Development of Chemistry Education Research (CER) in Turkey: A Comparison of CER Papers with International Research

Abstract

Chemistry education research (CER) ranges from understanding the history and philosophy of chemistry, which guides on us how chemistry knowledge was developed, to the developments and application of modern technologies and tools for a more effective teaching of chemistry. CER plays a mediator role in translating recent discoveries in the field of chemistry into content that can be understood by students. Like in many academic disciplines, it is necessary for chemistry educators to pause periodically and take stock of what kind of research we are doing and where chemistry education is going. A content analysis of research papers can guide scholars with a strong indication of the extent to which journal editors and scholars prioritize research in the chemistry education field and whether there have been changes in the subject matters studied and research methods employed over time. This chapter focuses on the development of research in chemistry education in Turkey through a content analysis of 1338 research papers published in peer-reviewed journals and compares it to international research published in high status journals that publish CER. It starts with a brief introduction to the Turkish education system and teaching chemistry as a discipline in Turkey. Attention then moves to the research in chemistry education in the world and Turkey. Content analyses of CER papers published by Turkish chemistry educators are compared with CER published by highly respected international journals. The results indicated that although CER has showed a visible increase in Turkey since 2000 and the number of national and international publications is increased, there are still problems with publishing high quality research papers in respected international journals. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the status and future of CER in Turkey.