The PhotoVoice method in Science, Social, and Environmental Education

Abstract

PhotoVoice, which enables students to take an active role, has started to be used in schools byenvironmental, social, and science educators. In this context, this study was conducted to analyze the useof the PhotoVoice method in science, social, and environmental education studies. To collect data, Web ofScience (WoS) was selected as the source. As a database, it is one of the most used resources by allresearchers, including many disciplines. It was tried to reach all the resources related to PhotoVoice. Only“#PhotoVoice” was used as a keyword. But English was selected as the language. As a result, 2690documents were reached. All data was then downloaded as Tab Delimited File and saved in a format of .txtfile. Secondly, the process of selecting documents related to education was followed. For this, the txt filesare transferred into an Excel file and saved. Afterward, documents related to education (science, socialscience and environmental) were selected (N=88). Research finding showed that although PhotoVoice iswidely used in the fields of environmental education (f=38, 43.2%) and social sciences (f=39, 44.3%), ithas been used at a very low rate in science (f=11, 12.5%). However, the majority of the documents werepublished as articles (f=81, 92%). Review studies (f=7, 8%) were published in the fields of environmentaleducation and social sciences. As of 2008, studies in the field of education have started to be published.Between 2008 and 2010, PhotoVoice studies in environmental education were published. The number ofpublications has increased in recent years, especially after 2017. The highest number of publications wasreached in 2020 (f=23, 26.14%) and 2021 (f=19, 21.59), whereas the decrease was determined in 2022(f=11, 12.5%). The distribution of publications by years and fields tends to increase towards environmentaleducation and social sciences. Furthermore, PhotoVoice studies widely used in environmental educationare in sustainability (28.21%), climate change (15.38%), environmental education (10.26%), and ecosystemservices (7.69%), respectively.