Authorship and topic trends in STEM education research

This reprint focuses on the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on STEM education and measures (teaching tools and research practices) taken to combat the learning gaps in STEM education in the post-pandemic era. Contributions were collected from researchers engaged in STEM education research, including the methods, pedagogical approaches, and environments they utilize in the post-pandemic era.

Finnish STEM education research experts critically examined the focus of STEM education research, particularly in physics, chemistry, and biology, using the didactic triangle framework. Analyzing numerous research papers and master's theses from forums like NorDiNa and ESERA, three pivotal articles were highlighted. These articles revealed dominant research trends like the student-content relationship, underscored areas lacking attention, such as educators' insights into students' perceptions, and advocated for a broader, more holistic approach in future STEM education research endeavors.

The development of STEM education scholarship takes time and collective effort. Identifying and examining trends in highly cited empirical STEM education research over time will help inform the field and future research. In this study, we searched the Web of Science core database to identify the top 100 most-cited empirical research journal publications in each of three consecutive years. Our analyses revealed consistencies and important changes over the years in terms of the inclusion of articles themselves, the journals where they were published, disciplinary content coverage, and research topics. The results demonstrate that STEM education research is increasingly recognized as important in education, both through publications and citations, and that the field is moving toward conducting more multi- and interdisciplinary STEM education research.

This research aims to examine teacher’s initial perceptions of STEM Education. The participants in this study were 43 in-service STEM related subject teachers from the northeastern region in Thailand who were keen on participating in the STEM Education for Educators Module, Khon Kaen University. The data was collected through an open-ended questionnaire of Teacher’s Perceptions of STEM Education (TP-STEM) prior to the process of professional development beginning. The aspects of TP-STEM included (1) STEM concept; (2) Experience implementing STEM; (3) STEM PK; (4) Teacher’ competency for STEM education; (5) Assessment in STEM education; (6) Supporting STEM education in schools; and (7) Research in STEM education. An interpretative paradigm was implemented as a methodology to interpret qualitative data in this research. Research findings were discussed around seven aspects of teacher’s perceptions of STEM education according to the TPSTEM questionnaire. The findings reveal that teacher’s perceptions of the STEM concept goes around the term integrated STEM disciplines. Surprisingly, the majority of teachers had never implemented STEM education in their teaching and a number of teachers tend to separate STEM teaching into each discipline rather than link the disciplines for problem solving. Key PK in STEM education was emphasised on practicing, active learning, and integrated disciplines. Teacher’s indicated PK (PK) as the most significant competency for STEM education, whereas partnership was also considered as a competency to support successful STEM implementation. Authentic assessment and formative assessment were emphasised as key features for assessment in STEM education. Teachers indicated good organisation and support from schools on resources, policy, and professional development for successful STEM implementation. Also, enhancing student’s skills, and innovation were indicated as a focus for STEM education research. These findings could explicitly indicate the trail for professional development (PD) provided that teacher’s ideas about STEM education are related closely to the STEM philosophy from the basic background to implications for a more efficient outcome for implementing STEM education in schools. Moreover, there were indications of the need for support from the Ministry of Education, school administrations, and experts from universities in order to produce effective STEM Education in Thailand. The paper has implications for STEM education professional development not only in Thailand but also for Asia Pacific countries.

In this study, 1146 journal papers on Chinese STEM education research were visualized by using CiteSpace visualization software. It is found that the core group of authors of STEM education research in China has not been formed. Also, there is no universal cooperation among the research institutions. The core areas of research include STEM education abroad, analysis of STEM theory, STEM curriculum and teaching. China’s STEM education research can be roughly divided into three periods: initial exploration period, rapid development period and deepening research period. The key areas of future research are science education, research on foreign STEM education and modern educational technology innovation.

STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—has become important as an educational construct and phenomenon in recent years. However, it is only just recently that STEM education has begun to be examined from a philosophical point of view. There is therefore a need for further investigation of its philosophical basis, particularly in relation to integrated STEM education (iSTEM). Recent conceptual and empirical studies emphasize the crucial role of design in achieving successful STEM integration, and design thinking has also lately gained traction in such integration. The aim of this study is to investigate an integrated philosophy of STEM education, based on the methodological backbone of design. The research methodology consisted of a critical review of the literature regarding the philosophy of STEM (education), science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and STEM education research, related to the current issues of integrating the various STEM subjects. We thus base the philosophical framework on philosophy and studies from/on the STEM subjects in education. It is concluded that from a methodological point of view, design holds promising affordances for unifying the STEM subjects through “pure STEM problems”. Design as part of, for instance, particular engineering design projects may consequently require the “design” of applicable scientific experiments as well as mathematics expressions and formulae specifically when engaging in technological modeling.

