stem research paper topics qualitative

161+ Exciting Qualitative Research Topics For STEM Students

Are you doing Qualitative research? Looking for the best qualitative research topics for stem students? It is a most interesting and good field for research. Qualitative research allows STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students to delve deeper into complex issues, explore human behavior, and understand the intricacies of the world around them.

In this article, we’ll provide you with an extensive list of 161+ qualitative research topics tailored to STEM students. We’ll also explore how to find and choose good qualitative research topics, and why these topics are particularly beneficial for students, including those in high school.

Also Like To Read: 171+ Brilliant Quantitative Research Topics For STEM Students

Table of Contents

What Are Qualitative Research Topics for STEM Students

Qualitative research topics for stem students are questions or issues that necessitate an in-depth exploration of people’s experiences, beliefs, and behaviors. STEM students can use this approach to investigate societal impacts, ethical dilemmas, and user experiences related to scientific advancements and innovations.

Unlike quantitative research, which focuses on numerical data and statistical analysis, qualitative research delves into the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of a particular phenomenon.

How to Find and Choose Good Qualitative Research Topics

Selecting qualitative research topics for stem students is a crucial step in the research process. Here are some tips to help you find and choose a suitable topic:

Passion and Interest: Start by considering your personal interests and passions. What topics within STEM excite you? Research becomes more engaging when you’re genuinely interested in the subject.
Relevance: Choose qualitative research topics for stem students. Look for gaps in the existing knowledge or unanswered questions.
Literature Review: Conduct a thorough literature review to identify the latest trends and areas where qualitative research is lacking. This can guide you in selecting a topic that contributes to the field.
Feasibility: Ensure that your chosen topic is feasible within the resources and time constraints available to you. Some research topics may require extensive resources and funding.
Ethical Considerations: Be aware of ethical concerns related to your qualitative research topics for stem students, especially when dealing with human subjects or sensitive issues.

Here are the most exciting and very interesting Qualitative Research Topics For STEM Students, high school students, nursing students, college students, etc.

Biology Qualitative Research Topics

Impact of Ecosystem Restoration on Biodiversity
Ethical Considerations in Human Gene Editing
Public Perceptions of Biotechnology in Agriculture
Coping Mechanisms and Stress Responses in Marine Biologists
Cultural Perspectives on Traditional Herbal Medicine
Community Attitudes Toward Wildlife Conservation Efforts
Ethical Issues in Animal Testing and Research
Indigenous Knowledge and Ethnobotany
Psychological Well-being of Conservation Biologists
Attitudes Toward Endangered Species Protection

Chemistry Qualitative Research Topics For STEM Students

Adoption of Green Chemistry Practices in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Public Perception of Chemical Safety in Household Products
Strategies for Improving Chemistry Education
Art Conservation and Chemical Analysis
Consumer Attitudes Toward Organic Chemistry in Everyday Life
Ethical Considerations in Chemical Waste Disposal
The Role of Chemistry in Sustainable Agriculture
Perceptions of Nanomaterials and Their Applications
Chemistry-Related Career Aspirations in High School Students
Cultural Beliefs and Traditional Chemical Practices

Physics Qualitative Research Topics

Gender Bias in Physics Education and Career Progression
Philosophical Implications of Quantum Mechanics
Public Understanding of Renewable Energy Technologies
Influence of Science Fiction on Scientific Research
Perceptions of Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe
Student Experiences in High School Physics Classes
Physics Outreach Programs and Their Impact on Communities
Cultural Variations in the Perception of Time and Space
Role of Physics in Environmental Conservation
Public Engagement with Science Through Astronomy Events

Engineering Qualitative Research Topics For STEM Students

Ethics in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
Human-Centered Design in Engineering
Innovation and Sustainability in Civil Engineering
Public Perception of Self-Driving Cars
Engineering Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation
Experiences of Women in Male-Dominated Engineering Fields
Role of Engineers in Disaster Response and Recovery
Ethical Considerations in Technology Patents
Perceptions of Engineering Education and Career Prospects
Students Views on the Role of Engineers in Society

Computer Science Qualitative Research Topics

Gender Diversity in Tech Companies
Ethical Implications of AI-Powered Decision-Making
User Experience and Interface Design
Cybersecurity Awareness and Behaviors
Digital Privacy Concerns and Practices
Social Media Use and Mental Health in College Students
Gaming Culture and its Impact on Social Interactions
Student Attitudes Toward Coding and Programming
Online Learning Platforms and Student Satisfaction
Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Life

Mathematics Qualitative Research Topics For STEM Students

Gender Stereotypes in Mathematics Education
Cultural Variations in Problem-Solving Approaches
Perception of Math in Everyday Life
Math Anxiety and Coping Mechanisms
Historical Development of Mathematical Concepts
Attitudes Toward Mathematics Among Elementary School Students
Role of Mathematics in Solving Real-World Problems
Homeschooling Approaches to Teaching Mathematics
Effectiveness of Math Tutoring Programs
Math-Related Stereotypes in Society

Environmental Science Qualitative Research Topics

Local Communities’ Responses to Climate Change
Public Understanding of Conservation Practices
Sustainable Agriculture and Farmer Perspectives
Environmental Education and Behavior Change
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation
Conservation Awareness and Behavior of Tourists
Climate Change Perceptions Among Youth
Perceptions of Water Scarcity and Resource Management
Environmental Activism and Youth Engagement
Community Responses to Environmental Disasters

Geology and Earth Sciences Qualitative Research Topics For STEM Students

Geologists’ Risk Perception and Decision-Making
Volcano Hazard Preparedness in At-Risk Communities
Public Attitudes Toward Geological Hazards
Environmental Consequences of Extractive Industries
Perceptions of Geological Time and Deep Earth Processes
Use of Geospatial Technology in Environmental Research
Role of Geology in Disaster Preparedness and Response
Geological Factors Influencing Urban Planning
Community Engagement in Geoscience Education
Climate Change Communication and Public Understanding

Astronomy and Space Science Qualitative Research Topics

The Role of Science Communication in Astronomy Education
Perceptions of Space Exploration and Colonization
UFO and Extraterrestrial Life Beliefs
Public Understanding of Black Holes and Neutron Stars
Space Tourism and Future Space Travel
Impact of Space Science Outreach Programs on Student Interest
Cultural Beliefs and Rituals Related to Celestial Events
Space Science in Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Public Engagement with Astronomical Phenomena
Space Exploration in Science Fiction and Popular Culture

Medicine and Health Sciences Qualitative Research Topics

Patient-Physician Communication and Trust
Ethical Considerations in Human Cloning and Genetic Modification
Public Attitudes Toward Vaccination
Coping Strategies for Healthcare Workers in Pandemics
Cultural Beliefs and Health Practices
Health Disparities Among Underserved Communities
Medical Decision-Making and Informed Consent
Mental Health Stigma and Help-Seeking Behavior
Wellness Practices and Health-Related Beliefs
Perceptions of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Psychology Qualitative Research Topics

Perceptions of Body Image in Different Cultures
Workplace Stress and Coping Mechanisms
LGBTQ+ Youth Experiences and Well-Being
Cross-Cultural Differences in Parenting Styles and Outcomes
Perceptions of Psychotherapy and Counseling
Attitudes Toward Medication for Mental Health Conditions
Psychological Well-being of Older Adults
Role of Cultural and Social Factors in Psychological Well-being
Technology Use and Its Impact on Mental Health

Social Sciences Qualitative Research Topics

Political Polarization and Online Echo Chambers
Immigration and Acculturation Experiences
Educational Inequality and School Policy
Youth Engagement in Environmental Activism
Identity and Social Media in the Digital Age
Social Media and Its Influence on Political Beliefs
Family Dynamics and Conflict Resolution
Social Support and Coping Strategies in College Students
Perceptions of Cyberbullying Among Adolescents
Impact of Social Movements on Societal Change

Interesting Sociology Qualitative Research Topics For STEM Students

Perceptions of Racial Inequality and Discrimination
Aging and Quality of Life in Elderly Populations
Gender Roles and Expectations in Relationships
Online Communities and Social Support
Cultural Practices and Beliefs Related to Marriage
Family Dynamics and Coping Mechanisms
Perceptions of Community Safety and Policing
Attitudes Toward Social Welfare Programs
Influence of Media on Perceptions of Social Issues
Youth Perspectives on Education and Career Aspirations

Anthropology Qualitative Research Topics

Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation
Cultural Variation in Parenting Practices
Indigenous Language Revitalization Efforts
Social Impacts of Tourism on Indigenous Communities
Rituals and Ceremonies in Different Cultural Contexts
Food and Identity in Cultural Practices
Traditional Healing and Healthcare Practices
Indigenous Rights and Land Conservation
Ethnographic Studies of Marginalized Communities
Cultural Practices Surrounding Death and Mourning

Economics and Business Qualitative Research Topics

Small Business Resilience in Times of Crisis
Workplace Diversity and Inclusion
Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions
International Trade and Cultural Perceptions
Consumer Behavior and Decision-Making in E-Commerce
Business Ethics and Ethical Decision-Making
Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Startups
Perceptions of Economic Inequality and Wealth Distribution
Impact of Economic Policies on Communities
Role of Economic Education in Financial Literacy

Good Education Qualitative Research Topics For STEM Students

Homeschooling Experiences and Outcomes
Teacher Burnout and Coping Strategies
Inclusive Education and Special Needs Integration
Student Perspectives on Online Learning
High-Stakes Testing and Its Impact on Students
Multilingual Education and Bilingualism
Perceptions of Educational Technology in Classrooms
School Climate and Student Well-being
Teacher-Student Relationships and Their Effects on Learning
Cultural Diversity in Education and Inclusion

Environmental Engineering Qualitative Research Topics

Sustainable Transportation and Community Preferences
Ethical Considerations in Waste Reduction and Recycling
Public Attitudes Toward Renewable Energy Projects
Environmental Impact Assessment and Community Engagement
Sustainable Urban Planning and Neighborhood Perceptions
Water Quality and Conservation Practices in Residential Areas
Green Building Practices and User Experiences
Community Resilience in the Face of Climate Change
Role of Environmental Engineers in Disaster Preparedness

Why Qualitative Research Topics Are Good for STEM Students

Deeper Understanding: Qualitative research encourages STEM students to explore complex issues from a human perspective. This deepens their understanding of the broader impact of scientific discoveries and technological advancements.
Critical Thinking: Qualitative research fosters critical thinking skills by requiring students to analyze and interpret data, consider diverse viewpoints, and draw nuanced conclusions.
Real-World Relevance: Many qualitative research topics have real-world applications. Students can address problems, inform policy, and contribute to society by investigating issues that matter.
Interdisciplinary Learning: Qualitative research often transcends traditional STEM boundaries, allowing students to draw on insights from psychology, sociology, anthropology, and other fields.
Preparation for Future Careers: Qualitative research skills are valuable in various STEM careers, as they enable students to communicate complex ideas and understand the human and social aspects of their work.

Qualitative Research Topics for High School STEM Students

High school STEM students can benefit from qualitative research by honing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Here are some qualitative research topics suitable for high school students:

Perceptions of STEM Education: Investigate students’ and teachers’ perceptions of STEM education and its effectiveness.
Environmental Awareness: Examine the factors influencing high school students’ environmental awareness and eco-friendly behaviors.
Digital Learning in the Classroom: Explore the impact of technology on learning experiences and student engagement.
STEM Gender Gap: Analyze the reasons behind the gender gap in STEM fields and potential strategies for closing it.
Science Communication: Study how high school students perceive and engage with popular science communication channels, like YouTube and podcasts.
Impact of Extracurricular STEM Activities: Investigate how participation in STEM clubs and competitions influences students’ interest and performance in science and technology.

In essence, these are the best qualitative research topics for STEM students in the Philippines and are usable for other countries students too. Qualitative research topics offer STEM students a unique opportunity to explore the multifaceted aspects of their fields, develop essential skills, and contribute to meaningful discoveries. With the right topic selection, a strong research design, and ethical considerations, STEM students can easily get the best knowledge on exciting qualitative research that benefits both their career growth. So, choose a topic that resonates with your interests and get best job in your interest field.

100 Qualitative Research Paper Topics

Published by Ellie Cross at November 1st, 2021 , Revised On November 3, 2023

Selecting an interesting research topic is a very daunting task. And it becomes even more daunting when students are required to pick a topic that is:

Highly specific
Useful to the larger research community
Has a lot of material present on it to start with
Can be supported by enough facts and figures
Instrumental in closing the ‘research gap’ that already exists around it or within the same field of study.
Tries to explain the what , why , how , when , where and/or who behind a phenomenon or an event.

Because of all these factors, institutions—schools, colleges and universities alike—pay so much attention to the kind of topics their students will be researching on.

Qualitative research involves describing or explaining an event or a phenomenon without heavily relying on statistical or mathematical practices. Even though some qualitative research papers do make use of such practices to collect data, in the end, they generally rely on summarising and interpreting that data qualitatively.

Did you know that an eclectic method or mixed-methods approach is a research method that uses both quantitative and qualitative means of data collection and interpretation?

How to Choose the Correct Qualitative Research Paper Topic

Settling on the right qualitative research topic for one’s study depends on answers to some questions and personal student reflections, such as: :

Can I research this topic in the time I have been given by my school/college/university?
Is there a research gap that my research will be able to fill?
Is this topic highly necessary; if I don’t research this topic, will the research community be affected?
Has this topic been researched before?
Does this topic support doable, practical research objectives and questions?
Does my topic lean more towards the quantitative side than the qualitative side?

Such questions, if brainstormed before selecting a topic, will greatly help make the right decision about what kind of research needs to be done.

Still having difficulty choosing the perfect qualitative research topic? Below is a list of 100 qualitative research topics for different types of students.

Qualitative Research Paper Topics for Senior High School Students

In most countries around the world, high school generally comprises grades from 9th or 10th to 12th grade. The courses taught to students in high school mostly include the ones listed below, along with some unique qualitative research topics for each subject.

What are the main cultural elements in Charlotte Brontë’s novels? OR How do they reflect modern cultures?
How does literary language differ from the non-literary language in writing?
What are the differences between poetry and drama?
Which Shakespearean play/drama is most relevant to present times and why/how?
How do Charles Dickens’ writings portray the pre-industrial revolution era?
Why are Charles Bukowski’s writings negatively criticised?

Biology/Animals/Nature

Why are coral reefs so important in marine life?
How do bones in the human body ossify?
Flora and fauna in deserts: truth or fiction?
When is exposure to the sun beneficial and harmful to the human body?
What is mercury poisoning in humans?
What is the world’s oldest plant/animal species?
What are the effects and causes of prolonged humidity or lack of rain on land?
Is global warming getting worse or is it just a myth?
Why do some plants need water and some don’t?
Are there any physical benefits of having pets?
What are ferrofluids?
How do aluminium and mercury react together? What happens/doesn’t happen?
What are the properties of aerogel?
Can metal be smelled? If not, why, and if so, how?
How can old jewellery be turned into gold bars?
When does milk become lactose-free?
Why are some gases odourless and others aren’t?
How are black holes evolving?
What is so special about Jupiter’s rings?
What is the Fermi Paradox and what are the Five Solutions to it?
Where can the law of entropy be witnessed in action?
Does the soul have weight? How can it be measured?
How does the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) work?
What kind of environments would fission and fusion reactions not hold in?
What are the major implications of the Civil War in today’s world?
How did the age of piracy end?
Which civilisation was advanced and why (Roman, Greek, Incan, etc)?
What would modern society be like without the two World Wars?
Which ancient cultures have survived/are still practiced today? How?
What is the Nova Effect?
Will AI be the end of humankind?
Nihilism: good or bad?
Why is Arthur Schopenhauer considered the ‘darkest’ philosopher of all time?
Stoicism, Taoism, or Absurdism: which leads to a happier life?
How does the Amara Effect work in real life?

Arts and design

Do students learn better in a ‘colourful’ and architecturally rich environment?
What is the importance of the golden ratio in modern-day design?
Lefties are more artistic: myth or fact?
What is the importance of birth order according to Adler’s theory?
Alcoholism and drug abuse is common in teenagers: why or why not?
How do the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO shape an adult’s personality according to Freud?
Why is gratitude considered a sign of happiness in young adults?
Where do the effects of childhood abuse affect one’s mental well-being in later life stages?
Bullied children go on to bully others: fact or fiction?
Why is Bach’s classical music given so much importance?
Are music and memory connected? How?
What are Beethoven’s contributions to present-day orchestral music?

