A review of the meta-analysis by Tingir and colleagues (2017) on the effects of mobile devices on learning

Tingir et al. (2017) concluded from their meta-analysis that the subject areas taught through mobile devices had significantly higher achievement scores (d = 0.48) than the ones taught with traditional teaching methods. Given the relatively high positive effect of mobile devices on student achievement, we carefully analysed the selected research in this meta-analysis. We reviewed Tingir et al.'s (2017) meta-analysis based on analysis of the methodology of the selected research, while drawing on the work of Slavin (2003), Cheung and Slavin (2016), and Sung et al. (2019). Twelve of the 14 (86%) studies included in the meta-analysis done by Tingir and his team (2017) present such major methodological flaws that they should not have been included. Our analysis leads us to believe that the conclusion of Tingir et al. (2017) is not justified. It is recognized that duration of experiment is negatively correlated with effect size: the shorter the duration, the higher the effect (Burston, 2015; Slavin & Lake, 2009). Although demanding more effort, the field of education must raise the bar if it is to have knowledge of acceptable value.