Research regarding science learning in Asia: An analysis of selected science education journals

With the use of systematic content analyses of the publications from 2000 to 2009 in four international journals in science education, including the InternationalJournal of Science Education, Science Education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Research in Science Education (RISE), this study explored the trends of research regarding science learning in Asia. A total of 228 papers were found to be related to the science learning of Asian students. First, it was found that about three quarters of the papers originated from Taiwan, Israel, Turkey and China. Analyses of the research topics revealed that in addition to research about students' conceptions of some specific scientific topics (Learning-Conceptions) and classroom contexts and learner characteristics (Learning-Contexts), cultural, social and gender issues are the most frequently investigated topics in the field of science learning. An increasing trend was found in "Learning-Contexts" from 2000 to 2009. Additionally, more research has been conducted to investigate the topics of "Educational Technology" and "Goals, Policy, and Curriculum" from 2000 to 2009. High school and middle school students were the most frequently researched samples. Research about nature of science is deemed as more influential for subsequent work worldwide. Copyright