articles, 19 interventions were identified that are generally applicable and these were placed in a framework consisting of the following three interacting dimensions: (1) EHR context, (2) EHR content, and (3) EHR implementation process.ConclusionsAlthough EHR systems are anticipated as having positive effects on the performance of hospitals, their implementation is a complex undertaking. This systematic review reveals reasons for this complexity and presents a framework of 19 interventions that can help overcome typical problems in EHR implementation. This framework can function as a reference for implementers in developing effective EHR implementation strategies for hospitals.

Accessible digital games represent an emerging frontier for inclusion, offering both challenges and opportunities to advance the cultural participation of neurodivergent people. This study presents a systematic literature review of empirical research on game accessibility for neurodivergent players, including autistic individuals and persons with intellectual disabilities. Forty-eight studies published between 2014 and 2025 were analysed to examine how accessibility is defined, implemented, and evaluated in game design. The results reveal that accessibility is often framed as a functional or therapeutic adjustment rather than as a social or cultural right. Although growing attention has been paid to sensory and cognitive barriers, few studies adopt neurodiversity-affirming or participatory frameworks. Most remain confined to educational or rehabilitation contexts, with limited involvement of neurodivergent co-designers. The findings call for a redefinition of accessibility as a creative, ethical, and political principle central to inclusive digital culture and the neurodiversity movement.

This article conducts a systematic literature review of empirical research on fintech firms, with a particular focus on studies that utilize firm-level financial data and econometric analysis. Applying the PRISMA methodology, 25 peer-reviewed articles were identified from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. A combined bibliometric and content analysis was performed to uncover the main research trends, thematic clusters and methodological approaches in this emerging field. The findings reveal three key areas of focus: (1) fintech and sustainability (ESG), (2) innovation and banking performance and (3) the application of advanced econometric models. Despite the increasing academic interest, the review identifies persistent gaps, including a lack of firm-level data, underrepresentation of certain geographical regions and limited exploration of policy implications. The study concludes by proposing future research directions at the intersection of fintech, sustainability and data-driven financial innovation. Given the small but exhaustive corpus (N = 25), these network maps are used as exploratory, descriptive visualizations only and are not interpreted as stable thematic clusters or robust network structures.

During the last decade, many cities worldwide have implemented various green policies; in this way, they have gradually transformed into “green cities”. The emergence of green cities may provide a promising venue to address cities’ environmental degradation and citizens’ disengagement with current socio-environmental issues, thus giving rise to the notion of Environmental Citizenship (EC). Despite these assumptions, empirical research on the topic is currently emerging. In this study, we examine citizens’ engagement in green cities and its interrelatedness with EC through a systematic literature review. The selected empirical studies (n = 25) were published in peer-reviewed journals during the timespan of the last 12 years (2010–2021). In total, 31 green cities were analyzed in the 25 selected empirical studies. Thematic and frequency analysis revealed that green cities encourage citizens’ engagement with the implemented green policies, while also advancing citizens’ EC. Furthermore, correlational analysis between citizens’ engagement and the Education for Environmental Citizenship (EEC) model revealed that citizens’ engagement with the implemented green policies fosters citizens’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and behaviors, fueling the undertaking of various EC actions. Importantly, green cities have also proved successful in achieving EC’s outcomes leading to sustainability.

The Critical Science Approach (CSA) was developed in 1979 with the intent to create a consistent conceptual identity unifying the Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) profession's philosophy, knowledge, and practice. This systematic literature review examines empirical CSA research published between 1979 and 2022 to better understand what the CSA means for the profession. A total of 71 articles met the criteria with the CSA highly integrated in 22 of those articles. Results illustrate a need for increased CSA scholarship, continuity in keyword usage within the CSA language, and collaboration among preprofessional programs and professional organizations to support and sustain a CSA paradigm shift.