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Qualitative Research Paper Topics for ABM Students

This group of students comprises those who belong to the field of accountancy, business and management. Even though the following topics have been mentioned for each field separately, some of them can be mixed and matched. Because each field in ABM might make use of other, surrounding fields during its research process. This is all because of a simple fact: such fields are very inter-connected.

Accountancy

Will Blockchain improve the future of accounting? Why or why not?
How has the COVID-19 situation affected accountancy firms globally?
Is cryptocurrency the solution to all the financial issues of today’s consumerist society? Why/why not or how?
What are some important ethical considerations involved in discretionary accruals?
What will an accounting firm be like without interest rates?
Do international firms like Coke or Nestle have a better accountancy workforce than local vendors? Why or why not?
How can someone launch their own business during the current COVID-19 pandemic? How is it different than launching a business any other time of the year?
Is the AI business model the most integrated business approach model out there right now? Why/why not or how?
What is the importance of language in communicating business goals, reaching the target audience, etc.?
Which business ethics’ theories are followed most rigorously by contemporary businesses and why?
When do businesses like Amazon or Shopify least benefit or affect the general public or other businesses?
What is the relation between career and talent management?
Which affects management more: process planning or project planning? Why or how?
Does organisational leadership affect management in small companies? How?
Where is construction management most useful?
How will an organisation be affected without brand management?

Qualitative Research Paper Topics for STEM Students

STEM students belong to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Same as ABM, STEM research topics can also be mixed and matched with one another. Since the STEM fields are also highly intertwined with each one, it becomes difficult to tell sometimes what kind of topics are solely for one field or the other.

For instance, a topic related to global warming can be considered merely scientific. But then again, fields like technology, engineering and mathematics are all different faces of science. So, while discussing the effects of global warming, a student might find themselves discussing how technological advancements can help prevent excessive damage caused by global warming worldwide.

Similarly, mathematics is heavily used in the field of engineering. So, research from one field doesn’t necessarily have to rely on that field alone. It can go on to join with other related fields, too.

The following topics, therefore, might be combined with others to create a whole new topic. Or they can also be used as they are.

Is terraforming on Mars (and possibly on other planets too) a good or bad move? Why?
How do black holes affect supernovas?
Can ice caps melting from global warming be artificially preserved to stop the spread of viruses living under the snow?
How has the earth changed in the last 100 years?
What is the relation between climate change and flora and fauna growth?
Are science and religion two sides of the same coin? Why or why not?
The scientific inquiry leads to more questions than answers: fact or fiction?
Scientific inventions have destroyed more than created. Is that so? Why or why not?
What is the most likely future of energy, be it solar or otherwise?
What is the importance of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) in helping patients?
What are the negative implications of machine learning in today’s world?
How has information technology (IT) revolutionised the medical world in the last couple of years?
Wireless technology or AI: which is better and why?
What is blockchain technology? Or Why is it important?
Should nanotechnology be adopted in different spheres of life? Why or why not?
How has Python revolutionised the world of technology in contemporary society?

Engineering

What are some important future trends in industrial robotics?
How has aerospace engineering helped scientists and engineers discover all they have about space?
Where does civil engineering play an important part in construction?
Where are industrial pneumatics used mostly these days and how?
Why is mechanical design so important in a product’s development process?
Which household use engineering products run on thermodynamics and how?
What are the fundamentals of submarine engineering?
How do hydroelectric power plants function?

Mathematics

How do modern construction workers and/or designers make use of the Fibonacci sequence?
How do mathematical calculations help determine the endpoint of the universe?
How do spacecraft make use of basic math in their construction and working?
What is the role of maths in data science?
Where are mathematical computations used in game development?
Is contemporary mathematical knowledge and practices etc. based on Vedic math? Why/why not or how?
Can architects work without the use of geometry? Why or why not?

Explore further: Check out the top 10 tips every emerging qualitative researcher ought to know about before beginning their research.

Other Essay Topics: Discursive Essay Topics & Ideas 2022 , Persuasive Essay Topics – Suggested By Industry Experts , Argumentative Essay Topics and Ideas .

Selecting a research topic is the first and therefore, perhaps the hardest step in the research process. Qualitative research involves using more descriptive, non-statistical and/or non-mathematical practices to collect and interpret data.

There are a couple of important things that should be considered before finalising a research topic, such as whether it’s practical, doable within the assigned time, etc.

There are many different types of qualitative research topics that high school students, ABM (accountancy, business, management) and STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) students can uptake these days, especially with new knowledge being published each day in different fields. However, there is still always more to be discovered, explored and explained.

Selecting a qualitative research topic for senior high school, ABM, or STEM students is made easier when the close relationship between these fields is considered. Since they’re all so interconnected, a topic from one field is bound to include elements of another, closely related field. Such topics can therefore be mixed and matched to create a whole new topic!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to choose the correct qualitative research paper topic.

To choose a qualitative research paper topic, consider your interests, expertise, and available resources. Explore current trends, gaps in knowledge, and societal issues. Seek feedback from peers and advisors. Prioritize relevance, feasibility, and potential impact. Refine your topic to ensure it aligns with your research goals.

A systematic review of high impact empirical studies in STEM education

Yeping Li 1 ,
Yu Xiao 1 ,
Ke Wang 2 ,
Nan Zhang 3 , 4 ,
Yali Pang 5 ,
Ruilin Wang 6 ,
Chunxia Qi 7 ,
Zhiqiang Yuan 8 ,
Jianxing Xu 9 ,
Sandra B. Nite 1 &
Jon R. Star 10

International Journal of STEM Education volume 9 , Article number: 72 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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The formation of an academic field is evidenced by many factors, including the growth of relevant research articles and the increasing impact of highly cited publications. Building upon recent scoping reviews of journal publications in STEM education, this study aimed to provide a systematic review of high impact empirical studies in STEM education to gain insights into the development of STEM education research paradigms. Through a search of the Web of Science core database, we identified the top 100 most-cited empirical studies focusing on STEM education that were published in journals from 2000 to 2021 and examined them in terms of various aspects, including the journals where they were published, disciplinary content coverage, research topics and methods, and authorship’s nationality/region and profession. The results show that STEM education continues to gain more exposure and varied disciplinary content with an increasing number of high impact empirical studies published in journals in various STEM disciplines. High impact research articles were mainly authored by researchers in the West, especially the United States, and indicate possible “hot” topics within the broader field of STEM education. Our analysis also revealed the increased participation and contributions from researchers in diverse fields who are working to formulate research agendas in STEM education and the nature of STEM education scholarship.

Introduction

Two recent reviews of research publications, the first examining articles in the International Journal of STEM Education (IJSTEM) and the second looking at an expanded scope of 36 journals, examined how scholarship in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has developed over the years (Li et al., 2019 , 2020a ). Although these two reviews differed in multiple ways (e.g., the number of journals covered, the time period of article publications, and article selection), they shared the common purpose of providing an overview of the status and trends in STEM education research. The selection of journal publications in these two reviews thus emphasized the coverage and inclusion of all relevant publications but did not consider publication impact. Given that the development of a vibrant field depends not only on the number of research outputs and its growth over the years but also the existence and influence of some high impact research articles, here we aimed to identify and examine those high impact research publications in STEM education in this review.

Learning from existing reviews of STEM education research

Existing reviews of STEM education have provided valuable insights about STEM education scholarship development over the years. In addition to the two reviews mentioned above, there are many other research reviews on different aspects of STEM education. For example, Chomphuphra et al. ( 2019 ) reviewed 56 journal articles published from 2007 to 2017 covering three popular topics: innovation for STEM learning, professional development, and gender gap and career in STEM. They identified and selected these journal articles through searching the Scopus database and two additional journals in STEM education that were not indexed in Scopus at that time. Several other reviews have been conducted and published with a focus on specific topics, such as the assessment of the learning assistant model (Barrasso & Spilios, 2021 ), STEM education in early childhood (Wan et al., 2021 ), and research on individuals' STEM identity (Simpson & Bouhafa, 2020 ). All of these reviews helped in summarizing and synthesizing what we can learn from research on different topics related to STEM education.

Given the on-going rapid expansion of interest in STEM education, the number of research reviews in STEM education research has also been growing rapidly over the years. For example, there were only one or two research reviews published yearly in IJSTEM just a few years ago (Li, 2019 ). However, the situation started to change quickly over the past several years (Li & Xiao, 2022 ). Table 1 provides a summary list of research reviews published in IJSTEM in 2020 and 2021. The journal published a total of five research reviews in 2020 (8%, out of 59 publications), which then increased to seven in 2021 (12%, out of 59 publications).

Taking a closer look at these research reviews, we noticed that three reviews were conducted with a broad perspective to examine research and trends in STEM education (Li et al., 2020a , 2020b ) or STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education (Marin-Marin et al., 2021 ). Relatively large numbers of publications/projects were reviewed in these studies to provide a general overview of research development and trends. The other nine reviews focused on research on specific topics or aspects in STEM education. These results suggest that, with the availability of a rapidly accumulating number of studies in STEM education, researchers have started to go beyond general research trends to examine and summarize research development on specific topics. Moreover, across these 12 reviews, researchers used many different approaches to search multiple data sources (often with specified search terms) to identify and select articles, including journal publications, research reports, conference papers, or dissertations. It appears that researchers have been creative in developing and using specific approaches to select and review publications that are pertinent to their topics. At the same time, however, none of these reviews were designed and conducted to identify and review high impact research articles that had notable influences on the development of STEM education scholarship.

The importance of examining high impact empirical research publications in STEM education

STEM education differs from many other fields, as STEM itself is not a discipline. There are diverse perspectives about the disciplinarity of STEM and STEM education (e.g., Erduran, 2020 ; Li et al., 2020a ; Takeuchi et al., 2020 ; Tytler, 2020 ). The complexity and ambiguity in viewing and examining STEM and STEM education presents challenges as well as opportunities for researchers to explore and specify what and how they do in ways different from and/or connected with traditional education in the individual disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Although the field of STEM education is still in an early stage of its development, STEM education has experienced tremendous growth over the past decade. This field has evolved from traditional individual discipline-based education in STEM fields to multi- and interdisciplinary education in STEM. The development of STEM education has been supported by multiple factors, including research funding (Li et al., 2020b ) and the growth of research publications (Li et al., 2020a ). High impact publications play a very large role in the growth of the field, as they are read and cited frequently by others and serve to shape the development of scholarship in the field more than other publications.

Among high impact research publications, we can identify several different types of articles, including empirical studies, research reviews, and conceptual or theoretical papers. Research reviews and conceptual/theoretical papers are very valuable, as they synthesize existing research on a specific topic and/or provide new perspective(s) and direction(s), but they are typically not empirical studies. Review articles aim to provide a summary of the current state of the research in the field or on a particular topic, and they help readers to gain an overview about a topic, key issues and publications. Thus, they are more about what has been published in the literature about a topic and less about reporting new empirical evidence about a topic. Similarly, theoretical or conceptual papers tend to draw on existing research to advance theory or propose new perspectives. In contrast, empirical studies require the use and analysis of empirical data to provide empirical evidence. While reporting original research has been typical in empirical studies in education, these studies can also be secondary analyses of empirical data that test hypotheses not considered or addressed in previous studies. Empirical studies are generally published in academic, peer-reviewed journals and consist of distinct sections that reflect the stages in the research process. With the aim to gain insights about research development in STEM education, we thus decided to focus here on empirical studies in STEM education. Examining and reviewing high impact empirical research publications can help provide us a better understanding about emerging trends in STEM education in terms of research topics, methods, and possible directions in the future.

Considerations in identifying and selecting high impact empirical research publications

Publishing as a way of disseminating and sharing knowledge has many types of outlets, including journals, books, and conference proceedings. Different publishing outlets have different advantages in reaching out to readers. Researchers may search different data sources to identify and select publications to review, as indicated in Table 1 . At the same time, journal publications are commonly chosen and viewed as one of the most important outlets valued by the research community for knowledge dissemination and exchange. Specifically, there are two important advantages in terms of evaluating the quality and impact of journal publications over other formats. First, journal publications typically go through a rigorous peer-review process to ensure the quality of manuscripts for publication acceptance based on certain criteria. In educational research, some common criteria being used include “Standards for Reporting on Empirical Social Science Research in AERA Publications” (AERA, 2006 ), “Standards for Reporting on Humanities-Oriented Research in AERA Publications” (AERA, 2009 ), and “Scientific Research in Education” (NRC, 2002 ). Although the peer-review process is also employed in assessing and selecting proposals or papers for publication acceptance in other formats such as books and conference proceedings, the peer-review process employed by journals (esp. those reputable and top journals in a field) tends to be more rigorous and selective than other publication formats. Second, the impact of journals and their publications has frequently been evaluated by peers and different indexing services for inclusion, such as Clarivate’s Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Elsevier’s Scopus. The citation information collected and evaluated by indexing services provides another important measure about the quality and impact of selected journals and their publications. Based on these considerations, we decided to select and review those journal publications that can be identified as having high citations to gain an overview of their impact on the research development of STEM education.

Focusing on the selection and review of journal publications with high citations has also been used by many other scholars. For example, Martín‐Páez et al. ( 2019 ) conducted a literature review to examine how STEM education is conceptualized, used, and implemented in educational studies. To ensure the quality of published articles for review, they searched and selected journal articles published in the 2013–2018 period from the Web of Science (WoS) database only. Likewise, Akçayır and Akçayır ( 2017 ) conducted a systematic literature review on augmented reality used in educational settings. They used keywords to search all SSCI-indexed journals from WoS database to identify and select published articles, given that WoS provides easy access to search SSCI indexed articles. In addition to the method of searching the WoS database, some researchers used other approaches to identify and select published articles with high citations. For example, some researchers may search different databases to identify and select articles for reviews, such as Scopus (Chomphuphra et al., 2019 ) and Google (Godin et al., 2015 ). In comparison, however, the WoS core database is more selective than many others, including Scopus. The WoS is the world’s leading scientific citation search and analytical information platform (Li et al., 2018 ), and has its own independent and thorough editorial process to ensure journal quality together with the most comprehensive and complete citation network ( https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/solutions/webofscience-ssci/ ). Its core database has been commonly used as a reliable indexing database with close attention to high standard research publications with a peer-review process and is thus used in many research review studies (e.g., Akçayır & Akçayır, 2017 ; Li et al., 2018 ; Marín-Marín et al., 2021 ; Martín‐Páez et al., 2019 ).

It should be noted that some researchers have used a different approach to identify and select high impact publications other than focusing on article citations. This alternative approach is to identify leading journals from specific fields first and then select relevant articles from these journals. For example, Brown ( 2012 ) identified and selected eight important journals in each STEM discipline after consulting with university faculty and K-12 teachers. Once these journals were selected, Brown then located 60 articles that authors self-identified as connected to STEM education from over 1100 articles published between January 1, 2007 and October 1, 2010. However, as there was no well-established journal in STEM education until just a few years ago (Li et al., 2020a ), the approach used by Brown may be less useful for identifying high impact publications in the field of STEM education. In fact, researchers in STEM education have been publishing their high-quality articles in many different journals, especially those well-established journals with an impact factor. Thus, this approach will not help ensure the selection of high impact articles in STEM education, even though they were selected from well-recognized journals rooted in each of STEM disciplines.

In summary, we searched the WoS core database to identify and select high impact empirical research articles in STEM education as those highly cited articles published in journals indexed and collected in the WoS.

Current review

Similar to previous research reviews (e.g., Li et al., 2020a ), we need to specify the scope of the current review with specific considerations of the following two issues:

What time period should be considered?

How should we identify and select highly cited research publications in STEM education?

Time period

As discussed in a previous review (Li et al., 2020a ), the acronym STEM did not exist until the early 2000s. The existence of the acronym has helped to focus attention on and efforts in STEM education. Thus, consistent with the determination of the time period used in the previous review on examining the status and trends in STEM education, we decided to select articles starting from the year 2000. At the same time, we can use the acronym of STEM as an identifier in locating journal articles in a way as done before (Li et al., 2020a ) and also by others (e.g., Brown, 2012 ; Mizell & Brown, 2016 ). We chose the end of 2021 as the end of the time period for publication search and inclusion.

Searching and identifying highly cited empirical research journal publications in STEM education

To identify and select journal articles in STEM education from the WoS core database, we decided to use the common approach of keyword searches as used in many other reviews (e.g., Gladstone & Cimpian, 2021 ; Winterer et al., 2020 ). Li et al. ( 2020a ) also noted the complexity and ambiguity of identifying publications in STEM education. Thus, we planned to identify and select publications in STEM education as those self-identified by authors. As mentioned above, we then used the acronym STEM (or STEAM) as key terms in our search for publications in STEM education.

