TY - JOUR
T1 - Research Trends in Science Education from 2008 to 2012
T2 - A systematic content analysis of publications in selected journals
AU - Lin, Tzu Chiang
AU - Lin, Tzung Jin
AU - Tsai, Chin Chung
N1 - Funding Information:
This research work was supported by the National Science Council (NSC), Taiwan, under the grant number NSC 101-2511-S-011-003-MY3.
PY - 2014/5
Y1 - 2014/5
N2 - This paper presents the third study of research trends in science education. In this review, a total of 990 papers published in the International Journal of Science Education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Science Education from 2008 to 2012 were analyzed. The results indicate that in the recent five years (2008-2012), the top three research topics in the published papers were those regarding the context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning. The changes in the most popular research topics in the past 15 years also evidentially indicate shifts in the journals' preferences and researchers' interest. For example, in 2003-2007, context of students' learning replaced students' conceptual learning, which was the most published research topic from 1998 to 2002. The research topic of students' learning contexts continued to rank the first in 2008-2012. Moreover, there was an increasing trend of research papers regarding science teaching from 1998 to 2012. The analysis of highly cited papers revealed that research topics such as argumentation, inquiry-based learning, and scientific modeling were recently highlighted by science educators. In recent 15 years, productive researchers' publications also focused on the topics about context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning.
AB - This paper presents the third study of research trends in science education. In this review, a total of 990 papers published in the International Journal of Science Education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Science Education from 2008 to 2012 were analyzed. The results indicate that in the recent five years (2008-2012), the top three research topics in the published papers were those regarding the context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning. The changes in the most popular research topics in the past 15 years also evidentially indicate shifts in the journals' preferences and researchers' interest. For example, in 2003-2007, context of students' learning replaced students' conceptual learning, which was the most published research topic from 1998 to 2002. The research topic of students' learning contexts continued to rank the first in 2008-2012. Moreover, there was an increasing trend of research papers regarding science teaching from 1998 to 2012. The analysis of highly cited papers revealed that research topics such as argumentation, inquiry-based learning, and scientific modeling were recently highlighted by science educators. In recent 15 years, productive researchers' publications also focused on the topics about context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning.
KW - Author productivity
KW - Literature review
KW - Research Trend
KW - Systematic content analysis
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U2 - 10.1080/09500693.2013.864428
DO - 10.1080/09500693.2013.864428
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84899953438
SN - 0950-0693
VL - 36
SP - 1346
EP - 1372
JO - International Journal of Science Education
JF - International Journal of Science Education
IS - 8
ER -