Systematic literature review of graduate thesis on instructional technologies in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology and science education

Abstract

Instructional technologies are an important tool used in the field of education as they support and improve teaching processes. For this reason, examining the studies on learning environments where instructional technologies are used will provide us with important clues about how teaching will be done. The studies were examined using systematic literature review as they contain more scientific information and provide more solid evidence. In this study, a systematic literature review of 67 postgraduate theses on instructional technologies in the fields of Physics education, Chemistry education, Biology education and Science education was conducted between 2013 and 2024. The purpose of this study is a systematic literature review modelled by qualitative method. In the research, postgraduate theses published in Türkiye between 2013 and 2024 were obtained by accessing the YÖK thesis database. A form was prepared for the systematic literature review of postgraduate theses within the scope of the research. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the data. The data was analysed by calculating percentages and frequencies, and tables were created to visualize and make meaningful the findings. In the research, it was determined that 49 of the 67 postgraduate theses were master's theses and 18 were doctoral theses. It has been observed that these theses on instructional technologies were written the most in 2022 and the least in 2013. When examined on the basis of universities, it was revealed that the most studies were done at Gazi University. It was determined that in graduate theses, quantitative research methods (N: 34) and experimental design (N: 28) were used the most, and document analysis and action research were used the least. In the studies examined, while dependent-independent t-test was used in quantitative analyses, at least non-parametric statistical analyses were used. In qualitative analyses, it was determined that content analysis was used most. As a result of the study, it is recommended that more research be conducted in science fields in this period when the importance of distance education and teaching technologies is realized.