Different from the previous review on research status and trends in STEM education (Li et al., 2020a ), the current review aimed to identify and select high impact journal articles but not coverage. Thus, we decided to define and limit the scope of high impact empirical research journal publications as the top 100 most-cited empirical research journal publications obtained from the WoS core database.

Research questions

Li et al. ( 2020a ) showed that STEM education articles have been published in many different journals, especially with the limited journal choices available in STEM education. Given a broader range of journals and a longer period of time to be covered in this review, we can thus gain some insights through examining multiple aspects of the top 100 most-cited empirical studies, including journals in which these empirical studies were published, publication years, disciplinary content coverage, research topics and methods. In addition, recent reviews suggested the value of examining possible trends in the authorship and school level focus (Li, 2022 ; Li & Xiao, 2022 ). Taken together, we are interested in addressing the following six research questions:

What are the top 100 most-cited empirical STEM education research journal publications?

What are the distributions and patterns of the top 100 most-cited empirical research publications in different journals?

What is the disciplinary content coverage of the top 100 most-cited empirical research journal publications and possible trends?

What are research topics and methods of the top 100 most-cited empirical research journal publications?

What are the corresponding authors’ nationalities/regions and professions?

What are school level foci of the top 100 most-cited empirical research journal publications over the years?

Based on the above discussion, we carried out the following steps for this systematic review to address these research questions.

Searching and identifying the top 100 most-cited empirical research journal publications in STEM education

Figure 1 provides a summary of the article search and selection process that was used for this review. The process started with a search of the WoS core database on September 12, 2022 under the field of “topic” (covering title, abstract, author keywords, and keywords plus), using the search terms: “STEM” OR “STEAM” OR “science, technology, engineering, and mathematics”. Because there are many different categories in the WoS database, we then specified the publication search using the four WoS categories listed under “education”: “Education Educational Research,” “Education Scientific Disciplines,” “Psychology Educational,” and “Education Special.” The time period of publication search was further specified as starting from 2000 to 2021.

Flowchart of publication search, identification, and selection process

The search returned 9275 publications under “Education Educational Research,” 2161 under “Education Scientific Disciplines,” 247 under “Psychology Educational,” and 15 under “Education Special.” The combined list of all publications was then placed in descending order in terms of citation counts up to the search date of Sept. 12, 2022, and each publication record was screened one-by-one by three researchers using the inclusion or exclusion criteria (see Table 2 ). At times when the publication record listed was not detailed enough, we searched and obtained the full article to screen and check to determine its eligibility. The process ended after identifying and selecting the top 100 most-cited empirical research journal publications.

Data analysis

To address research question 3, we categorized all 100 publications in terms of the number of STEM disciplines covered in a study. Two general categories were used for this review: publications within a single discipline of STEM vs. those with multi- or inter-disciplines of STEM. In contrast to the detailed classifications used in a previous review (Li et al., 2020a ), this simplified classification can help reveal overall trends in disciplinary content coverage and approach reflected in high impact empirical research in STEM education.

To examine research topics, we used the same list of topics from previous reviews (Li & Xiao, 2022 ; Li et al., 2020a ). The following list contains the seven topic categories (TCs) that were used to classify and examine all 100 publications identified and selected from the search in this study.

TC1: Teaching, teacher, and teacher education in STEM (including both pre-service and in-service teacher education) in K-12 education;

TC2: Teacher and teaching in STEM (including faculty development, etc.) at post-secondary level;

TC3: STEM learner, learning, and learning environment in K-12 education;

TC4: STEM learner, learning, and learning environments (excluding pre-service teacher education) at post-secondary level;

TC5: Policy, curriculum, evaluation, and assessment in STEM (including literature reviews about a field in general);

TC6: Culture, social, and gender issues in STEM education;

TC7: History, epistemology, and perspectives about STEM and STEM education.

To examine research methods, we coded all publications in terms of the following methodological categories: (1) qualitative methods, (2) quantitative methods, and (3) mixed methods. We assigned each publication to only one research topic and one method, following the process used in the previous reviews (Li et al., 2019 , 2020a ). When there was more than one topic or method that could have been used for a publication, a final decision was made in choosing and assigning the primary topic and/or method after discussion.

To address research question 5, we examined the corresponding author’s (or the first author, if no specific indication was given about the corresponding author) nationality/region and profession. Many publications in STEM education have joint authorship but may contain limited information about different co-authors. Focusing on the corresponding author’s nationality/region is a feasible approach as we learned from a previous research review (Li et al., 2020a ). For the corresponding author’s profession, we used the same two general categories from the recent reviews (Li, 2022 ; Li & Xiao, 2022 ): “education” and “STEM+” that differentiate a corresponding author’s profession in education/educational research vs. disciplines and fields other than education. If a publication’s corresponding author was listed as affiliated with multiple departments/institutions, the first department/institution affiliation was chosen and used to identify the author’s nationality/region and profession.

To answer research question 6, we adopted the three categories from recent research reviews: K-12, postsecondary, and general (Li, 2022 ; Li & Xiao, 2022 ). The use of these school level categories helped reveal the distribution of STEM education research interests and development over the school level span. While the first two categories are self-explanatory, the “general” category is for those empirical research publications on questions or issues either pertinent to all school levels or that cross the boundary of K-12 school and college.

Results and discussion

The following sections are structured to report findings as corresponding to each of the six research questions.

Distributions and patterns of highly cited publications across different journals

Forty-five journals were identified as publishing these top 100 most-cited articles. Table 4 shows that the majority (26) of these journals focus on general educational research or educational psychology, publishing 52 of the top 100 most-cited articles. Fourteen journals with titles specifying a single discipline of STEM published 38 of these top 100 articles, three journals with two specified STEM disciplines in their titles published seven of these articles, one journal with three specified STEM disciplines published one article, and one journal specifying all four STEM disciplines published two articles. Among these 45 journals, 36 journals are indexed in SSCI, with the remaining nine journals indexed in ESCI (Emerging Sources Citation Index). These are clearly all reputable and well-established journals, with 36 established before 2000 and 9 established in or after 2000. Only three journals in the list are Open Access (OA) journals, and they were all established after 2000. The results suggest that researchers have been publishing high impact STEM education research articles in a wide range of well-established traditional journals, with the majority in general educational research or educational psychology with a long publishing history. It further confirms that the importance of STEM education research has been well-recognized in educational research or educational psychology as noted above. At the same time, the results imply that the history of STEM education itself has been too brief to establish its own top journals and identity except only one in STEM education (IJSTEM) (Li et al., 2020a ).

Among these 45 journals listed in Table 4 , we classified them into two general categories: general education research journals (26, all without mention of a discipline of STEM in a journal’s title) and those (19) with one or more STEM disciplines specified in a journal’s title. Figure 3 presents the distributions of these top 100 articles in these two general categories over the years. Among 49 articles published before 2014, the majority (31, 63%) of these articles were published in journals on general educational research or educational psychology. However, starting in 2014, a new trend emerged with more of these highly cited articles (30 out of 51, 59%) published in journals with STEM discipline(s) specified. The result suggests a possible shift of developing and gaining disciplinary content consciousness in STEM education research publications.

Trend of the top 100 most-cited articles published in journals without vs. with subject discipline(s) of STEM specified. (Note: 0 = journals without STEM discipline specified, 1 = journals with STEM discipline(s) specified.)

As a further examination of the distribution of publications in journals specified with STEM discipline(s), Fig. 4 shows the distributions of these highly cited articles in different journal categories over the years. It is clear that these highly cited articles were typically published in journals on general educational research or educational psychology before 2014. However, things started to change since 2014, with these highly cited articles published in more diverse journals including those with STEM discipline(s) specified in the journal titles. The journals that include only a single discipline of STEM have been more popular than others among those journals that specify one or more STEM disciplines. The result is not surprising as journals specified with a single discipline of STEM are more common, often with a long publishing history and support from well-established professional societies of education on a single discipline of STEM. This trend suggests that the importance of STEM education has also gained increasing recognition from professional societies that used to focus on a single discipline of STEM.

Distribution of highly cited research articles across different journal categories over the years. (Note: 0 = journals without STEM discipline specified, 1 = journals with a single discipline of STEM specified, 2 = journals with two disciplines of STEM specified, 3/4 = journals with 3 or 4 disciplines of STEM specified.)

To glimpse into those recent changes, we took a closer look at the six articles published in 2018 and 2019 as examples (see Table 5 ). All of these articles have been highly cited in just 3 or 4 years, with an average of 102 citations (range, 75–144) per article. Across these six articles, the majority were published in journals whose titles specified one or more STEM disciplines: three in journals with a single discipline of STEM specified, one in a journal on STEM education, and two in journals on general educational research. At the same time, these recent publications are not specifically on any single discipline of STEM, but multi- and interdisciplinary STEM education.

Disciplinary content coverage

The search of STEM education publications from the WoS core database relied on several keywords that the authors used to self-identify their research on STEM education. After coding and categorizing all top 100 publications, 25 research publications were found as focusing on a single discipline of STEM and 75 publications on multi- and interdisciplinary STEM education. The majority of these 100 most-cited empirical studies, in their focus on multi- and interdisciplinary STEM education, reflects the overall focus in STEM education, a trend consistent with what was learned from a previous review of journal publications in STEM education (Li et al., 2020a ).

Among the 25 research articles on a single discipline of STEM, the majority of these articles (56%, 14 out of 25) focused on science, 5 articles on technology, 4 articles on mathematics, and 2 articles on engineering. The result suggests that of the four STEM disciplines, arguably “science” is the broadest category and so it is not surprising that the number of publications on science is the most prevalent. Indeed, the result is also consistent with what we can learn from Table 4 . Among the 14 journals specifying a single STEM discipline that published 38 of the top 100 articles, seven journals focus on “science” that published 27 of these 38 articles.

To examine possible trends over time, Fig. 5 shows the distribution of these 100 articles across these two disciplinary content coverage categories over the years. For each of the publishing years from 2005 to 2019, there were always more high citation empirical publications on multi- and interdisciplinary STEM education than high citation publications focusing on a single discipline of STEM. Moreover, there were no high citation publications on a single discipline of STEM before 2011 or after 2017 that made the cut for inclusion in the top 100 list. These results suggest an overall trend of on-going emphasis on multi- and interdisciplinary research in STEM education, which can be further verified by what we learned from the six recent publications in Table 5 .

Publication distribution by disciplinary content coverage over the years. (Note: S = single discipline of STEM, M = multiple disciplines of STEM.)

Research topics and methods

Table 6 presents the distribution of all 100 highly cited publications classified in terms of the seven topic categories (TCs) over the years. Overall, all seven TCs have publications that were on the top 100 high citation publication list. There were clearly the most publications on TC6 (culture, social, and gender issues in STEM education), followed by publications on TC4 (STEM learner, learning, and learning environments at post-secondary level). The large number of publications with high citations in these two categories suggest possible evolution of research interests and topics in the field of STEM education. Taking a closer look at the six recent publications in Table 5 , it is clear that culture, social, and gender issues were the focus in these recent publications, with the exception of one publication on assessment. This result presents a picture that appears somewhat different from what we learned from previous research reviews that did not focus exclusively on high impact publications from the WoS database (Li & Xiao, 2022 ; Li et al., 2020a ).

Looking at the distribution of these publications within each of the seven TCs, “culture, social, and gender issues in STEM education” (TC6) is a topic area that consistently has some highly cited research publications in almost each of the publishing years. “STEM learner, learning, and learning environments at post-secondary level” (TC4) also has some consistent and on-going research interest with highly cited publications making the list in most of these publishing years. In contrast, publication distributions in the rest of the TCs did not present clearly notable patterns over the years.

Figure 6 shows the number of publications distributed over the years by research methods in these empirical studies. The use of quantitative methods (71) is dominant overall and is especially prevalent among these most-cited publications in the years from 2005 to 2019, a result consistent with what we learned from a previous research review (Li et al., 2020a ). Across these three methodological classifications, qualitative methods were used in 20 empirical studies, and mixed methods were used in only 9 empirical studies. Comparatively, there were many more articles published between 2010 and 2016 that used quantitative methods than the other two methods. However, there were somehow less dramatic differences in method use among empirical studies published either before 2010 or after 2016. As the use of different methods can help reveal ways of collecting and analyzing data to provide empirical evidence, it would be interesting to learn more about possible development and use of research methods in STEM education in the future as a new empirical research paradigm.

Publication distribution in terms of research methods over the years. (Note: 1 = qualitative, 2 = quantitative, 3 = mixed.)

Corresponding author’s nationality/region and profession Footnote 1

Examining the corresponding author’s nationality/region helps reveal the international diversity in research engagement and scholarly contribution to STEM education. Figure 7 indicates 87 highly cited publications (87%, out of 100 publications) with the corresponding author from the United States, followed by 6 publications (6%) contributed by researchers in the U.K., and the remaining 7 publications with the corresponding author from seven other countries/regions (i.e., one publication for each country/region). The results show some international diversity in terms of the number of country/region represented, but with a clear dominance of research contributions from the West especially the United States. The result echoes what we learned above about the corresponding author’s nationality/region for the top ten most-cited articles (see Table 3 ).

Distribution of corresponding author’s nationality/region of the top 100 articles

Recent reviews of journal publications in IJSTEM suggest a trend of increasing diversity in research contributions from many more different countries/regions (Li, 2022 ; Li & Xiao, 2022 ). We would not be surprised if the list of top 100 most-cited empirical research publications contained more contributions from other countries/regions in the future.

After coding the corresponding author’s profession in these top 100 articles, we found that similar numbers of publications had corresponding authors who were researchers in education (49) and STEM+ (51). This result is consistent with what we learned from the corresponding authors’ profession distribution in recent publications in IJSTEM (Li, 2022 ). The diversity in contributing to STEM education scholarship from researchers with various disciplinary training is evident.

To examine possible trends in the corresponding authors’ profession over time, Fig. 8 shows the distributions of these publications in the two profession categories over the years. It is interesting to note that researchers in education typically served as the corresponding authors for more articles published before 2014: 31 articles by researchers in education and 18 articles by researchers in STEM+ for a total of 49 published before 2014. However, a new trend has emerged since 2014, with many more researchers in STEM+ serving as the corresponding authors for these highly cited research articles: 18 articles by researchers in education and 33 articles by researchers in STEM+ for a total of 51 published since 2014.

Distribution of publications by corresponding author’s profession over the years. (Note: 1 = education, 2 = STEM+)

This trend is consistent with what we learned above about the increased number of these publications in journals specified with STEM discipline(s) since 2014 (see Figs. 3 and 4 ). We see an increasing number of researchers in STEM+ fields contributing and publishing empirical research articles in many journals associated with STEM discipline(s) since 2014, resulted in an increase in citations from professional communities while furthering the development of STEM education scholarship. The result is also consistent with what we learned from the authorship development of publications in IJSTEM over the years (Li & Xiao, 2022 ), an increasing trend of having STEM education scholarship contributions from diverse STEM+ fields.

Publications by school level over the years

With an increasing trend of contributions from researchers in diverse STEM+ fields, the identification of school level can help reveal where these high impact research publications focus on issues in STEM education. The coding results show that the majority (63) of these 100 most-cited articles focused on issues at the postsecondary level, 30 articles on issues at the K-12 school level, and 7 articles in the category of “general.”

Figure 9 presents the distributions of these highly cited publications across these three school categories over the years. It is interesting to note that high impact publications on issues at the postsecondary level outnumbered those in other two categories in almost every of these publishing years. As educational issues in K-12 school level were typically attended to by researchers in education, the increasing number of contributions from researchers in diverse STEM+ fields likely pushed the number of citations on publications that fit their interests more at the postsecondary level. The result is consistent with a growing trend in IJSTEM publications on STEM education at the post-secondary level revealed in a recent review (Li & Xiao, 2022 ).

Distribution of highly cited publications by school level focus and year. (Note: 1 = K-12 school level, 2 = Post-secondary level, 3 = General.)

We also noticed that almost no articles in the category of “general” before 2011 and after 2015 made to the list of top 100 most-cited publications. This result suggests that high impact empirical research in STEM education was conducted more at the school level rather than on issues across the boundary of K-12 school and college. With an increasing number of publications in the “general” category noted in recent review of IJSTEM publications (Li & Xiao, 2022 ), it would be interesting to learn more about cross-school boundary development of STEM education scholarship in the future.

