Science Education Research Trends in the Chinese Mainland From 2017–2021: A Systematic Literature Review in Selected Journals

Abstract

With its great contributions to the world’s development, Chinese science education has become a hot issue in the international research community. Science education research trends have already received much attention; however, a few have been down about research trends of science education in China. This study systematically analyzed research articles ( n = 56) by science researchers in the Chinese mainland from five journals, Journal of Research in Science teaching, International Journal of Science Education, Research in Science Education, Science Education, and Science & Education, to reveal research trends in terms of authors’ institutions, research types, methods, and research topics from 2017 to 2021. This study found (a) with a slight increase in paper number, collaborating between domestic and international institutions’ researchers contributed mostly to publications in this period while top 10 domestic institutions were mostly normal universities in Tier-1 cities in China; (b) among the most popular articles—empirical articles, studies conducting correlational design were predominant; (c) topics about students’ learning context, assessment, and nature of science were highlighted in this period and variations of authors’ preference on journals existed. Recommendations for future research on local and international science education are suggested.

Socio-scientific Issues (SSI) research trends: A systematic literature review of publications 2011 – 2022

“…The criteria for Scopus-indexed international journals were then applied, leaving 451 journal articles. Only articles from reputable international journals indexed by Scopus in Science Education (Tekin et al, 2016;Luo et al, 2023). This screening process resulted in the identification of 87 of 451 articles that warranted further investigation, following the exclusion of 8 articles due to their nature as literature reviews (Figure 1).…”

“…This assessment encompasses the evolution of discussed topics, connections between different research themes, emerging patterns in methodological approaches, and a detailed exploration of the countries that have emerged as significant contributors in this research field. The inclusion of these five selected journals is also in alignment with the methodology applied in the study by Luo et al (2023), wherein they utilised JRST, IJSE, RSE, SE, and S&E from 2017 to 2021, as well as the content analysis of publications in selected journals (Tsai & Lydia Wen, 2005;. It is worth noting that high quality journals do not only provide a robust platform for scholarly discourse but also serve as catalysts for the advancement and development of the science education research (Lin et al, 2012).…”