Since, the 1st International Annual Meeting on STEM education (IAMSTEM) 2018 was organized based on seed funding of Thailand Ministry of Education and Khon Kaen University with aiming to bring STEM education researchers and teachers together for building up STEM education community. The ASEAN Research Network for STEM education (ARN-STEM) was formed in 2018 when the group of STEM education researchers in Southeast Asia jointly organized the IAMSTEM 2018. The primary objective was to encourage the creation of links, and the exchange of ideas and information among the academic community, private-sector firms and organizations, and government policy makers, leading to a better understanding on STEM education related policy and innovations in the ASEAN region.In 2019, our group is growing up. The 2nd International Annual Meeting on STEM education (IAMSTEM 2019) was held in 27-29 September 2019 at Thai Nguyen University of Education, Thai Nguyen, Vietnam. It gives us great pleasure to announce that the 2nd IAMSTEM 2019 was a resounding success, with over 250 participants from throughout Vietnam and from other countries. On behalf of the organizers, ASEAN Research Network for STEM education (ARN-STEM), ASEAN Comparative Educational Research Network (ACER-N), Science Education Association of Thailand (SEAT), Thailand Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC); Khon Kaen University, Rajabhat Yala University, Thailand; Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Negeri (STAIN) Sorong, State University of Malang, Indonesia; Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology, the Philippines as well as other corporate sponsors whose generous contributions made this a successful meeting. IAMSTEM 2019 provided a unique opportunity for experts, academics, and educators to exchange knowledge and build friendships. The meeting consisted of four keynote speakers, and a number of contributed oral and poster presentations. Resulting from the success of IAMSTEM 2019 are qualified full research articles from the presentations, which have been reviewed and compiled in this IOP Journal of Physics: Conference Series. It is our sincere hope that these proceedings will contribute to advancing our understanding of STEM education and applications and serve as initiators for even greater achievements in the field.List of Committees are availble in this pdf.

STEM teacher professional development (STEM‐TPD) has become a hot topic of educational research. To evaluate the main characteristics, status and trends of this educational field and to provide new insights for future studies, this review applies a bibliometric analysis of relevant publications. The Web of Science (WoS) core collection database was used as the source of bibliographic data for the period 2011–2021; specifically, 776 articles published in 232 journals were selected for this review. The bibliometric analysis was then carried out using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer to explore trends and patterns in the STEM‐TDP literature. It is essential to note that the analysis does not account for the quality of the selected studies. However, it presents the results using various perspectives such as citation, co‐citation, spatial and lexical networks based on frequencies, network analysis and descriptive patterns. The findings show that the number of relevant publications has grown significantly in recent years, in particular from 2015 to 2021. The findings, based on citation metrics, highlight the most influential authors, institutions and journals in the area. Authors from different countries have contributed to this research area, but there is a low volume of international collaboration among them. The analysis also reveals the dynamic changes in trends, keywords and themes in this research area. The review concludes with some recommendations for future research, and the suggested implications may also benefit other stakeholders in STEM education. Context and Implications Rationale for the study STEM education has garnered researchers' interest over the past two decades, but there are few reviews of STEM teacher professional development (STEM‐TPD) publications. Therefore, this bibliometric review sought to investigate the expansion of STEM‐TPD research. It also serves as a roadmap for future TPD research in STEM education. Why do the new findings matter? This comprehensive bibliometric study analysed 776 research publications on STEM‐TPD that were published in journals that were indexed by WoS. The findings shed light on recent developments, patterns and trends in STEM‐TPD research, as well as international collaboration in STEM‐TPD research. Implications for researchers, practitioners and policy makers The overall findings may benefit the researchers, editorial board, and publishers to focus more on some emerging research themes, which can guide the focus of future research. STEM researchers should consider conducting more ambitious, high‐quality empirical research that is likely to yield robust results. They can investigate higher‐order thinking skills and other issues related to equity, gender inequality, and teacher attrition. The results also inspire researchers and research institutions to boost international collaboration. Similarly, policy makers and higher education institutions should implement more reforms to educational policies and teacher preparation programmes to improve and sustain STEM education.

This study presents a comprehensive overview of computational thinking (CT) research trends in mathematics learning from 2009 to 2023. To reach this aim, a bibliometric approach was used in this study to analyze the publication distribution pattern on CT focused on the following categories: research development, the most productive journals and countries, highly cited references, topic network, and thematic evolution map. A total of 276 articles retrieved from the Scopus database were analyzed and visualized through the Bibliometrix analysis package from R and VOSviewer software. The finding shows that since 2009, CT has been the subject of mathematics learning research, which has grown significantly since 2013. Regarding total publication in CT, Education and Information Technologies contributes as the most productive journal, and the United States places first among all countries. The article ‘computational thinking’ appears as the most widely referenced source. Moreover, the frequent topics network with CT are the integration of CT with programming, STEM, and coding. This result is analyzed further by the thematic evolution map showing CT research in STEM education, including mathematics, exhibits promising prospects for future development.