Concluding remarks

This systematic review of high impact empirical studies in STEM education explores the top 100 most-cited research articles from the WoS database as published in journals from 2000 to 2021. These articles were published in a wide range of 45 reputable and well-established journals, typically with a long publishing history. These publications present an overall emphasis more on multi- and interdisciplinary STEM education rather than a single discipline of STEM, with an increasing trend of publishing in journals whose title specified one or more STEM discipline(s). Before 2014, 37% (18 out of 49) of these most-cited articles were published in journals whose title specified with a STEM discipline(s). In contrast, 59% (30 out of 51) articles were published in such journals since 2014, and even more so with 67% of the six articles published in 2018 and 2019. This trend is further elevated with two of those high impact articles recently published in this journal, International Journal of STEM Education . There appears a growing sense of developing disciplinary content consciousness and identity in STEM education.

Consistent with our previous reviews (Li et al., 2019 , 2020a ), the vast majority of these highly cited STEM research publications were contributed by authors from the West, especially the United States where STEM and STEAM education originated. Although there were contributions from eight other countries/regions in these top 100 publications, the diversity of international engagement and contribution was limited. Our results also provide an explanation of what may become “hot” topics among these highly cited articles. In particular, the topic of “culture, social, and gender issues in STEM education” is quite prevalent among those highly cited research publications, followed by the topic area of “STEM learner, learning, and learning environments at post-secondary level.” In comparison, topics related to disciplinary content integration in STEM teaching and learning and STEM teacher training have not yet emerged as “hot” among these highly cited empirical studies. Given that an increasing trend of diversity was noted from a review of recent publications in IJSTEM (Li, 2022 ), we would not be surprised if there will be more high impact research publications contributed by researchers from many other countries/regions on diverse topics in the future.

As STEM education does not have a long history, there will be many challenges and opportunities for new development in STEM education. One important dimension is research method. Among the top 100 most-cited empirical studies, quantitative methods were used as the dominant approach, followed by qualitative methods and then mixed methods. This is not surprising as research in multidisciplinary STEM education may require the use and analysis of data across different disciplines, more frequently in large quantitative data than in other data formats. However, when research questions evolve in the future, it would be interesting to learn more about method development and use in STEM education as a new research paradigm.

We started this review with the intention of gaining insights into the development of STEM education scholarship beyond what we learned about publication growth in STEM education from prior reviews. Indeed, this systematic review provided us with the opportunity to learn about possible trends and gaps in different aspects as discussed above. At the same time, we can learn even more by making connections across these different aspects. One important question in STEM education is to understand the nature of STEM education scholarship and to find ways of developing STEM education scholarship. However, STEM is not a discipline by itself, which suggests possible fundamental differences between STEM education scholarship and scholarship typically defined and classified for a single discipline of STEM. With the increasing participation and contributions from researchers in diverse STEM+ fields as we learned from this review, there is a good possibility that the nature of STEM education scholarship will be collectively formulated with numerous contributions from diverse scholars. Continuing analyses of high impact publications is an important and interesting topic that can yield more insights in the years to come.

Availability of data and materials

The data and materials used and analyzed for the report were obtained through searching the Web of Science database, and related journal information are available directly from these journals’ websites.

Our analysis found that the vast majority (94%) of these top 100 articles had the same researcher to serve as the first author and the corresponding author. There are 10 articles that had more than one corresponding authors, and we chose the first corresponding author as listed in our coding.

Abbreviations

Association for computing machinery AERA

American Educational Research Association

Cell biology education

Emerging Sources Citation Index

Institute of electrical and electronics engineers

International Journal of STEM Education

Kindergarten-Grade 12

National Research Council

Social Sciences Citation Index

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

Disciplines or fields other than education, including those commonly considered under the STEM umbrella plus some others

Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics

Topic category

Web of Science

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The author would like to thank Marius Jung and the staff at SpringerOpen for their support in publishing this article.

This work was supported by National Social Science Foundation of China, BHA180134.

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Yeping Li, Yu Xiao & Sandra B. Nite

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Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China

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Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China

Capital Normal University, Beijing, China

Ruilin Wang

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Zhiqiang Yuan

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Jianxing Xu

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YL conceived the study, helped with article search and screening, conducted data analyses, and drafted the manuscript. YX and KW contributed with article search, identification, selection and coding. NZ, YP, RW, CQ, ZY, and JX contributed with data coding. SBN and JRS reviewed drafts and contributed to manuscript revisions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Li, Y., Xiao, Y., Wang, K. et al. A systematic review of high impact empirical studies in STEM education. IJ STEM Ed 9 , 72 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00389-1

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Contents Introduction Sherry Marx
*"I am an innovator:" Quahn's Counter-narrative of Becoming in STEM
Angela Calabrese Barton, Myunghwan Shin, and LaQuahn Johnson
*"I come because I make toy.": Examining Nodes of Criticality in an Afterschool Science & Engineering (SE) Club with Refugee Youth
Edna Tan and Beverly Faircloth
* Sociocultural Analysis of Engineering Design: Latino High School Students' Funds of Knowledge and Implications for Culturally Responsive Engineering Education
Joel Alejandro Mejia
* Bruised But Not Broken: African American Women Persistence in Engineering Degree Programs in Spite of Stereotype Threat
Sherry Marx
* Examining Academic Integrity in the Postmodern: Undergraduates' Use of Solutions to Complete Textbook-based Engineering Coursework
Angela Minichiello
* Engineering Dropouts: A Qualitative Examination of Why Undergraduates Leave Engineering
Matthew Meyer and Sherry Marx
* nitacimowinis: A research story in Indigenous Science Education
* From Ambivalences toward Self-Efficacy: Bilingual Teacher Candidates' Shifting Sense of Knowing as Conocimiento with STEM
Anita Bright and G. Sue Kasun
* Examining the Non-Rational in Science Classrooms: Girls, Sustainability, and Science Education
Kim Haverkos
* Seven Types of Subitizing Activity Characterizing Young Children's Mental Activity
Beth L. MacDonald and Jesse L. M. Wilkins
* Orienting Students to One Another and to the Mathematics During Discussions
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Trends and Hot Topics of STEM and STEM Education: a Co-word Analysis of Literature Published in 2011–2020

Published: 23 February 2023

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Ying-Shao Hsu ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1635-8213 1 , 2 ,
Kai-Yu Tang ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3965-3055 3 &
Tzu-Chiang Lin ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3842-3749 4 , 5

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This study explored research trends in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Descriptive analysis and co-word analysis were used to examine articles published in Social Science Citation Index journals from 2011 to 2020. From a search of the Web of Science database, a total of 761 articles were selected as target samples for analysis. A growing number of STEM-related publications were published after 2016. The most frequently used keywords in these sample papers were also identified. Further analysis identified the leading journals and most represented countries among the target articles. A series of co-word analyses were conducted to reveal word co-occurrence according to the title, keywords, and abstract. Gender moderated engagement in STEM learning and career selection. Higher education was critical in training a STEM workforce to satisfy societal requirements for STEM roles. Our findings indicated that the attention of STEM education researchers has shifted to the professional development of teachers. Discussions and potential research directions in the field are included.

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A review of STEM education with the support of visualizing its structure through the CiteSpace software

Wei Wei Chu, Nur Rosliana Mohd Hafiz, … Siew Wei Tho

A systematic review of STEM education research in the GCC countries: trends, gaps and barriers

Fatma Kayan-Fadlelmula, Abdellatif Sellami, … Salman Umer

Mathematics and interdisciplinary STEM education: recent developments and future directions

Merrilyn Goos, Susana Carreira & Immaculate Kizito Namukasa

Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Ting-Jou Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City, 116, Taiwan

Ying-Shao Hsu

Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Ting-Jou Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City, 116, Taiwan

Graduate Institute of Library & Information Science, National Chung Hsing University, 145 Xingda Rd., South Dist., Taichung City, 402, Taiwan

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Center for Liberal Arts, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, No. 415, Jiangong Rd., Sanmin Dist, Kaohsiung City, 807618, Taiwan

Tzu-Chiang Lin

Center for Teacher Education, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, No. 415, Jiangong Rd., Sanmin Dist, Kaohsiung City, 807618, Taiwan

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Hsu, YS., Tang, KY. & Lin, TC. Trends and Hot Topics of STEM and STEM Education: a Co-word Analysis of Literature Published in 2011–2020. Sci & Educ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-023-00419-6

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Accepted : 26 January 2023

Published : 23 February 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-023-00419-6

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85 Unique Research Topics for STEM Students

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Are you a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) student? If yes, then during your academic journey, you must do qualitative or quantitative research on your field of study. Generally, for doing research, an ideal topic is essential. Since STEM covers broad disciplines, it might be challenging for you to identify the right topic for your research. But, with our assistance, you can effectively handle your research topic selection process. Here, we have suggested 85 best research topics for STEM students on different subjects.

In addition to the list of STEM research topics, we have also shared the importance of STEM research and tips for choosing a perfect STEM research topic.

Explore this entire blog and get exclusive qualitative and quantitative STEM research ideas across a variety of fields.

What is STEM?

STEM refers to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It is a manner of discussing things like education, employment, and activities relating to these four fundamental areas.

Science is the study of the world around us. Technology is the use of tools and equipment to solve problems. Engineering is the design and construction of things. Mathematics is the study of numbers and their applications. STEM enables every student to research, discover, and build interesting things that make our world better and more enjoyable.

Importance of STEM Research

In recent times, our world has been facing tremendous growth in the science and technology fields. This advancement is a result of the continuous research in the STEM areas. Moreover, STEM research is also significant in several aspects as listed below.

STEM research discovers new things and solves certain problems.
It contributes to finding treatments for diseases.
STEM research helps to develop new technology and makes human lives easier.
Engineers create products that improve the quality of human life.
Mathematics helps to comprehend and solve complicated problems.

STEM Research Type: Quantitative vs. Qualitative

STEM students can conduct either quantitative or qualitative research.

Quantitative research entails the methodical gathering and evaluation of numerical data to answer research questions, test hypotheses, identify trends, or find correlations between various factors. It is a systematic, objective approach to research that uses quantifiable data and scientific techniques to generate conclusions.

On the other hand, qualitative research is a methodical and exploratory method of research that focuses on comprehending and analyzing the challenges of human experiences, actions, and occurrences. Its goal is to provide deep insights into the “how” and “why” of various problems by studying them in their natural settings and surroundings.

When compared to quantitative research, qualitative research uses non-numerical data, such as discussions, notes, and open-ended surveys to investigate and comprehend the opinions, experiences, and ideas of individuals or groups.

STEM Researchers frequently select between quantitative and qualitative methods depending on their research objectives, questions, and the subject they are studying.

Know How to Choose a Good STEM Research Topic

As said earlier, for preparing a brilliant STEM research paper, an excellent topic is necessary. In case, you are unsure how to identify the right STEM research topic, follow the topic selection tips we have recommended below.

Determine Your Interests

Consider your interests and areas of excitement in science, technology, engineering, or math. It might be something you encountered in daily life, learned in school, or saw in the news. Simply, by selecting a topic that you are passionate about, you can enhance the pleasure of conducting research.

Examine Existing Subjects

Investigate several STEM research areas on the internet, in books, or at the library. Discover what subject specialists and scientists are researching. This can provide you with new ideas. Also, it can assist you in comprehending what is already known in your subject of choice.

Give Importance to Real-time Problems

Focus on the problems that exist around you. In specific, think about whether you can solve any issues in your community or world by using STEM concepts. Usually, selecting a study topic that fixes a real-world issue might bring more impact to your research.

Discuss with Teachers or Mentors

Talk to your teachers, mentors, or professors regarding what you are passionate about. They will offer assistance and propose STEM research topics that are relevant to your talents and goals. Furthermore, they may provide resources and help for your research.

Narrow Down the Topic

Once you’ve generated some ideas, limit them down to a specific study issue or project. Make sure the topic you select is not too wide or too narrow. Always pick a topic that you can thoroughly investigate within the boundaries of your STEM research paper.

Also Read: 200+ Excellent Research Paper Topics of 2023

List of the Best Research Topics for STEM Students

In case, you are confused about what STEM research topic to choose, then explore the list published below. In the list, you will get 85 outstanding STEM research topics on a wide range of subjects.

Quantitative Research Topics for STEM Students

Measure the effect of different light wavelengths on plant growth.
Examine the impact of pH levels on the rate of chemical reactions.
Investigate the relation between the number of blades on a wind turbine and energy output
Optimize algorithms for autonomous drone navigation in complex environments.
Explore the use of artificial intelligence in predicting and preventing forest fires.
Test the effectiveness of different insulating materials in conserving heat.
Analyze the effect of different concentrations of a substance on bacterial growth.
Investigate the effects of microplastic pollution on aquatic ecosystems.
Analyze the efficiency of solar panels in converting sunlight into electricity under varying conditions.
Study the behavior of magnets in different temperature conditions.
Explore the ethical implications of gene editing in humans.
Analyze the feasibility of harnessing geothermal energy from underwater volcanoes.
Explain the use of machine learning and AI in predicting and mitigating the impact of natural disasters.
Investigate the mechanisms of stem cell differentiation for regenerative medicine.
Explore the science behind the formation of auroras and their cultural significance.

Qualitative Research Topics for STEM Students

Share user experiences with augmented reality applications.
Analyze the impact of social media on political activism.
Present qualitative analysis of online gaming communities.
Analyze the impact of educational apps on student engagement.
Discuss ethical considerations in artificial intelligence development.
Share the perceptions of online privacy and data security.
Narratives of whistleblowers in scientific misconduct cases.
Explain the experiences of individuals participating in virtual reality environments.
Discuss the perceptions of artificial intelligence and automation among STEM Professionals.
Qualitative exploration of team dynamics in engineering projects.
Present the qualitative analysis of the digital divide in education.
Analyze the role of ethics in emerging technology development.
Discuss the perceptions of scientific responsibility in climate change.
Explore the decision-making process in biomedical research.
Qualitative analysis of the ethics of genetic engineering.

Science Research Topics for STEM Students

Study the relationship between diet and lifespan.
Analyze the synthesis of novel polymers with unique properties.
Examine the properties of dark matter and dark energy.
Study the effectiveness of various plant fertilizers.
Explore the dynamics of black holes and their gravitational effects.
Study the behavior of nanoparticles in different solvents.
Analyze the impact of climate change on crop yields.
Explore the physics of renewable energy sources like solar cells.
Study the properties of superfluids at low temperatures.
Investigate the chemistry of alternative fuels.
Explore the quantum properties of entangled particles.
Examine the physics of nanoscale materials and devices.
Analyze the effects of chemical additives on food preservation.
Investigate the chemistry of atmospheric pollutants.
Examine the physics of gravitational waves.

Math Research Topics for STEM Students

Analyze the properties of mathematical models for population dynamics.
Investigate the use of mathematical modeling in epidemiology.
Examine the use of numerical methods in solving partial differential equations.
Analyze the properties of algebraic structures in coding theory.
Explore the behavior of mathematical models in financial markets.
Analyze the behavior of chaotic systems using differential equations.
Examine the use of number theory in cryptography.
Investigate the properties of prime numbers and their distribution.
Analyze the behavior of mathematical models in climate prediction.
Study the optimization of algorithms for solving complex mathematical problems.

Engineering Research Ideas for STEM Students

Explore the efficiency of renewable energy storage systems.
Examine the impact of machine learning in predictive maintenance.
Study the impact of AI-driven design in architecture.
Examine the optimization of supply chain logistics using quantitative methods.
Analyze the effects of vibration on structural engineering.
Discuss the efficiency of water treatment processes in civil engineering.
Analyze the energy efficiency of smart buildings.
Examine the impact of 3D printing on manufacturing processes.
Explore the use of robotics in underwater exploration.
Study the structural integrity of materials in aerospace engineering.

STEM Research Paper Ideas on Computer Science and Technology

Analyze the effectiveness of recommendation systems in e-commerce.
Study the impact of cloud computing on data storage and processing.
Examine the use of neural networks in predicting disease outbreaks.
Explore the efficiency of data mining techniques in customer behavior analysis.
Examine the security of blockchain technology in financial transactions.
Study the impact of quantum computing on cryptography.
Analyze the effectiveness of sentiment analysis in social media monitoring.
Analyze the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures in protecting sensitive data.
Study the impact of algorithmic trading in financial markets.
Analyze the efficiency of data compression algorithms for large datasets.

Also Read: 140 Captivating Public Health Topics for Academic Paper

STEM Research Paper Topics on Health and Medicine

Analyze the impact of personalized medicine in cancer treatment.
Examine the use of wearable devices in monitoring patient health.
Study the epidemiology of chronic disease
Analyze the behavior of pharmaceutical drugs in clinical trials.
Investigate the use of bioinformatics in genomics research.
Analyze the properties of medical imaging techniques for early disease detection.
Study the impact of genetics in predicting disease susceptibility.
Explore the use of regenerative medicine in tissue repair.
Examine the use of artificial intelligence in medical diagnosis.
Analyze the behavior of pathogens in antimicrobial resistance.