Quality requirements deal with how well a product should perform the intended functionality, such as start-up time and learnability. Researchers argue they are important and at the same time studies indicate there are deficiencies in practice. Our goal is to review the state of evidence for quality requirements. We want to understand the empirical research on quality requirements topics as well as evaluations of quality requirements solutions. We used a hybrid method for our systematic literature review. We defined a start set based on two literature reviews combined with a keyword-based search from selected publication venues. We snowballed based on the start set. We screened 530 papers and included 84 papers in our review. Case study method is the most common (43), followed by surveys (15) and tests (13). We found no replication studies. The two most commonly studied themes are (1) differentiating characteristics of quality requirements compared to other types of requirements, (2) the importance and prevalence of quality requirements. Quality models, QUPER, and the NFR method are evaluated in several studies, with positive indications. Goal modeling is the only modeling approach evaluated. However, all studies are small scale and long-term costs and impact are not studied. We conclude that more research is needed as empirical research on quality requirements is not increasing at the same rate as software engineering research in general. We see a gap between research and practice. The solutions proposed are usually evaluated in an academic context and surveys on quality requirements in industry indicate unsystematic handling of quality requirements.

While government organizations continue to invest in e‐Government systems, there is still uncertainty as to the benefits that can be generated. Without clear expectations, it will be impossible for managers to measure and evaluate outcomes. This systematic literature review examines 60 empirical studies on the impacts of e‐Government published in the leading public administration and information systems journals. The impacts are classified using public value theory, first, by the role for whom value is generated and, second, by the nature of the impact. The results show that the most commonly studied impacts are productivity for the taxpayers and clients, client satisfaction and service quality for clients, and improved trust and communications for citizens. There are many areas where limited research has been conducted. We maintain that there is a complex network of immediate and indirect impacts that must be considered by public managers in their analysis of potential investments.

Research aims: This study presents a systematic literature review of empirical research on Big Data Analytics (BDA) in the public sector. The purpose is to examine how BDA has been applied, the research settings, dominant themes, and the lessons learned across the literature.Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a review method adapted from Hoque (2014), the study analyzed 64 articles published between 2015 and 2023 sourced from the Scopus database. Articles were selected based on relevance, journal quality, accessibility, and methodological rigor.Research findings: The review identified six key thematic areas in public sector BDA research: accountability, energy efficiency, sustainability, innovation, analytics, and governance. The dominant theories found include Big Data Theory, Stakeholder Theory, and Agency Theory, while archival and survey methods were the most commonly employed research approaches. The United Kingdom, United States, and international multi-country studies contributed the most publications.Theoretical contribution/ Originality: The novelty of this study lies in its exclusive focus on the public sector, its integrative thematic analysis using co-word mapping, and its implications for academic theory building, practical implementation, and policy formulation in public administration.Practitioner/Policy implication: This study can be used these insights to develop effective BDA strategies, enhance performance, and foster trust in public institutions through more responsive and evidence-based decision-making.Research limitation/Implication: Future research is expected to further study and research: (1) The Impact of Big Data on the Public Sector using journals or other references outside the Scopus database; (2) Future research can use keywords that are different from this research, (3) and can also access more journals to be reviewed.

Citizen science (CS) has shown tremendous popularity in recent years; however, there is still a lack of understanding of important aspects that determine citizens’ participation and involvement in CS initiatives. Although CS initiatives could serve as a means of promoting forms of participation that contribute to the democratization of science, limited attention is still being paid to the “citizen” component of the citizen science term. For this reason, a systematic literature review (SLR), aligned with the PRISMA methodology, was applied to empirical studies on citizens’ participation in environmental and nature-based CS initiatives established over the last two decades. The participatory aspect of the retrieved 119 CS initiatives was analysed on the basis of: (a) citizens’ participation and (b) environmental citizenship. Our findings show that the majority of the CS initiatives were mostly limited to the local scale, and they primarily followed the contributory model, in which volunteers were mostly treated as “data collectors”. Therefore, it is important to overcome barriers related to the design and implementation of CS that hinder citizens’ participation and, at the same time, to strengthen democratization through a more participatory engagement of active and aware citizens, thus promoting environmental citizenship.

The study conducts a Systematic Literature Review of empirical research spanning from 2014 to 2023, examining teachers’ pedagogical activities and their role in playful learning within primary education, with a focus on the use of pedagogical methods. Twenty-one relevant papers were selected using a four-phase PRISMA framework. The analysis reveals four distinct phases of pedagogical activities: planning, orientation, playing, and elaboration. Teachers play an important role, being responsible for planning activities, facilitating and supervising students’ learning, sparking their intellectual curiosity, and assessing their progress. Furthermore, the study highlights that the teacher can also become a co-player. The findings are discussed, contributing greatly to the understanding of playful learning processes in primary education and helping teachers develop effective playful learning pedagogical activities, thereby fostering a playful learning environment.