Teaching and Learning Optics: A Bibliometric Analysis with a Detailed Future Insight Overview

Abstract

Optics research has recently proven important for scientific, educational, and industrial applications. This study examines the increase and distribution of literature on learning and teaching optics. This analytical strategy uses quantitative and statistical methods to identify trends, evaluate quality, and monitor progress. From the 530 documents obtained using the Scopus database between 1944 and 2023, 464 were chosen. With a total of 49 documents, 2014 had the greatest substantial increase in the number of documents since 1944 till this data was collected. Writers from the United States contributed to 115 documents with 36% citations. They ranked first, followed by authors from Germany (37 documents and 12% citations) and China (36 documents), with citation rankings just below the top 10. Most publications appeared in Physics Education (15 documents; Q2 SJR 0.41). The International Journal of Science Education received the most citations for publications on teaching and learning optics (159 citations; Q1 SJR 1.15) and was ranked 1 in its category. The current core literature on teaching and learning optics shows that this area is quickly evolving but with insufficient international research collaboration. Research collaboration in this field must be strengthened to improve the worldwide response to teaching and learning optics. There is a need to broaden the scope of study regarding assessment instruments, technological engineering, learning approaches, learning methods, learning strategies, and learning media within the context of teaching and learning optics from elementary school to the university level.