Wrapping Up

Out of the numerous ideas suggested above, choose any topic of your choice and compose a great STEM research paper . If it is more difficult for you to choose a good research topic, perform STEM research, and prepare a brilliant thesis, then call us immediately.

On our platform, we have plenty of well-qualified STEM assignment helpers. For your academic work on any topic related to STEM subjects, our professionals will provide the best assistance. Most importantly, by taking STEM assignment help online from our experts, you can finish your tasks accurately and on time at a nominal price.

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Home » 500+ Qualitative Research Titles and Topics

500+ Qualitative Research Titles and Topics

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Qualitative research is a methodological approach that involves gathering and analyzing non-numerical data to understand and interpret social phenomena. Unlike quantitative research , which emphasizes the collection of numerical data through surveys and experiments, qualitative research is concerned with exploring the subjective experiences, perspectives, and meanings of individuals and groups. As such, qualitative research topics can be diverse and encompass a wide range of social issues and phenomena. From exploring the impact of culture on identity formation to examining the experiences of marginalized communities, qualitative research offers a rich and nuanced perspective on complex social issues. In this post, we will explore some of the most compelling qualitative research topics and provide some tips on how to conduct effective qualitative research.

Qualitative Research Titles

Qualitative research titles often reflect the study’s focus on understanding the depth and complexity of human behavior, experiences, or social phenomena. Here are some examples across various fields:

“Understanding the Impact of Project-Based Learning on Student Engagement in High School Classrooms: A Qualitative Study”
“Navigating the Transition: Experiences of International Students in American Universities”
“The Role of Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education: Perspectives from Teachers and Parents”
“Exploring the Effects of Teacher Feedback on Student Motivation and Self-Efficacy in Middle Schools”
“Digital Literacy in the Classroom: Teacher Strategies for Integrating Technology in Elementary Education”
“Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices: A Case Study in Diverse Urban Schools”
“The Influence of Extracurricular Activities on Academic Achievement: Student Perspectives”
“Barriers to Implementing Inclusive Education in Public Schools: A Qualitative Inquiry”
“Teacher Professional Development and Its Impact on Classroom Practice: A Qualitative Exploration”
“Student-Centered Learning Environments: A Qualitative Study of Classroom Dynamics and Outcomes”
“The Experience of First-Year Teachers: Challenges, Support Systems, and Professional Growth”
“Exploring the Role of School Leadership in Fostering a Positive School Culture”
“Peer Relationships and Learning Outcomes in Cooperative Learning Settings: A Qualitative Analysis”
“The Impact of Social Media on Student Learning and Engagement: Teacher and Student Perspectives”
“Understanding Special Education Needs: Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Support Services in Schools

Health Science

“Living with Chronic Pain: Patient Narratives and Coping Strategies in Managing Daily Life”
“Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on the Challenges of Rural Healthcare Delivery”
“Exploring the Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on Frontline Healthcare Workers: A Qualitative Study”
“Patient and Family Experiences of Palliative Care: Understanding Needs and Preferences”
“The Role of Community Health Workers in Improving Access to Maternal Healthcare in Rural Areas”
“Barriers to Mental Health Services Among Ethnic Minorities: A Qualitative Exploration”
“Understanding Patient Satisfaction in Telemedicine Services: A Qualitative Study of User Experiences”
“The Impact of Cultural Competence Training on Healthcare Provider-Patient Communication”
“Navigating the Transition to Adult Healthcare Services: Experiences of Adolescents with Chronic Conditions”
“Exploring the Use of Alternative Medicine Among Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Qualitative Inquiry”
“The Role of Social Support in the Rehabilitation Process of Stroke Survivors”
“Healthcare Decision-Making Among Elderly Patients: A Qualitative Study of Preferences and Influences”
“Nurse Perceptions of Patient Safety Culture in Hospital Settings: A Qualitative Analysis”
“Experiences of Women with Postpartum Depression: Barriers to Seeking Help”
“The Impact of Nutrition Education on Eating Behaviors Among College Students: A Qualitative Approach”
“Understanding Resilience in Survivors of Childhood Trauma: A Narrative Inquiry”
“The Role of Mindfulness in Managing Work-Related Stress Among Corporate Employees: A Qualitative Study”
“Coping Mechanisms Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
“Exploring the Psychological Impact of Social Isolation in the Elderly: A Phenomenological Study”
“Identity Formation in Adolescence: The Influence of Social Media and Peer Groups”
“The Experience of Forgiveness in Interpersonal Relationships: A Qualitative Exploration”
“Perceptions of Happiness and Well-Being Among University Students: A Cultural Perspective”
“The Impact of Art Therapy on Anxiety and Depression in Adult Cancer Patients”
“Narratives of Recovery: A Qualitative Study on the Journey Through Addiction Rehabilitation”
“Exploring the Psychological Effects of Long-Term Unemployment: A Grounded Theory Approach”
“Attachment Styles and Their Influence on Adult Romantic Relationships: A Qualitative Analysis”
“The Role of Personal Values in Career Decision-Making Among Young Adults”
“Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness in Rural Communities: A Qualitative Inquiry”
“Exploring the Use of Digital Mental Health Interventions Among Adolescents: A Qualitative Study”
“The Psychological Impact of Climate Change on Young Adults: An Exploration of Anxiety and Action”
“Navigating Identity: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Youth Culture and Self-Perception”
“Community Resilience in the Face of Urban Gentrification: A Case Study of Neighborhood Change”
“The Dynamics of Intergenerational Relationships in Immigrant Families: A Qualitative Analysis”
“Social Capital and Economic Mobility in Low-Income Neighborhoods: An Ethnographic Approach”
“Gender Roles and Career Aspirations Among Young Adults in Conservative Societies”
“The Stigma of Mental Health in the Workplace: Employee Narratives and Organizational Culture”
“Exploring the Intersection of Race, Class, and Education in Urban School Systems”
“The Impact of Digital Divide on Access to Healthcare Information in Rural Communities”
“Social Movements and Political Engagement Among Millennials: A Qualitative Study”
“Cultural Adaptation and Identity Among Second-Generation Immigrants: A Phenomenological Inquiry”
“The Role of Religious Institutions in Providing Community Support and Social Services”
“Negotiating Public Space: Experiences of LGBTQ+ Individuals in Urban Environments”
“The Sociology of Food: Exploring Eating Habits and Food Practices Across Cultures”
“Work-Life Balance Challenges Among Dual-Career Couples: A Qualitative Exploration”
“The Influence of Peer Networks on Substance Use Among Adolescents: A Community Study”

Business and Management

“Navigating Organizational Change: Employee Perceptions and Adaptation Strategies in Mergers and Acquisitions”
“Corporate Social Responsibility: Consumer Perceptions and Brand Loyalty in the Retail Sector”
“Leadership Styles and Organizational Culture: A Comparative Study of Tech Startups”
“Workplace Diversity and Inclusion: Best Practices and Challenges in Multinational Corporations”
“Consumer Trust in E-commerce: A Qualitative Study of Online Shopping Behaviors”
“The Gig Economy and Worker Satisfaction: Exploring the Experiences of Freelance Professionals”
“Entrepreneurial Resilience: Success Stories and Lessons Learned from Failed Startups”
“Employee Engagement and Productivity in Remote Work Settings: A Post-Pandemic Analysis”
“Brand Storytelling: How Narrative Strategies Influence Consumer Engagement”
“Sustainable Business Practices: Stakeholder Perspectives in the Fashion Industry”
“Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges in Global Teams: Strategies for Effective Collaboration”
“Innovative Workspaces: The Impact of Office Design on Creativity and Collaboration”
“Consumer Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Customer Service: A Qualitative Exploration”
“The Role of Mentoring in Career Development: Insights from Women in Leadership Positions”
“Agile Management Practices: Adoption and Impact in Traditional Industries”

Environmental Studies

“Community-Based Conservation Efforts in Tropical Rainforests: A Qualitative Study of Local Perspectives and Practices”
“Urban Sustainability Initiatives: Exploring Resident Participation and Impact in Green City Projects”
“Perceptions of Climate Change Among Indigenous Populations: Insights from Traditional Ecological Knowledge”
“Environmental Justice and Industrial Pollution: A Case Study of Community Advocacy and Response”
“The Role of Eco-Tourism in Promoting Conservation Awareness: Perspectives from Tour Operators and Visitors”
“Sustainable Agriculture Practices Among Smallholder Farmers: Challenges and Opportunities”
“Youth Engagement in Climate Action Movements: Motivations, Perceptions, and Outcomes”
“Corporate Environmental Responsibility: A Qualitative Analysis of Stakeholder Expectations and Company Practices”
“The Impact of Plastic Pollution on Marine Ecosystems: Community Awareness and Behavioral Change”
“Renewable Energy Adoption in Rural Communities: Barriers, Facilitators, and Social Implications”
“Water Scarcity and Community Adaptation Strategies in Arid Regions: A Grounded Theory Approach”
“Urban Green Spaces: Public Perceptions and Use Patterns in Megacities”
“Environmental Education in Schools: Teachers’ Perspectives on Integrating Sustainability into Curricula”
“The Influence of Environmental Activism on Policy Change: Case Studies of Grassroots Campaigns”
“Cultural Practices and Natural Resource Management: A Qualitative Study of Indigenous Stewardship Models”

Anthropology

“Kinship and Social Organization in Matrilineal Societies: An Ethnographic Study”
“Rituals and Beliefs Surrounding Death and Mourning in Diverse Cultures: A Comparative Analysis”
“The Impact of Globalization on Indigenous Languages and Cultural Identity”
“Food Sovereignty and Traditional Agricultural Practices Among Indigenous Communities”
“Navigating Modernity: The Integration of Traditional Healing Practices in Contemporary Healthcare Systems”
“Gender Roles and Equality in Hunter-Gatherer Societies: An Anthropological Perspective”
“Sacred Spaces and Religious Practices: An Ethnographic Study of Pilgrimage Sites”
“Youth Subcultures and Resistance: An Exploration of Identity and Expression in Urban Environments”
“Cultural Constructions of Disability and Inclusion: A Cross-Cultural Analysis”
“Interethnic Marriages and Cultural Syncretism: Case Studies from Multicultural Societies”
“The Role of Folklore and Storytelling in Preserving Cultural Heritage”
“Economic Anthropology of Gift-Giving and Reciprocity in Tribal Communities”
“Digital Anthropology: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Movements”
“Migration and Diaspora: Maintaining Cultural Identity in Transnational Communities”
“Cultural Adaptations to Climate Change Among Coastal Fishing Communities”

Communication Studies

“The Dynamics of Family Communication in the Digital Age: A Qualitative Inquiry”
“Narratives of Identity and Belonging in Diaspora Communities Through Social Media”
“Organizational Communication and Employee Engagement: A Case Study in the Non-Profit Sector”
“Cultural Influences on Communication Styles in Multinational Teams: An Ethnographic Approach”
“Media Representation of Women in Politics: A Content Analysis and Audience Perception Study”
“The Role of Communication in Building Sustainable Community Development Projects”
“Interpersonal Communication in Online Dating: Strategies, Challenges, and Outcomes”
“Public Health Messaging During Pandemics: A Qualitative Study of Community Responses”
“The Impact of Mobile Technology on Parent-Child Communication in the Digital Era”
“Crisis Communication Strategies in the Hospitality Industry: A Case Study of Reputation Management”
“Narrative Analysis of Personal Stories Shared on Mental Health Blogs”
“The Influence of Podcasts on Political Engagement Among Young Adults”
“Visual Communication and Brand Identity: A Qualitative Study of Consumer Interpretations”
“Communication Barriers in Cross-Cultural Healthcare Settings: Patient and Provider Perspectives”
“The Role of Internal Communication in Managing Organizational Change: Employee Experiences”

Information Technology

“User Experience Design in Augmented Reality Applications: A Qualitative Study of Best Practices”
“The Human Factor in Cybersecurity: Understanding Employee Behaviors and Attitudes Towards Phishing”
“Adoption of Cloud Computing in Small and Medium Enterprises: Challenges and Success Factors”
“Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management: A Qualitative Exploration of Potential Impacts”
“The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Personalizing User Experiences on E-commerce Platforms”
“Digital Transformation in Traditional Industries: A Case Study of Technology Adoption Challenges”
“Ethical Considerations in the Development of Smart Home Technologies: A Stakeholder Analysis”
“The Impact of Social Media Algorithms on News Consumption and Public Opinion”
“Collaborative Software Development: Practices and Challenges in Open Source Projects”
“Understanding the Digital Divide: Access to Information Technology in Rural Communities”
“Data Privacy Concerns and User Trust in Internet of Things (IoT) Devices”
“The Effectiveness of Gamification in Educational Software: A Qualitative Study of Engagement and Motivation”
“Virtual Teams and Remote Work: Communication Strategies and Tools for Effectiveness”
“User-Centered Design in Mobile Health Applications: Evaluating Usability and Accessibility”
“The Influence of Technology on Work-Life Balance: Perspectives from IT Professionals”

Tourism and Hospitality

“Exploring the Authenticity of Cultural Heritage Tourism in Indigenous Communities”
“Sustainable Tourism Practices: Perceptions and Implementations in Small Island Destinations”
“The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Destination Choice Among Millennials”
“Gastronomy Tourism: Exploring the Culinary Experiences of International Visitors in Rural Regions”
“Eco-Tourism and Conservation: Stakeholder Perspectives on Balancing Tourism and Environmental Protection”
“The Role of Hospitality in Enhancing the Cultural Exchange Experience of Exchange Students”
“Dark Tourism: Visitor Motivations and Experiences at Historical Conflict Sites”
“Customer Satisfaction in Luxury Hotels: A Qualitative Study of Service Excellence and Personalization”
“Adventure Tourism: Understanding the Risk Perception and Safety Measures Among Thrill-Seekers”
“The Influence of Local Communities on Tourist Experiences in Ecotourism Sites”
“Event Tourism: Economic Impacts and Community Perspectives on Large-Scale Music Festivals”
“Heritage Tourism and Identity: Exploring the Connections Between Historic Sites and National Identity”
“Tourist Perceptions of Sustainable Accommodation Practices: A Study of Green Hotels”
“The Role of Language in Shaping the Tourist Experience in Multilingual Destinations”
“Health and Wellness Tourism: Motivations and Experiences of Visitors to Spa and Retreat Centers”

Qualitative Research Topics

Qualitative Research Topics are as follows:

Understanding the lived experiences of first-generation college students
Exploring the impact of social media on self-esteem among adolescents
Investigating the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction
Analyzing the perceptions of employees regarding organizational culture
Examining the impact of parental involvement on academic achievement of elementary school students
Investigating the role of music therapy in managing symptoms of depression
Understanding the experience of women in male-dominated industries
Exploring the factors that contribute to successful leadership in non-profit organizations
Analyzing the effects of peer pressure on substance abuse among adolescents
Investigating the experiences of individuals with disabilities in the workplace
Understanding the factors that contribute to burnout among healthcare professionals
Examining the impact of social support on mental health outcomes
Analyzing the perceptions of parents regarding sex education in schools
Investigating the experiences of immigrant families in the education system
Understanding the impact of trauma on mental health outcomes
Exploring the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy for individuals with anxiety
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful intergenerational relationships
Investigating the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace
Understanding the impact of online gaming on social skills development among adolescents
Examining the perceptions of teachers regarding technology integration in the classroom
Analyzing the experiences of women in leadership positions
Investigating the factors that contribute to successful marriage and long-term relationships
Understanding the impact of social media on political participation
Exploring the experiences of individuals with mental health disorders in the criminal justice system
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-based programs for youth development
Investigating the experiences of veterans in accessing mental health services
Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood obesity prevention
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful multicultural education programs
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in the workplace
Understanding the impact of poverty on academic achievement
Exploring the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful employee retention strategies
Investigating the experiences of caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease
Understanding the impact of parent-child communication on adolescent sexual behavior
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health services on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in the workplace
Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of mentorship on career success
Exploring the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-based programs for mental health
Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of social media on romantic relationships
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding child discipline strategies
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful cross-cultural communication in the workplace
Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on healthcare delivery
Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing loss in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful parent-teacher communication
Investigating the experiences of individuals with depression in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health outcomes
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding alcohol and drug use on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful mentor-mentee relationships
Investigating the experiences of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the workplace
Understanding the impact of work-family balance on employee satisfaction and well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in vocational rehabilitation programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project management in the construction industry
Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in peer support groups
Understanding the impact of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction and mental health
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood nutrition
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful environmental sustainability initiatives in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with bipolar disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of job stress on employee burnout and turnover
Exploring the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in recreational activities
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful strategic planning in nonprofit organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with hoarding disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of culture on leadership styles and effectiveness
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding sexual health education on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain management in the retail industry
Investigating the experiences of individuals with personality disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of multiculturalism on group dynamics in the workplace
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in mindfulness-based pain management programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful employee engagement strategies in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with internet addiction disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of social comparison on body dissatisfaction and self-esteem
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood sleep habits
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful diversity and inclusion initiatives in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of job crafting on employee motivation and job satisfaction
Exploring the experiences of individuals with vision impairments in navigating public spaces
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer relationship management strategies in the service industry
Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative amnesia in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of cultural intelligence on intercultural communication and collaboration
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding campus diversity and inclusion efforts
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain sustainability initiatives in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of transformational leadership on organizational performance and employee well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with mobility impairments in public transportation
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful talent management strategies in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in harm reduction programs
Understanding the impact of gratitude practices on well-being and resilience
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood mental health and well-being
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful corporate social responsibility initiatives in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of emotional labor on job stress and burnout
Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing impairments in healthcare settings
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer experience strategies in the hospitality industry
Investigating the experiences of individuals with gender dysphoria in gender-affirming healthcare
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural negotiation in the global marketplace
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding academic stress and mental health
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain agility in organizations
Understanding the impact of music therapy on mental health and well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with dyslexia in educational settings
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful leadership in nonprofit organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in online support groups
Understanding the impact of exercise on mental health and well-being
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood screen time
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful change management strategies in organizations
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on international business negotiations
Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing impairments in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in corporate settings
Understanding the impact of technology on communication in romantic relationships
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community engagement strategies for local governments
Investigating the experiences of individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of financial stress on mental health and well-being
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful mentorship programs in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with gambling addictions in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of social media on body image and self-esteem
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood education
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful virtual team management strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative identity disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural communication in healthcare settings
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-building strategies in urban neighborhoods
Investigating the experiences of individuals with alcohol use disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of personality traits on romantic relationships
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health stigma on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful fundraising strategies for political campaigns
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PMC10096099

Students’ perceptions of their STEM learning environment

Nicole fairhurst.

