General Trends in National Research on Web-Based Instruction in Science Education: A Meta-Synthesis Study

Abstract

This study analyzes Turkish studies on web-based instruction in the field of science education using the meta-synthesis method with the aim of determining the general trends of the analyzed studies. A total of 20 studies published between 2006 and 2022, including 7 doctoral dissertations, 11 master theses, and 2 journal articles, were analyzed with a qualitative research design. These studies were identified using the databases of the YÖK National Thesis Center, EBSCO, Google Scholar, and ProQuest. The studies were analyzed using a coding form that included ten categories: year of publication, type of publication, purpose of the research, method, data collection tools, data analysis method, grade level, sample size, learning domain, and outcome of the research. The obtained data were interpreted according to the specified categories. It was concluded that a significant portion of the analyzed studies were conducted with the aim of examining web-based instruction and Web 2.0 tools, mixed research designs and semi-structured interview forms were most often used, most studies were conducted with students in the 6th and 7th grades, and web-based instruction was generally found to be more effective than traditional instruction. This study provides an overview of research on web-based instruction in the field of science education, serves as a resource for future research, and offers new ideas and suggestions for researchers in this field.