Online mathematics education as bio-eco-techno process: bibliometric analysis using co-authorship and bibliographic coupling

Scientometrics. 2022;127(8):4631-4654. doi: 10.1007/s11192-022-04441-3. Epub 2022 Jul 4.

Abstract

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, mathematics education has moved completely online. To tackle this new norm based on bio-eco-techno theories, this study aims to provide educators an overview of the research landscape for envisioning educational practices through bibliometric analysis of 319 articles and reviews published in peer-reviewed journals from 1993 to 2020. Country and institutional co-authorship depicts the social network structure of the field to identify top productive contributors. Bibliographic coupling of publications forms the conceptual structure, revealing research themes. Together, the results are mapped according to the bio-eco-techno perspective. The bioecological system highlights student achievement as the central concerns. The microsystem emphasizes techno-subsystems for supporting flipped learning. The exosystem and mesosystem require institution support for teacher pedagogical design, digital competencies, and collaboration. The macrosystem raises the issue of distribution or centralization in the strengths of online mathematics education and calls for greater cross-national boundary digital use and collaboration. The chronosystem asks: Does Covid-19 force the popularity of blended or flipped learning into online education? Based on the bio-eco-techno perspective, further recommendations are provided.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11192-022-04441-3.

Keywords: Bibliometric analysis; Ecological technology theories; Flipped learning; Mathematics education; Online learning.