School of Education, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845 Australia

Rachel Sheffield

Australia’s economic need for innovation has led to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education becoming an essential investment for the future. This study utilised a mixed-methods approach involving a pre-validated quantitative questionnaire together with qualitative semi-structured focus groups with students across four Year 5 classrooms. Students provided their perceptions of their STEM learning environment and their interactions with their teacher to identify factors influencing their engagement for pursuing these disciplines. The questionnaire comprised of scales from three different instruments: Classroom Emotional Climate, Test of Science Related Attitudes, and Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction. Several key factors were identified through student responses, including Student Freedom, Peer Collaboration, Problem Solving, Communication, Time, and Preferred Environments. 33 out of possible 40 correlations between scales were statistically significant, but eta 2 values were considered low (0.12–0.37). Overall, the students expressed positive perceptions about their STEM learning environment, with Student Freedom, Peer Collaboration, Problem Solving, Communication and Time appearing to impact their perceptions of STEM education. Three focus groups with a total of 12 students identified suggestions for improving STEM learning environments. Implications from this research include the importance of considering student perceptions when measuring the quality of STEM learning environments, as well as how facets of these environments can impact student attitudes towards STEM.

Introduction

Education frequently refers to the STEM acronym as the partial or full integration of the separate disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, including a focus on twenty-first Century competencies (Koul et al., 2018 ; Timms et al., 2018 ). Research evidence suggests there is a need to advance STEM education across Australia in order to ensure international economic competitiveness (Education Services Australia, 2018 ; Hudson et al., 2015 ; Office of the Chief Scientist, 2013 ). One of the key reasons for this drive is the decline in enrolments and performance within STEM education (Education Council, 2015 ; Education Services Australia, 2018 ). Caplan et al. ( 2016 ) explain that, whereas studies have been conducted within high schools, research indicates the need to engage students prior to the ages of 11–14 years to ensure longterm interest in pursuing these disciplines.

STEM education and the development of critical STEM skills are essential for Australia’s future of economic success, particularly when faced with unknown working conditions due to innovation and technology (Caplan et al., 2016 ; Honey et al., 2014 ; Marginson et al., 2013 ; Timms et al., 2018 ). The Foundation for Young Australians ( 2017 ) identified that occupations requiring these skills have risen by 70% and involve higher pay than those which don’t. Additionally, the World Economic Forum ( 2017 ) highlighted that automation and COVID-19 will have impacts on working conditions and that around 85 million jobs could be displaced by these changes; however, 97 million new roles will replace these jobs, requiring additional sets of skills. The World Economic Forum's ( 2017 ) top 15 skills for 2025 are outlined in Table Table1 1 and refer to the skills that will be essential for the future workforce. Therefore, the development of STEM competencies from an early age is crucial to building a workforce with the capacity to undertake these new roles. These skills are referred to later within the Results and Discussion sections to highlight links between STEM education and the needs of the industry.

World Economic Forum ( 2017 ) top 15 skills for 2025

Because of the need to inspire the young generation’s enthusiasm for STEM education, it is important to determine effective strategies or circumstances that target engagement across the integrated disciplines. Learning environment research is an extensively researched field that has been built upon for decades. The learning environment can be described as the psychosocial and emotional dimensions of a classroom that are identified from the perspective of a student and/or educator, including relationships, perceptions and attitudes (Fraser, 2012 ). The use of extensively validated questionnaires to measure perceptions within these environments is an established practice (Koul et al., 2018 ). Teachers utilise their learning environments to convey their expectations, directly impacting student perceptions of learning areas (Watt, 2016 ). Therefore, it is critical for researchers to determine which characteristics of STEM learning environments have positive or negative impacts on these perceptions in promoting engagement and aspiration.

STEM education

The exact definition of STEM education is widely debated; however, its meaning is important for educators to be able to implement it successfully (Blackley & Howell, 2015 ; Rosicka, 2016 ; Timms et al., 2018 ). While the drive to teach STEM through an integrated approach is more prevalent (Thomas & Watters, 2015 ) in Western education, there are still arguments that it should be delivered through its individual content areas. Rosicka ( 2016 ) believes that content isolation does not position students to understand how concepts relate to the world outside the classroom, therefore making integration more relevant. This approach supports students to fail authentically, reflect on their attempts, and develop positive mindsets for solving problems (Rosicka, 2016 ). Nadelson and Seifert ( 2017 ) describe integrated STEM education as the delivery of contextual problems through which students experience a combination of the concepts and content, positioning them to practise skills and knowledge that are naturally required. This process is more reflective of real-world industry experiences. For this paper, STEM education refers to the full or partial integration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, with a focus on twenty-first century competencies (Koul et al., 2018 ; Timms et al., 2018 ). This is reflective of the authentic approaches discussed in the literature which position students to engage with real-world integrative experiences to develop transversal skills.

Murphy et al. ( 2019 ) refer to student attitude towards STEM education and aspiration as ‘STEM dispositions’, and state that positive self-perceptions across these disciplines are essential for sustained engagement. They also claim that developing these positive perceptions early is integral to ensuring interest (Murphy et al., 2019 ). Through a survey of 15 000 public school students, Wiebe et al. ( 2018 ) found that children as young as elementary age have already begun to form attitudes and associations between their life, academic experiences, and potential career pathways. Marginson et al. ( 2013 ) explain that some students have negative perceptions of STEM education because they believe that this type of study is something that students with ‘talent’ undertake, rather than being accessible to everyone through hard work. As positive perceptions of STEM are integral to student engagement, it is essential to determine the factors associated with STEM education which influence student perceptions.

Learning environments

This study builds on the learning environment research conventions in which student perceptions are key psychosocial factors influencing student learning (Koul & Fisher, 2005 ). Walberg ( 1976 ) advocates the use of students’ perceptions to assess learning environments because students are quite capable of perceiving and weighing up stimuli and rendering predictively valid judgements of the social environments of their classes. Students’ perceptions of their classroom learning environment have been shown in a multitude of studies over the past decades to reliably predict affective and cognitive outcomes (Fraser, 2012 , 2014 ; Fraser et al., 2020 ). Learning environment research identifies the psychosocial and emotional dimensions of a classroom from the perspective of educators and/or students, including relationships, attitudes, perceptions, and the nature of the environment (Fraser, 2012 ). Fraser ( 2012 ) determined that students, who spend significant time within classrooms, have perceptions which are essential to consider. A number of studies have found correlations between student attitudinal outcomes, cognitive outcomes and learning environments (Fraser, 1986 , 2012 ), indicating that student perceptions are critical to their engagement with education. Further, other elements of learning environments, such as Classroom Emotional Climate, Teacher–Student Interactions and Attitudes, relate strongly to a child’s academic achievement and social-emotional growth (Rucinski et al., 2018 ), and therefore are discussed in following sections in relation to this project.

Classroom emotional climate

The Classroom Emotional Climate (CEC) refers to the extent that positive emotions and student comfort are promoted within a classroom (Brackett et al., 2011 ). Positive CEC includes showing care and concern; listening to and acting upon student perspectives; fostering peer cooperation; and showing an awareness of children’s academic and emotional needs (Hamre & Pianta, 2007 ). Contrasting negative environments include teachers who can threaten, disrespect or humiliate, or have poor emotional connections with students (Reyes et al., 2012 ). Neutral CEC also exists, with students likely to be unsure about how to approach their teacher because of inconsistencies in their behaviour (Reyes et al., 2012 ). Reyes et al. ( 2012 ) explain that classrooms which are reflective of positive CEC are more likely to have students who are engaged, enthusiastic and academically successful.

CEC was an important construct to this research project because it is a predictor of academic success and engagement (Reyes et al., 2012 ; Rucinski et al., 2018 ). Within Australia, the need to improve student academic success and engagement is significant for being able to meet the predicted workforce demands of industry (Barkatsas et al., 2018 ). Therefore, measuring CEC within STEM learning environments can provide aspects of this construct that positively impact a student’s aspiration to be successful and pursue STEM education (Fraser et al., 2020 ). Additionally, seeking elements of this construct which have negative implications could also assist with supporting students to engage positively.

Teacher–student interactions

Teacher–Student relationships are an important construct within learning environments because an educator’s motivational style has the potential to directly influence the engagement of a student (De Loof et al., 2021 ). They can be defined as the type and strength of the personal relationship between the teacher and student (Fraser & Walberg, 2005 ), and are determined by associated interactions. Research has revealed an empirical link between student achievement, student attitude, and their relationship with their teacher (Fraser & Walberg, 2005 ). Further, teachers play a crucial role in influencing career and study decisions, including their capacity to nurture a love of STEM education (Office of the Chief Scientist, 2013 ). For these reasons, teacher–student relationships were measured alongside CEC in this study to further understanding of how these constructs impact student perceptions of STEM education.

A team of researchers (Brekelmans et al., 1990 ; Wubbels et al., 1985 , 1991 ; Wubbels & Levy, 1993 ) extrapolated the seminal interpersonal behaviour research of Leary ( 1957 ) to develop the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) for gathering students’ perceptions of their teachers’ behaviours. This development led to a strong focus in classroom learning environment research on focusing teacher–student interactions (Fraser & Walberg, 2005 ). Brekelmans et al. ( 1990 ) investigated teacher behaviour in classrooms from a systems perspective, adapting a theory on communication processes (Watzlawick et al., 1967 ) that assumes that the behaviour of the teacher is influenced by the behaviour of the students and this, in turn, influences student behaviour. Circular communication processes develop which not only influence behaviour, but determine it as well.

The QTI measures interpersonal behaviour (Fig. 1 ) through Influence (Dominance–Submission) and Proximity (Opposition–Cooperation) (den Brok et al., 2005 ). This was expanded into an eight-sector model (Fig. 1 ) and the QTI was developed to assess student perceptions of these eight aspects of behaviour. This instrument measures the positive behaviours of Leadership, Helping/Friendly, Understanding, Student Responsibility/Freedom and the negative behaviours of Uncertain, Dissatisfied, Admonishing and Strict. The initial instrument was developed for use in secondary schools and later Goh and Fraser ( 1997 ) developed and validated a version for primary schools. In line with the precedents set by Fraser et al. ( 2020 ), this study only used positive set of scales of the QTI instrument, which directly contribute to the teacher–student interactions dimension of this research project.

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Model for interpersonal teacher behaviour (den Brok et al., 2005 )

Attitude to STEM

The attitudes to STEM education dimension for this study included modified scale of Attitude of Scientific Inquiry from the widely-used Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) (Fraser, 1981 ). This 70-item seven-scale instrument targets middle- and high-school students and specifically measures their attitude towards science education (Fraser, 1981 ). In this study, we used a scale specifically focussed on student perceptions of their current attitude towards STEM education as used by Fraser et al. ( 2020 ), in order to investigate possible characteristics of the learning environment that influence student attitudes. A model of the hypothesised relationships is provided in Fig. 2 .

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Model of hypothesised relationships between students’ perceptions of teacher–student interactions, classroom emotional climate and attitude towards STEM

Defining STEM learning environments

Currently, STEM learning environments have not been adequately researched (Fraser et al., 2020 ) and, therefore, little is known about them. It was important in this study that the definition of STEM learning environment was a combination of the integrated STEM education approach. For this reason, it was defined as an integrated learning context which utilised at least two of the STEM disciplines, while students practised their 21st Century competencies to solve problems (Yang & Baldwin, 2020 ), and perceptions of psychosocial and emotional dimensions were measured from the perspective of an educator and/or student.

The overarching aim of the study was to determine student perceptions of the quality of their STEM learning environment and their interactions with their teacher, as well as how this impacted their attitude towards STEM education. An additional aim was to investigate student preferred perceptions of their environment in an attempt to determine characteristics which may improve engagement. The specific objectives of the research reported in the paper were to:

Further validate a combination of scales from three pre-validated questionnaires for assessing upper-primary student perceptions of their STEM learning environment and their interactions with their teacher;
Investigate associations between the three constructs of (1) the Classroom Emotional Climate, (2) student Attitudes to STEM and (3) the quality of teacher–student interactions;
Investigate gender differences in perceptions;
Further investigate students’ preferred perceptions of their STEM learning environment, as well as potential characteristics which are conducive to improved engagement;
Use thematic analysis of focus groups to identify themes to facilitate understanding of student perceptions of STEM learning-environments.

This research utilised a mixed-methods case study approach to determine the perceptions of upper-primary students on their STEM learning environments and their interactions with their teacher. Upper-primary education was a focus because it is at this early age when children begin to form their career aspirations (Wiebe et al., 2018 ). This project firstly utilised the pervasive approach within learning environment research involving using a quantitative questionnaire to measure student perceptions of their classroom emotional climate, their interactions with the STEM teacher, and attitudes to STEM. Fraser et al. ( 2020 ) suggests that combining quantitative and qualitative methods when implementing questionnaires assists with explaining findings and provides greater detail. To elicit further understanding from students, semi-structured focus groups were conducted with a smaller number of students to collect further details about these perceptions, as well as their preferred teacher behaviours. Ethics approval for this study was granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee of our University.

This project was conducted at a co-educational independent school in Perth, Western Australia within Year 5 classrooms. The context was chosen because of its reputation for successfully implementing STEM education, therefore making it suitable for measuring the a quality of the STEM learning environment and investigating the impacts on student perceptions. Additionally, teachers of the four classes collaborated on their projects, so the students shared similar experiences. While the teachers did not always refer to the acronym ‘STEM’, they utilised the integrated approach as defined for this style of education.

Quantitative methods

The quantitative information was collected through the questionnaire which was comprised of scales from three tools and used in a previous study (Fraser et al., 2020 ). The first instrument measuring Classroom Emotional Climate (CEC) was based on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Tripod 7 C’s student perception survey (Ferguson, 2012 ; Fraser et al., 2020 ; Hamre & Pianta, 2007 ). Its eight scales of Care, Control, Clarity, Challenge, Motivation, Consultation, Consolidation, and Collaboration were adopted from Fraser et al. ( 2020 ). The second section, which measured Attitude to STEM, was adapted from the Attitude to Science scale from the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) (Fraser, 1981 ). The final section measured teacher–student interactions and was based on the positive scales of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) (Fraser et al., 2020 ). The four scales are Leadership, Helpful/Friendly, Understanding, and Student Responsibility/Freedom (Wubbels & Brekelmans, 2005 ). While originally designed for high school classrooms, both the TOSRA and QTI have been validated within primary school classrooms, making them appropriate for our study (Goh & Fraser, 1997 ; Koul et al., 2018 ). The instrument was firstly piloted through six focus groups, and then validated through the use of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in a junior high school setting, with a reasonable sample size of 658 participants in a separate study (Fraser et al., 2020 ). Functional validation of this instrument within upper-primary students was then completed through this project.