BackgroundWith the remarkable attention being paid to STEM education nationally, with the growing engagement of universities and colleges in STEM education reform, and with the rise of STEM education centers, SECs, assisting universities as they strive to achieve these reforms, this research provides insight into the roles of six SECs. Through a multi-dimensional cross-site comparison, we provide a lens into the ways in which SECs function on their campuses, illuminating possibilities for those seeking to strengthen undergraduate STEM education.ResultsSECs play an important networking role on their campuses, where they inform and unify institutional efforts, serving to elevate their visibility and importance both internally and externally. Through their scholarship, SECs contribute to the knowledge base and provide funding, which add resources and incentives for the implementation of evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs) and STEM education research. SECs augment these efforts with the assessment and evaluation of learning outcomes and curricular innovations. Additionally, SECs act as an internal resource for faculty and instructors providing programs and training to foster the application of EBIPs in STEM courses. Several SECs provide the infrastructure for broader impact activities, and act as an external funding resource.ConclusionsSTEM education centers make key contributions to their institutional environments. While the individual roles of these SECs on their campuses are distinctly unique, an in-depth look across six SECs reveals common areas of focus that allow these centers to enhance the undergraduate teaching and learning experience. Our results suggest that the ability of SECs to link STEM education research with teaching and learning initiatives provides a breadth of impact and attention across organizational levels. The analysis describes the ways in which these centers support institutional goals for undergraduate STEM education and relates these to areas of national priority. This research was carried out as part of a broader study, which informs the organizers of NSEC, the network of STEM education centers.

Abundant research conducted in many countries has underlined the critical role of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in developing human capital in fields important to a nation’s global competiveness and prosperity. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States, recent long-term policy plans emphasize the ever-increasing need of transition to a knowledge-based economy and preparing highly qualified nationals with credentials in STEM fields to meet the current and future needs of the labor market. Yet, despite multiple educational reforms and substantial resources, national and international indicators of student performance still demonstrate insignificant improvement in GCC students’ achievement in STEM subjects. Demonstrably, the GCC youth still lack interest in STEM careers and represent low enrollment rates in STEM fields. This paper presents the results of a systematic review conducted on STEM education research in GCC countries. The review seeks to contribute to the body of the existing STEM literature, explore the factors influencing student participation in STEM, and identify the gaps in STEM education research in those countries.

The integration of mathematics within STEM education has received increasing scholarly attention, reflecting its essential role in preparing students for interdisciplinary problem-solving and global competitiveness. However, despite its growing significance, limited comprehensive studies have mapped research patterns, influential contributions, and collaboration networks in this domain. This study aims to fill that gap through a bibliometric analysis of publications on the application of mathematics in STEM education. Data were collected from the Scopus database using advanced searching techniques with the keywords “mathematics,” “education,” and “STEM,” covering the period between 2015 and 2025. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 776 articles were retrieved. The dataset was subsequently processed and harmonized using OpenRefine to ensure consistency. Statistical analyses, publication trends, and citation distributions were examined using the Scopus analyzer, while VOSviewer software was employed to visualize keyword co-occurrences, authorship patterns, and international collaboration networks. The findings reveal a steady increase in research output, peaking in 2024–2025, with the United States, Indonesia, and Germany emerging as the most productive countries. Highly cited articles highlight themes such as word problem-solving, interdisciplinary STEM integration, and digital innovations in mathematics education. Keyword analysis identified dominant themes around “mathematics education,” “STEM education,” “teacher education,” and emerging topics such as “computational thinking,” “artificial intelligence,” and “sustainability,” reflecting the field’s evolving priorities. Co-authorship network analysis further showed strong international collaboration clustered among developed and emerging economies. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and global collaboration trends in mathematics-focused STEM education research, providing valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and future researchers.

Organizing Implementation Practices in Digital Game-Based Learning Research in STEM Education: A Systematic Review

STEM Education in the Primary School introduces pre-service teachers to the theory, skills and practice of teaching STEM through a project-based learning approach. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are presented as professions, mindsets and practices, and each element of STEM is integrated with the Australian Curriculum through a school garden project case study. Popular STEM topic areas, such as health, shelter and space, are explored using tested and age-appropriate project examples that illustrate the translation of STEM ideas to classroom practice. This textbook connects current research in STEM education to teaching practice through detailed discussion of topics including assessment, learning spaces, community and STEM futures. Encouraging readers to consolidate their knowledge, the text is supported by short-answer and reflection questions, information boxes and real-world scenarios. Suggested activities and downloadable templates in the VitalSource enhanced eBook provide guidance for readers when implementing projects and practices in their classroom.

Active learning is a popular approach to teaching and learning that has gained traction through research on STEM educational improvement. There have been numerous university- and national/international-level efforts focused on transitioning courses from the lecture method to active learning. However, despite these large-scale changes, the active learning literature has not been assessed on its methodological rigor to ensure instructional recommendations are rooted in rigorous research studies. The purpose of the present review was to determine areas of strengths and areas in need of improvement and to provide specific recommendations on how to continue or improve active learning research to strengthen the respective literature base and increase confidence in results. We assessed the articles included in the Freeman et al. (PNAS, 111:8410–8415, 2014) meta-analysis as well as a random sample of more recent active learning articles (2015–2022) on 12 internal validity controls (i.e., control procedure used to prevent a threat to the internal validity of a study). Results indicated that there were high percentages of articles that did not meet each internal validity control. In fact, no articles from the Freeman et al. meta-analysis and no sampled 2015–2022 articles met each of the 12 internal validity controls. Therefore, the active learning literature contains numerous internal validity control issues that need to be addressed if we are to determine the extent to which active learning interventions are effective and if there are any boundary conditions for when particular active learning interventions are or are not effective.