Exploring the research trends of mathematics in STEM education: A systematic review using bibliometric analysis

Agus Maqruf; Tatang Herman; Elah Nurlaelah; Irma Rahma Suwarma; William Ko-Wai Tang; Agus Maqruf; Tatang Herman; Elah Nurlaelah; Irma Rahma Suwarma; William Ko-Wai Tang

doi:10.3934/steme.2025049

STEM Education

2025, Volume 5, Issue 6: 1153-1171. doi: 10.3934/steme.2025049

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Exploring the research trends of mathematics in STEM education: A systematic review using bibliometric analysis

1.
Department of Mathematics Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung City, West Java 40154, Indonesia; agusmaqruf@upi.edu, tatangherman@upi.edu, elah_nurlaelah@upi.edu
2.
Department of Physics Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung City, West Java 40154, Indonesia; irma.rs@upi.edu
3.
School of Education and Languages, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong; wtang@hkmu.edu.hk
4.
STEM Education Creativity Center, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung City, West Java 40154, Indonesia; elah_nurlaelah@upi.edu, irma.rs@upi.edu

Academic Editor: William Guo

Received: 21 April 2025 Revised: 14 October 2025 Accepted: 04 November 2025 Published: 10 November 2025

In recent years, the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in education has received increasing attention from academics. However, to date, there have been no reports in scientific publications on the development of STEM education studies that explore the dynamics and phenomena related to mathematics knowledge. Therefore, this study aims to present a bibliometric and bibliographic review of mathematics in STEM education studies. A bibliometric analysis was used to conduct this study, thereby using 1296 selected documents from the Scopus database published between 2015 and 2025. Some analyses, such as performance, citation, co-word, and co-authorship, were conducted to analyze the data using VOSviewer. Results of this study revealed that the number of studies on mathematics in STEM education gradually increased, although the progress in citations for these studies was not consistent each year. In addition, the most productive and influential documents, authors, countries, institutions, and sources have contributed to the development of mathematics in STEM education research. Furthermore, educational innovation, student engagement, design thinking, and academic performance are expected to be newly trending research topics in mathematics in STEM education. Consequently, studies on educational innovation, student engagement, design thinking, and academic performance can be directed to further educational studies that focus on mathematics in STEM education.
- bibliometric analysis,
- mathematics,
- scopus,
- STEM education,
- systematic review,
- VOSviewer
Citation: Agus Maqruf, Tatang Herman, Elah Nurlaelah, Irma Rahma Suwarma, William Ko-Wai Tang. Exploring the research trends of mathematics in STEM education: A systematic review using bibliometric analysis[J]. STEM Education, 2025, 5(6): 1153-1171. doi: 10.3934/steme.2025049

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Abstract

In recent years, the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in education has received increasing attention from academics. However, to date, there have been no reports in scientific publications on the development of STEM education studies that explore the dynamics and phenomena related to mathematics knowledge. Therefore, this study aims to present a bibliometric and bibliographic review of mathematics in STEM education studies. A bibliometric analysis was used to conduct this study, thereby using 1296 selected documents from the Scopus database published between 2015 and 2025. Some analyses, such as performance, citation, co-word, and co-authorship, were conducted to analyze the data using VOSviewer. Results of this study revealed that the number of studies on mathematics in STEM education gradually increased, although the progress in citations for these studies was not consistent each year. In addition, the most productive and influential documents, authors, countries, institutions, and sources have contributed to the development of mathematics in STEM education research. Furthermore, educational innovation, student engagement, design thinking, and academic performance are expected to be newly trending research topics in mathematics in STEM education. Consequently, studies on educational innovation, student engagement, design thinking, and academic performance can be directed to further educational studies that focus on mathematics in STEM education.

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Author's biography Agus Maqruf, M.Pd. is a doctoral student in the mathematics education study program at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. His research topic is STEM in mathematics education. He is also a lecturer of mathematics education at the State Islamic University of Prof. K.H. Saifuddin Zuhri Purwokerto; Prof. Dr. Tatang Herman is a professor of mathematics education at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. He has many reputable researches, one of which is about mathematics education in technology including STEM; Prof. Dr. Elah Nurlaelah is a professor of mathematics education at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Her research on STEM makes her a STEM expert on campus and in Indonesia. She often becomes an expert and judge in STEM events in Indonesia; Irma Rahma Suwarma, Ph.D. is a senior lecturer in physics education at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Her expertise in STEM has made her appointed as the head of the STEM Center at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia; Dr. William Ko-Wai Tang is an Assistant Professor in research methods at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. Some of his research on Bibliometrix and educational technology makes him an expert in the field

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