Prior to students completing the questionnaire, the researchers discussed STEM experiences with the participants, including what STEM is and projects or experiences completed at school. During implementation, to ensure understanding and to allow opportunities for questions, the researcher read each item to the students as they responded using a 5-point Likert scale. Additionally, the reliability estimates suggest that students had the capacity to respond to the items as intended.

The questionnaire was administered to 100 students (46 male; 54 female) across four Year 5 (10–11 years old) classrooms with(student ratio 23:24:26:27). All students who had provided consent, and were present on the day, participated in the study. The sample size was impacted by COVID-19, because some students had not returned to school after it had been shut down during the pervious term.

Quantitative analysis was conducted through a range of strategies. Data from the questionnaire was inputted into an Excel spreadsheet, and then processed using IBM SPSS version 27 Statistics Software. Firstly, descriptive statistics were generated for means and standard deviations for the data set. T -testing was used to compare genders and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) compared means between classrooms. Correlations and muiltiple regressions were used to determine significant relationships between variables. Additionally, alpha reliability, eta 2 and Pearson’s correlation were reported.

Qualitative methods

A sample of 12 students was purposively selected to participate in semi-structured focus groups; an outline of participant selection is shown within Table Table2. 2 . Five male and seven female students were purposively selected,based on their gender and their responses to the Attitudes to STEM items to ensure representation, to determine any differences of opinion between male and female students. We selected 3 out of 5 male students who indicated positive perceptions of STEM education and that they were motivated to pursue further study in STEM. One male indicated negative perceptions and no motivation to pursue further STEM education. The final male student was undecided about STEM education, and indicated no motivation to pursue it further. Three female students were included who indicated positive perceptions of STEM education, and motivation for further STEM learning. Two indicated negative perceptions and no motivation to the field. The final two female students indicated that they were undecided and had no motivation to pursue STEM further. Guiding questions were utilised to help to prompt the students to discuss their thoughts about their STEM learning environment.

Purposive sampling for qualitative focus groups based on quantitative results

Thematic analysis was applied to the qualitative data. Braun and Clarke ( 2006 ) state that this approach, when applied rigorously, can reveal insightful and valid information, and is particularly useful for highlighting similarities and differences of perspectives between participants. Because this project had a focus on differences between male and female perspectives, this approach was particularly beneficial.

A deductive thematic analysis was used for this project because the researcher brought preconceptions and ideas to the coding which developed through the guiding questions. This also allowed connections to be made naturally between the questionnaire and the responses from the semi-structured focus groups. However, any codes or themes that were not linked to the preconceived concepts were used to ensure that the students had voice and that data collection was flexible to these ideas.

During preliminary data examination, transcripts of the focus groups were created by an online professional company for accuracy. The coding process was comprised of a systematic approach to the transcripts, with data points being highlighted and given their initial first codes. These data were then categorised based on collective meaning. The coded data were rearranged into more-refined themes, with some of the data points that reflected more than one category being placed within their ‘best fit’ categories. This process, and the resulting themes, were then reflected upon and reviewed by two colleagues to ensure accuracy and relevance, as suggested by (Braun & Clarke, 2006 ). From these final themes, data points were examined alongside the quantitative data to further improve reliability.

Quantitative results

Descriptive information.

Tables Tables3 3 and and4 4 provide descriptive information, namely, mean and standard deviation, for each questionnaire scale. Overall, students indicated positive perceptions of their classroom emotional climate (Table (Table3). 3 ). The four classrooms overall indicated an average mean score of 4.07 out of a possible 5 for Classroom Emotional Climate. Control had the highest mean of 4.30 whereas Consultation had the lowest mean of 3.85.

Scale mean, standard deviation and internal consistency for the scales of STEM CEC

* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 N = Students = 100, Classes = 4

Scale mean, standard deviation, and internal consistency for Attitude to STEM and scales of teacher–student interactions

Teacher–student interactions and attitude to STEM scales also had a reasonably high mean (Table (Table4). 4 ). Overall, the four classes indicated a mean of 3.91 out of a possible 5 for their relationship with their teacher. It is particularly interesting to note the low scores which are affecting the mean average for Teacher-Student Interactions from the Student Responsibility/Freedom scale. The students reacted reasonably negatively towards this scale, and further insight was given during the semi-structured focus groups. This scale particularly focussed on the teacher’s tolerance for student behaviour within the classroom, with students indicating that they did not like large amounts of freedom within this area. They indicated that their teachers didn’t allow misbehaviour within their classroom, and they were able to expand on this reasoning further within the focus groups.

Research objective 1: Questionnaire validation

Validation of the 8 CEC scales (Table (Table3) 3 ) and 5 Attitude to STEM and Teacher–Student Interaction scales (Table (Table4) 4 ) involved three indices. First, each scale’s internal consistency reliability was ascertained using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Second, each scale’s independence (or discriminant validity) was checked using the mean correlation of a scale with the other scales as a convenient index. Third, the ability of each scale to differentiate between different classrooms was tested via ANOVA, with the eta 2 values reported in Table Table3 3 and and4 4 indicating the proportion of variance in a scale’s scores attributable to class membership.

Regarding scale independence, the mean correlation of a scale with the other scales ranged from 0.49 to 0.67 for the 8 CEC scales (Table (Table3) 3 ) and from 0.44 to 0.72 for the 5 attitude and interaction scales (Table (Table4). 4 ). This suggests that questionnaire scales overlap somewhat.

The ANOVA results in Tables Tables3 3 suggest that most of the 13 questionnaire scales were able to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classrooms, with eta 2 values ranging from 0.12 to 0.37 for CEC and from 0.16 to 0.34 for attitude and interaction scales.

Research objective 2: associations between classroom emotional climate, teacher interactions and attitude to STEM

Table Table5 5 shows the analysis of associations between the scales of CEC, QTI and Attitude to STEM based on simple and multiple correlation analyses. The simple correlation analysis revealed that all eight scales of CEC were significantly correlated with Attitude to STEM. These correlations were positive and ranged from 0.32 to 0.51. The multiple correlation ( R ) was 0.61 and statistically significant ( p < 0.001). This strongly supports the conclusion that the nature of the classroom emotional climate strongly influences students’ attitudes towards STEM. To further interpret this relationship, the standardised regression coefficients (β) were also examined. Out of eight scales, regression weights for three scales retained their significance ( p < 0.01). This means that the scales of Care, Control and Collaboration are independent predictors of individual students’ Attitude towards STEM class. The R 2 value, which indicates the proportion of variance in Attitude towards STEM class that can be attributed to students’ perception of classroom environment, was 38%.

Associations between STEM CEC, Attitude scales and teacher–student interaction scales in terms of simple correlations (r), multiple correlations (R), and standardised regression coefficient

* p < 0.05, **p < 0.01,** *p < 0.001 N = 100

Out of the four positive scales of the QTI, the three scales of Leadership, Helping-Friendly, Understanding demonstrated statistically significant correlations with the all the eight scales of the CEC. Student Responsibility/Freedom was significantly correlated only with one scale (Motivation) of the CEC. As mentioned previously, student emotions were not strongly associated with Student Responsibility, and scale of Control had a negative correlation. For the possible 32 associations, only 13 associations were significant (including three negative associations) (see Table Table5). 5 ). The multiple correlations also reflect a similar result. The first four scales have reasonably high regression coefficients; while the Student Responsibility/Freedom has a nonsignificant coefficient. The coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) are reasonable figures for a human behaviour study for the first four scales, which typically fall under 50% because of the unpredictability of people (Frost, 2019 ).

Research objective 3: gender differences

Table Table6 6 presents the gender differences in STEM CEC scales. Only the scales of Control and Motivation scales of CEC indicated significant differences ( p < 0.01) for gender. Females perceived higher levels of Control with their STEM learning environment, and also that they felt more motivated. Interestingly, there were no significant gender differences for Attitude to STEM, even though males did score slightly higher than females (4.14 males to 4.03 females). Additionally, the standard deviation for Attitude to STEM also is reasonably high, showing a greater range in responses than the scales of the other dimensions. Low effect sizes (Gignac & Szodorai, 2016 ) between 0.01 and 0.26 further confirmed that both genders perceived STEM learning environments similarly.

Item mean, item standard deviation and gender differences for of STEM CEC and Attitude to STEM scales

** p < 0.01 N = Total 100 Students, Male = 46, Female = 54

Table Table7 7 reports gender differences in scales of QTI. The scales of Leadership and Student Responsibility/Freedom both indicated statistically significant gender differences in students’ perceptions ( p < 0.05). Overall, there were minimal gender differences in student perceptions in terms of effect sizes of between 0.03 and 0.14, which can be considered small (Gignac & Szodorai, 2016 ).

Item mean, item standard deviation and gender differences for teacher–student interaction scales

* p < 0.05 N = Total 100 Students, Male = 46, Female = 54

Overall, students indicated positive perceptions of their Classroom Emotional Climate, Attitude to STEM and their relationships with their teachers. Because of the quality of the STEM learning environment selected for this study, this is a constructive result. In particular, the highly rated Attitude to STEM scale was a good indication of students’ positive perceptions. The STEM CEC questionnaire was appropriate for measuring these dimensions and yielded good reliability scores. While there were minimal differences between males and females, there were some statistically significant results that provided some insight into gender perspectives within this context.

Qualitative results

Research objective 4.

The semi-structured focus groups gave greater insight into the perceptions of the students collected through the questionnaire. Overall, students outlined many positive characteristics of their STEM learning environment and how it impacted on their attitude towards STEM education. They were also able to provide their preferred perceptions about what could improve their STEM learning environment.

Thematic analysis is a qualitative research method that can be widely used across a range of epistemologies and research questions. Braun and Clarke ( 2006 ) observed that this method is useful for identifying, analysing, organising, describing, and reporting themes found within a data set. All data generated were transcribed and read iteratively to locate concepts being represented by the data. All three researchers in the team independently analysed the data and only themes that were identified in all researchers’ analyses or were accepted for inclusion.

Open coding procedures as delineated by Corbin and Stauss ( 2008 ) were utilised and involved continually asking questions such as “Which category does this incident/word/phrase allude to?” and “What are the similarities or differences between the two emerging concepts?” Words/themes/and other data pieces alluding to a particular theme were colour coded. Processes of bundling, grouping similar units, and deletion of synonymous units were utilised to arrive at final categories as delineated in the research findings.

All three authors independently conducted the thematic analysis to arrive at the data themes. The independently generated themes by the authors revealed a high degree of agreement. The data pieces were revisited collaboratively to discuss the disagreements and to develop a consensus on the themes. Focus group discussion transcripts responses were shared with the school principal, who identified themes emerging from the data that could be matched with themes derived by the research team.

Thematic analysis identified seven themes which assist in the understanding of student perceptions of their STEM Learning Environments, as well as perceived preferred environments (see Table Table8). 8 ). Each theme was then further broken into sub-categories that represented different aspects of the theme. Themes 1–6 all included comments, attitudes and feelings about what students were currently experiencing within their STEM learning environments. The final theme, Preferred Environments, included any data points about possible improvements for STEM learning environments. The following sub-sections report results of the thematic analysis.

Sub-categories of themes derived from student focus group interviews

Student freedom

The first theme that emerged from the semi-structured focus groups was Student Freedom, which is a particularly interesting theme and insight from the students. It was broken into the sub-categories of Boundaries (items related to teacher setting boundaries) and Choice (items relating to student choice, such as choosing how to solve a problem). Students did not respond well when their classroom was free from boundaries and structures related to behaviour and control; however, students discussed positive freedoms when given options about their learning. Students were comfortable when the teacher gave them boundaries but sought choices that sat within these boundaries. For example, if students were given an integrated STEM project to complete, they might have a choice about optional topics within the scope of their learning or about how to present the final product of their learning.

Peer collaboration

The second theme to develop was Peer Collaboration, which closely relates to a range of STEM skills, and was only given the one sub-category of Grouping. Students described how they were given ample opportunities to work in teams and the ways in which they formed their learning groups. They explained that their teacher would sometimes choose their groups, allow them to choose groups, or occasionally group them at random. Interestingly, students were able to explain why they thought that their teachers did this, because they knew they were more productive when grouped by an adult. Additionally, they also noted that they performed better when in mixed-gender groups, even though they said that they wouldn’t choose these groups if given the option:

2.1.2.8: Sometimes our teacher picks our groups. If you do not like that. But sometimes she just lets us cause um. Interviewer: So, do you think that is most of the time? She lets you choose? 2.1.2.10: Yeah. 2.1.2.11: Um, yeah, she – [teacher] gives us relative, like, um. In our groups, we can really choose who we want. But yeah, she normally says there has to be like, a split gender. ‘Cause otherwise, you just have whole groups of all girls and whole groups of all boys. Interviewer: And what would you prefer? 2.1.2.13: Um, I like the split. It gives different perspectives normally. Interviewer: Perspectives coming from the? 2.1.2.15: I would probably prefer to have an all-girl group but I think you do work better when you have like, different genders.

Problem solving

Problem Solving was the third theme, with the sub-categories of Teacher Support, Peer Support and Trial and Error. Again, this theme has many connections to a range of essential STEM competencies required for a successful future workforce. Teacher Support was discussed within all three of the focus groups, with students being able to outline how they felt very supported during the problem-solving process. They were able to describe how their teachers created a balance between support and challenge through prompting (as opposed to giving answers) and how difficult the learning was. Peer Support was also discussed and highlighted the cooperative nature of the learning environment where students were able to seek answers from each other prior to approaching a teacher for support. While this was the case, they mentioned that they knew that, if they couldn’t find an answer from a peer, their teacher would be happy to guide them. Regarding Trial and Error, the final sub-category for the Problem Solving theme, students discussed being given multiple opportunities to solve problems. Students also indicated that they felt happy that they were able to trial a range of methods, including their own ideas, to try and solve problems. They noted that it allowed them to experience success and improve:

3.1.1.5: You can get other friends down or the teacher might just let it try and, try and let it [work] out itself, and if you still cannot get it, she will come down and help. 3.1.1.6 : They [the teacher] give us a sudden urge to like try to find another idea and go around the problem and find a new solution. Interviewer: Great. And how does that make you guys feel? 3.1.1.10 : Um, better because we know we have something to work with. 3.3.1.1 : Like, I cannot give up so I can revise how it could be better and what can you – you can improve. Interviewer: How does it make you feel when you do that? 3.3.1.3 : Uh, happy I guess. Interviewer: Makes you happy? 3.3.1.5 : Makes us more inspired, so it can like, make more, uh, ideas and better ideas. 3.3.1.6 : Ah yeah. Just giving advice. 3.3.1.7 : Just like you are [inaudible], some actual help. 3.3.1.8 : Yeah, that you help you and use the result to generate ideas.

Communication

The fourth theme was Communication, which was broken into the sub-categories of Noise and Teacher Control. Within this research project, communication was seen as an essential element of skills within STEM learning environments, because of the importance of having the capacity to spread and share new knowledge competently to others. The focus within this theme was the opportunities students were given to communicate and present their knowledge. The Noise sub-category related to the control that the teacher had over the learning environment. While students frequently noted how they had opportunities to work cooperatively or collaboratively to problem solve, they also noted that their teachers could ask them to reduce their noise, even when it was relevant to their projects. It is interesting to note the student perspective on this situation. It is likely teachers ensure that noise stays at a productive level so that there are still supportive boundaries in place for the students to prevent a disruptive environment. The Teacher Control sub-category related to teacher decisions about how students would communicate their knowledge. Students generally reported that they were given guidelines, and this usually meant that all groups were presenting in the same way, but the presentation styles changed for different projects. Students were able to list posters, iMovie, performances, websites, typed reports and speeches as different ways in which their teachers asked them to communicate their knowledge to others.

STEM learning

The fifth theme was STEM Learning, which was divided into sub-categories of Emotions and Understanding/Misconceptions. This first sub-category centred around emotional experiences within SLEs, whereas the second focussed on student understanding of STEM education. The data indicated, overall, that students were experiencing positive and engaging learning within their SLEs and that their perceptions of STEM were positive. Interestingly, students were not always able to define exactly what STEM education is, but they were able to name learning projects that they had completed and explain how these were STEM learning tasks.

