Elsevier

Computers & Education

Volume 68, October 2013, Pages 42-50
Computers & Education

Educational technology research trends in Turkey from 1990 to 2011

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.04.016Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The most popular subject is educational environments and technology.

  • Quantitative methodology is most frequently used, followed by qualitative studies.

  • Questionnaires are used the most, followed by documents.

  • Preservice teachers are the most preferred sample groups.

  • Purposive and convenience sample selection types are mainly used.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics, methodologies, and general trends in Educational Technology articles, written by authors from Turkey, published in journals listed in the SSCI, SCI, and ERIC indexes from 1990 to 2011. A total of 1151 (SSCI:813, SCI:38, ERIC:300) articles published in 94 journals were examined via content analysis, using the ‘Educational Technology Papers Classification Form’ (ETPCF). The results show that the number of published Educational Technology studies dramatically increased in the years 2002 and 2007. “Educational environments and technology”, “distance education” and “multimedia” were the predominant subjects of the articles, though there were variations in terms of research topics and methodologies. Regarding research methodologies, quantitative studies were the most common type. Questionnaires and interviews were most commonly used as data collection tools, and the convenience sampling method was also widely used. The frequently studied sample participants were preservice teachers and other undergraduate students. In the present study, cross tabulation is used to present the findings.

Introduction

Technology plays a significant role in the development of education and is more important today than ever before. The exponential growth of technology usage in education, in applications such as distance education, simulations, educational games, and virtual worlds, has also attracted the attention of Educational Technology researchers. The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) defines Educational Technology as “the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources” (AECT, 2004). The field of Educational Technology has grown and changed greatly over the past century, affected by various influences including historical forces, paradigm shifts in educational psychology, emerging technologies, and evolving approaches to inquiry. In addition to developments and changes, different research approaches are regularly used in this field (Driscoll, 1995). Educational Technology practitioners and researchers study a wide array of topics and methodologies.

Educational Technology researchers have previously traced trends in the field's articles, theses, and dissertations. Some of the researchers from around the world have examined articles which published in international journals (Hew, Kale, & Kim, 2007; Hranstinski & Keller, 2007; Klein, 1997; Latchem, 2006; Ma, 2000; Ross, Morrison, & Lowther, 2010). However, only a limited amount of attention has been devoted to Educational Technology journal articles, written by authors from Turkey, in the academic literature. Fortunately, such studies have increased in recent years (Alper & Gulbahar, 2009; Bozkaya, Erdem-Aydın, & Genc-Kumtepe, 2012; Goktas et al., 2012; Gulbahar & Alper, 2009; Keser & Ozcan, 2011; Sert, 2010). Some researchers have also examined theses or dissertations in the field of Educational Technology (Akca-Ustundag, 2009; Caffarella, 1999; Costa, 2007; Erdogmus, 2009; Masood, 2004; Simsek et al., 2008). The researchers themselves typically determine which topics they will focus on, which research methodologies are best suited to their topic, and how to collect data. A summary of the current literature of Educational Technology surveys is presented in Fig. 1, using these three categories.

A broad analysis of the methodologies used in the articles published in the three journal indexes (SSCI: Social Science Citation Index, SCI: Science Citation Index, ERIC: Education Resources Information Center) can yield important contributions to the field. Similar prior studies have generally been conducted using relatively limited numbers of publications. In the present study, a larger range of journals and publications are examined. Also, many earlier studies notably produced only one-dimensional results. Identifying the components which determine trends will permit evaluations from different perspectives for the benefit of future researchers in the field. This study will hopefully also stimulate similar and comparative studies with works published in different indexes. In addition, areas of research that have not been previously covered will be highlighted, and some which could usefully be covered more extensively in international publications will be noted. This study summarizes the past twenty-two years' studies in Educational Technology to help us become better prepared for future research challenges and the findings may be used to increase the quality of future research studies, by taking attention of researchers to important points and gaps realized throughout this research study. Moreover, Educational Technology researchers, from different countries, will be able to compare the results with their countries. The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics, methodologies, and general trends in Educational Technology studies, conducted by authors from Turkey, published in international journals listed within the SSCI, SCI, and ERIC indexes between the years 1990–2011. The specific research questions that guided this examination are:

  • 1)

    In which journals were Educational Technology studies mainly published?

  • 2)

    What topics were commonly researched? How have the investigated subjects changed, according to these indexes?

  • 3)

    Which research methodologies were commonly used? How have these changed over time?

    • a.

      What is the distribution of methodologies by years?

    • b.

      What methodologies were commonly used for different research topics?

  • 4)

    What are the data collection tools that were most commonly used, and what was their relation to the respective research methodologies? Have these changed over time, and if so, how?

  • 5)

    Which sample selection methodologies were commonly preferred? Has this aspect of the studies changed over time?

  • 6)

    What sample populations (types of people) were commonly selected for the research topics?

  • 7)

    What is the range of common sample sizes? Have these varied over time?

  • 8)

    What data analysis methods were commonly used? How have these changed over time?

Section snippets

Methodology

Content analysis methodology was used to analyze each article. Content analysis can be referred to as a generic name for a variety of textual analyses that typically involves comparing, contrasting, and categorizing a set of data. Therefore, it was used to classify the data, and to divide it by different identified themes and concepts (Bauer, 2003; Fraenkel & Wallen, 2000; Schwandt, 1997).

Most commonly published journals

Those journals which published more articles between 1990 and 2011 were classified according to their listing indexes and presented in Table 1. TOJET published the highest number of articles in the SSCI index; the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education (TOJDE) published the highest number in ERIC; and IEEE Transactions on Education published the highest number in the SCI.

Subject trends

Table 2 shows the distribution of article subjects in the different indexes. There were a high number of studies on

Discussion and conclusion

In this study, 1151 Educational Technology studies, conducted by authors from Turkey, published in 94 international journals indexed in the SSCI, SCI, and ERIC, were examined to analyze the numbers published in each journal, their research subjects, research methodologies, research methods, sample populations, methods of sample selection, sample sizes, and data analysis methods.

The number of articles published from 1990 to 2011 is highest in TOJET within the SSCI index, in IEEE Transactions on

Sevda Kucuk is Ph.D. student and research assistant at the Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology at Ataturk University. Her research interests are in the computer-based instruction, teacher education, distance education, instructional design, instructional strategies, and research methods.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Sevda Kucuk is Ph.D. student and research assistant at the Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology at Ataturk University. Her research interests are in the computer-based instruction, teacher education, distance education, instructional design, instructional strategies, and research methods.

    Melike Aydemir is Ph.D. student and research assistant at the Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology and online program coordinator of the Distance Education Center at the Ataturk University. Her research interests are in the distance education, interaction among learners to aid learning during distance education, instructional technology and instructional design.

    Gurkan Yildirim is Ph.D. student and research assistant in Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology at Ataturk University. His focusing areas are distance education, motivation theories, learning management systems and internet applications in education. Besides he attended many studies about e-books, tablet PC in education.

    Omer Arpacik is Ph.D. student and research assistant at the Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology at Ataturk University. His research interests are instructional technology, assistive technologies for learning disabilities.

    Yuksel Goktas is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology. He has completed his B.S. degree in Department of Computer Education from Gazi University. He also received a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Education and Instructional Technology from Middle East Technical University in Turkey. He was a visiting scholar at Purdue University's Educational Technology Program during 2005–2006. His research interests include Web 2.0, technology integration and usage, instructional design, problem-based learning, and research methods.

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