Knowledge-Map Analysis of Undergraduate Biochemistry Teaching Research: A Bibliometric Study from 2012 to 2021

Abstract

Biochemistry is becoming increasingly crucial for undergraduates majoring in biology, chemistry, agriculture, and medicine. In recent years, much research has been carried out on promoting this course's teaching outcomes. However, the knowledge structure of undergraduate biochemistry teaching research has yet to be formed. Here, 715 validated publications from 2012 to 2021 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. The annual publications, journals/cited journals, countries, institutions, authors/cited authors, keywords, and cited references were analyzed using CiteSpace. As revealed in our study, the United States is the most productive country, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, the Journal of Chemical Education, and CBE Life Sciences Education are the most influential journals. Most studies focused on introducing or designing creative laboratory courses to improve students' hands-on abilities. Interestingly, we found that the studies in this period can be divided into two stages: the research topics in the first stage were highly diverse, and in the second stage, the subfield of course-based undergraduate research experiences attracted much attention. Taken together, this study offers insights into the historical development of undergraduate biochemistry educational research, which will have implications for scientists conducting future investigations in this promising field and teachers for better learning outcomes.