A Systematic Review of Research Articles on Science Education Published in the ESERA Proceedings from 2011 to 2017

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the research articles published from four of the proceedings of the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) between 2011 and 2017 in light of their research strands, approaches, purposes, data types, instruments, and samples. The major goal was to categorize papers and identify research trends related to their methodological components in the field of science education. A total of 1193 papers were analyzed. The results showed an increasing emphasis on some themes, such as “pre-service science teacher education” (12% of the papers), “in-service science teacher education, continued professional development” (9% of the papers), and “environmental, health and informal-outdoor science” (8% of the papers). Most of the research published in these ESERA proceedings was descriptive, followed by developmental research. Regarding research approaches, the papers used quantitative and mixed data methods more than qualitative methods. This study could be beneficial to the field of science education research in all countries. It could help scholars identify gaps in research in science education and understand the state of research about different subjects, places, research design, etc. These results revealed the importance of studying science educational issues that were not the focus of previous studies, such as the reflective and critical thinking abilities and argumentative abilities of in-service and pre-service teachers, as well as students. It is recommended that further trend studies should be carried out on research articles, focusing on these issues.