CiteSpace-based global science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education knowledge mapping analysis

Duo Yang; Xiaopeng Wu; Jiali Liu; Jincheng Zhou

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1094959

CiteSpace-based global science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education knowledge mapping analysis

Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 10:13:1094959. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1094959. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Duo Yang¹, Xiaopeng Wu^{1

2}, Jiali Liu³, Jincheng Zhou^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ School of Computer and Information, Qiannan Normal University for Nationalities, Duyun, China.
² Faculty of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
³ School of Mathematics and Statistics, Qiannan Normal University for Nationalities, Duyun, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Complex Systems and Intelligent Optimization of Guizhou Province, Duyun, China.

Abstract

To better understand the latest developments in global science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education research, this study collected STEM education research materials to sort out the development of STEM education as a whole, so as to get a clearer path and trend of STEM education development. This study conducted a visualization and quantitative analysis of the literature on STEM education research in Science Citation Index Extended (SCI-E) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) using the CiteSpace (5.8.R3) tool. First, the basic information of STEM education was analyzed in terms of annual publication volume, authors, countries, and research institutions. Secondly, the main fields, basic contents and research hotspots of this research were analyzed by keyword co-occurrence and keyword time zone mapping. Finally, the research frontiers and development trends are presented through co-citation clustering and high-frequency keyword bursts. The research hotspots are focused on engineering education, teachers' professional development, and gender differences. The research frontiers are mainly related to teacher professional development, 21st century skills, early childhood creativity, and gender differences. This study systematically analyzes the latest developments in global STEM education research, which is beneficial for readers to understand the full picture of STEM education research so that researchers can conduct more in-depth studies and promote better development of STEM education. The number of analyzed literature is limited. We only analyzed articles from SSCI and SCI-E databases, and the articles were written in English. In addition, we only analyzed the literature and lacked empirical studies on the findings of the literature.

Keywords: CiteSpace; STEM education; bibliometrics; knowledge graph; knowledge mapping.