The sixth theme was Time, with the sub-category of Limitations. This related primarily to the balance between giving the students enough opportunities to problem solve and complete tasks and ensuring that the mandatory curriculum requirements were being met. This is frequently a dilemma for teachers and can be a difficult balance. One of the key points made by students was that they identified that sometimes projects were spread out over weeks or a term, and other times they could be spread out over a single day. They remarked that they preferred projects that went over a day rather than spread between other curriculum subjects, which is interesting but not always possible. Additionally, while they explained that they were given ample opportunities for problem solving, they still felt they didn’t always have enough time to complete their work. As time is a complex factor within classrooms, it can be difficult for both students and educators to navigate this delicate balance.

Perceived preferred learning environments

Perceived Preferred Learning environments was the final theme, and it was divided into sub-categories for the different characteristics that the students believed would improve their STEM learning environments. For the first sub-category of Hands On, students discussed wanting more physical experiences during which they could create and play to learn about concepts. One child explained that being involved in the learning was far more effective than “just like, watching videos or writing stuff down”. The second sub-category of Environment was related to ideas that the students had for their physical environment, including having more opportunities for flexible seating, including beyond the classroom where they could have meeting spaces or gaming rooms. Some schools develop Makerspaces, laboratories or technology laboratories to support their students, and this idea connects with those spaces. The third sub-category of Choice contained points that the students made about being able to have more agency with their learning. They discussed selecting with whom they work, having a choice of presentation style and being able to co-construct the curriculum for projects. The fourth sub-category of Technology related primarily to having access to more technologies. Specifically, the students listed Minecraft, Micro:bits, bee bots, and more opportunities for making and testing that were related to technologies. The final sub-category of Peer Collaboration involved students discussing how they prefer to work together. This included larger learning spaces and having access to people beyond their own class, or even beyond the school. This could connect to other classes or year levels, or to special guests and excursions.

Overall, students indicated that they believed that their STEM learning environment was positive and that generally students felt engaged. Students were able to describe many positive characteristics that their teachers implemented to support their STEM education and described several changes that they believed would improve their learning environment. Because student perceptions and perceived preferred perceptions provide valid and valuable insights into high-quality STEM learning environments, seeking these perceptions from multiple contexts could provide further insights for improving the engagement and aspirations of students within STEM education. As Fraser ( 2012 ) states, it would be a positive step to change learning environments, where possible, to suit the preferred perceptions of our students.

The drive to improve STEM education to meet future workforce needs for Australia’s economic success is critical (Education Services Australia, 2018 ; Hudson et al., 2015 ; Office of the Chief Scientist, 2013 ). High-quality STEM education that develops STEM skills will be essential for unknown roles which are necessary for Australia’s future (Caplan et al., 2016 ; Honey et al., 2014 ; Marginson et al., 2013 ; Timms et al., 2018 ). Learning environment research has demonstsrated that student perceptions of their Classroom Emotional Climate and their interactions with their teacher can impact their academic achievement and motivation (Reyes et al., 2012 ) and, therefore, it is important to consider student perceptions when designing learning environments (Fraser, 2012 ).

Using a mixed-methods approach, a students were able to express their perceptions about their STEM learning environments, including their perceived preferred perceptions. This insight might assist in further understanding the characteristics of STEM learning environments that are conducive to high-quality education and student engagement as needed by industry.

Key findings from this study include that students within this context did not associate well with behavioural freedom and, in fact, preferred environments that have structure and also promote agency linked to curriculum and communication choices. Similarly, in a recent study, Koul et al. ( 2021 ) found that students had relatively positive perceptions of teacher control during STEM learning, with females scoring more highly. Similar conclusions were reached in other studies, such as research with middle-school students in which girls had more positive perceptions of order, involvement and organisation (Waxman & Huang, 1998 ).

Peer Collaboration was also an important aspect of STEM learning environments, with students having the opportunity to learn and grow with each other through problems, without simply being given answers by their teachers. This essential concept links closely with several of the World Economic Forum ( 2020 ) Top 15 Skills for 2025, potentially including Complex Problem-Solving (3), Critical Thinking and Analysis (4), and Emotional Intelligence (11).

Another key finding included Problem Solving, with students being given opportunities to trial a range of solutions to problems. Closely related to Peer Collaboration, in the sense that students liked how their teachers didn’t simply give them the answer, this characteristic also develops a number of the Top 15 Skills for 2025 (World Economic Forum, 2020 ), potentially including Analytical Thinking and Innovation (1), Complex Problem-Solving (3), Critical Thinking and Analysis (4), Resilience, Stress Tolerance and Flexibility (9), and Reasoning, Problem-Solving and Ideation (10).

Communication was a theme linked to noise control within the classroom and was related to opportunities to discuss problems, as well as methods for communicating knowledge. Interestingly, communication skills are not explicitly stated within the World Economic Forum ( 2020 ) Top 15 Skills for 2025, though they might sit within categories such as Leadership and Social Influence (6) or Persuasion and Negotiation (15). Students also explained that they would like more agency regarding choosing how to present their information, which would then also promote the development of skills such as Creativity, Originality and Initiative (5).

Time was an interesting key theme that was brought up by the students through the focus groups. It relates to several of the other key findings because, without enough time, problem solving are more difficult to implement effectively. As discussed previously, it could be hard for children to understand why teachers need to limit time within the classroom to ensure that they are balancing curriculum requirements and high-quality teaching.

The perceived preferred environments findings highlighted concepts such as hands-on learning, physical environments, choices relating to agency, the frequent use of technology, and varied opportunities to collaborate beyond the classroom. These potential changes to the learning environment would also promote the development of a range of the World Economic Forum ( 2020 ) skills, including but not limited to Active Learning and Learning Strategies (2), Technology Use, Monitoring and Control (7), and Technology Design and Programming (8).

The development of these skills within STEM learning environments is crucial, and the use of integrated approaches to develop these competencies through authentic contexts is an effective method (Nadelson & Seifert, 2017 ; Rosicka, 2016 ). Positive experiences with these disciplines will also assist in improving student attitudes and aspirations (Murphy et al., 2019 ), which can lead to further engagement with these fields. Therefore, this study utilised the extensively researched field of learning environments to measure student perceptions of their context, to identify positive aspects of high-quality STEM learning environments, and identify potential deterrents to engagement.

This research is significant in that it measured student perceptions of their STEM learning environment to determine how these perspectives impacted their engagement within their context. Additionally, we collected student perceived preferred characteristics of STEM learning environments and identified potential ways to improve engagement. This involved the functional validation of a questionnaire for upper-primary classrooms that can be utilised by other researchers and schools to assess students’ perceptions within other contexts.

The research also identified a potential deterrent which could negatively impact student perceptions of STEM education. Relating to the Student/Responsibility Freedom scale of the questionnaire and discussed multiple times within the semi-structured focus groups, it was shown that the students did not associate positively with freedom that related to behaviour issues and a lack of structure. As a child’s perception is their reality, it is crucial that we take into consideration their thoughts, feelings and attitudes when designing learning environments.

Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions.

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Tips on how to choose good qualitative research topics

Writing a research paper or a college assignment with success solely depends on your ability to choose suitable qualitative research topics. It’s essential to carefully examine and explore the field with all the challenges before you start writing to identify the key factors and aspects of your assignment. Here are a few tips on how to do that to get good research paper ideas.

Align your research topic with your field of interest

Your assignment topic should be something that interests you deeply so that you can completely get into it and make the most out of your efforts. More importantly, your topic should allow you to develop your personal skills and learn new things.

Make sure you have all the right research on the topic

If you choose a topic that has little to no supporting research available, you’ll end up getting stuck. You must properly research the topic before you start writing. This research will also help you shortlist unrelated topics and narrow down your scope so that you can focus on the information that matches your exact needs.

Follow your university guidelines!

Consulting with your professors and going through the assessment guidelines is paramount to writing a top-class paper. Follow your university guidelines to make sure your efforts get approved by your supervisor.

List of qualitative research topics examples

Long-term planning methods for better project management
How to deal with issues during a project implementation program
The best practices for dealing with tight project deadlines
Why time management is essential for goal setting
Flexibility in management: How to improve decision-making as a manager
Top professional techniques for developing management skills
Healthcare in low-income societies: How to achieve affordable medical care
Dealing with a loss and the process of recovery
How to make eco-friendly facemasks
Preventing flu during cold seasons: The most effective preventative methods
The importance of developing community-based sanitization programs
The best practices for quitting alcohol and cigarettes
Helping the young manage their obesity: The most effective obesity management strategies
Promoting healthcare during COVID-19: Strategies for expanding the health sector
Guide to collecting resources for building a centralized community
How academic and social practices can help uplift a society
Professional practices for building a one-on-one relationship between teachers and students
The science behind consumer motivations and appraisals
Reshaping the traditional form of virtual ethnography
Are homeschooling programs as efficient as they should be?
The importance of developing healthy eating habits
The best strategies for getting ahead of the prospective market
How to track the dynamics of real estate investments
How effective are modern newsgathering technologies?
Developing introvert behavior and its key effects
Can sharing help an individual overcome addictions?
Guide to creating a one-people community
The most effective methods for dealing with cyberbullying
The best way to bringing social equity to patriarchal societies
How quarantine prevents the spread of infectious diseases
The aging populations and the trends they follow
The latest digital media trends
Methods for mitigating communicable diseases
How governments work on protocol observance
Practices for preventing the spread of the coronavirus in crowded places
Alleviating pain during childbirth
Maternal healthcare in developing countries
Can pop music change erratic youth behavior?
The best therapies for recovering from brain surgery
How alcohol changes normal behavior
Depression management among school-going children
Strategies for avoiding a viral disease
Ways to influence the eating habits of children
How and when to engage in sporting activities
How low socioeconomic background impacts self-esteem
The importance of parenting for shaping children’s morals
The impact of poor market completion on supply and demand
Do children under four years need preschool education?
Single-gender schools vs. mixed schools
How the world would benefit from the same education system
How virtual reality helps reshape the world
The hottest destinations for traveling at the moment
How fast does the ozone layer deplete?
Is it possible to predict natural disasters before they occur?
The effects of digital marketing on modern businesses
Physical learning vs. online learning
How related are Windows and Apple products?
Study cases of bullying in schools
The effect of stress on human behavior
Patient behavior and the influence of social processes

If you’re looking for the best way to choose some of the most suitable qualitative research paper topics for your college assignment, these 60 topics should help you get ahead of your task and write an engaging paper. All topics above are for your personal education and motivation. If you still need help with your assignment, our professional paper writing services are available 24/7.

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Qualitative Research Topics & Ideas For Students

The Best Qualitative Research Topics For Students

Do you have difficulty finding a qualitative research title for your project? If you are, you need not worry because you are not alone. However, there are many unique qualitative titles you can explore for your research. You just need a few qualitative research title examples to get you started. Qualitative research is focused on data obtained through a researcher’s first-hand observations, natural setting recording, artifacts, case studies, documents, questionnaires, and interviews. The findings in qualitative research are usually non-numerical. Also, it is common in humanities and social sciences. This post provides over 100 qualitative research topics you can consider.

The Best Qualitative Research Topics That Impress the Teacher

Exceptional Qualitative Research Topics In Social Science

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An excellent research topic will help you earn a good grade. Consider any example of a qualitative research title from the following options:

The impacts of social media on physical social engagement in society
The benefits of treating mental disorders with medication
The effects of Gender-Based Violence on women’s social lives in rural areas
The decline of academic pursuit in third-world countries
Sexual workers: the stigma they experience
How has the promotion of feminist values influenced workplaces?
Free education: its impact in third-world countries
What is the correlation between education and success?
Ableism: its effects on disabled people in society
Food insecurity in third-world nations

The topic of your research paper can influence how easily you can conduct your study and draw conclusions.

Here are fantastic examples of qualitative research titles:

Female harm: how it is influenced by culture
The socioeconomic impacts of free education
The link between food insecurity and poor performance in schools
Alcoholism among college students: a critical study
How to mitigate child labor in our society
The root causes of child labor in Latin America
The stigma of living with transmissive medical conditions
The root cause of the stigma of people living with disabilities
How to identify depression in small children
Signs of autism in kids below two years old

Choosing a qualitative research topic is not a task you should take lightly because it can influence your performance. Here are some noteworthy qualitative research titles examples:

Basic patient care policies in developing nations
The impacts of alcoholism on education
Adult learning: what does it entail?
Homeschooling: Is it the latest trend after the pandemic?
Does computer literacy influence the quality of education kids enjoy?
How to effectively teach students with learning disabilities
The relationship between poor education systems and crime rates in third-world countries
Student bullying: the psychological impacts
Should high school students go through university preparedness programs?
research writing in high schools: its significance

Are you looking for qualitative research topic examples to start your study? Below are some creative examples to consider:

Remote tests: are they as effective as in-class tests?
The value of social activities in academic institutions
Why should healthcare be free in all countries?
The implications of racist laws on society
The reception of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments
What is the difference between foreign policies in first-world and third-world nations?
Racism and Colorism: what is the difference?
Dissecting the causes of low voter turnouts in the 21 st century
The challenges of social media on kid’s brain development
The inclusion of black women in American politics and its impacts

When competing with several brilliant minds, a good research topic can do you greatly. The following qualitative research examples titles are a great place to start:

Should school uniforms be discarded for high schoolers?
The need for equal representation in global politics
The implications of police brutality on politics
The role of parental care in foster kids
The distinction between Islamic values and Christian values
The correlation between political instability and migration
Sex trafficking and violence against women: what is the link?
How can global governments eradicate homelessness?
Fraternities and sororities: are they still relevant?
The role of literature in promoting societal changes

Qualitative research is popular in the education field and other social sciences. Choose a qualitative research title example on the subject of education from the following list:

Effectively introducing foreign languages in the high school curriculum
How can teachers help students with disabilities improve their learning?
The link between social activities and comprehension among students
Research writing in high schools: is it necessary?
How has virtual learning influenced teacher-student relationships?
The implications of allowing smartphones in classes
Should all schools introduce sign language lessons in their curriculum?
Student loans: their impacts on black students
The impacts of race on college acceptance rates
Poverty and education: what is the link?
Ethnic and socioeconomic causes of poor school attendance in developing worlds
Various teaching methods and their efficiency
Efficient teaching methods for children below two years
Why do students perform better in humanities than in sciences?
The difference between college acceptance and completion in most nations
Remote learning in developing countries
What are the best ways of approaching bullying in schools?
How do teachers promote inequality among students?
Does social class influence academic performance negatively or positively?
How do teachers shape their students’ personalities?

Coming up with a qualitative research title can be hard because of the numerous subject areas and the issue of uniqueness. Therefore, we have prepared the following qualitative title examples for you:

How to promote oral learning in classrooms
Political instability in developing countries: its economic impacts
The impacts of weather on social activities
Boredom and poor-decision making: the connection
Exploring the connection between attachment types and love languages
Socioeconomic impacts of instability on a country
How does social media impact the perception of reality
Reality TV shows: are they a true reflection of reality?
How culture applies to different age groups
Is social media influencing the loss of cultural values?

You can base your research topic on a specific region or nation, like the Philippines. A sample qualitative research title can get you started. You can pick a sample qualitative research title from the ideas below:

Why are so many Philippines residents migrating to America?
The impact of politics on migration in the Philippines
How has violence led to food insecurity in rural areas in the Philippines?
The Philippine education system: an overview
How cultural norms influence social activities in the Philippines
Gender roles in the Philippines society
How popular Filipino cultures have served as agents of social change in the nation
The link between male dominance and GBV in the Philippines
Barriers to clean hygiene in health centers in the Philippines
The spread of COVID in rural areas in the Philippines

Most top performers in research subjects attribute their success to choosing the best title for qualitative research. Here are some qualitative research topics about humanities and social science to promote good performance:

The impact of poor market rivalry on supply and demand
The role of parents in shaping kids’ morals
Is social media the root cause of poor societal morals?
How does alcohol impact a person’s normal behavior?
How often should adults engage in sporting activities?
Children’s eating habits and their influences
Low socioeconomic backgrounds and their impacts on self-esteem
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s views on viral diseases
How can school-going kids manage depression
Causes of mental challenges among school-going kids

Finding a good topic for qualitative research is a critical task that requires a lot of thought and research. However, we have simplified the process with the following qualitative topic ideas:

Pop music and erratic youth behavior: is there a link?
How do public figures influence cultures?
Ideas for improving healthcare in developing nations
Possible solutions for alleviating the food crisis in developing nations
New ways of mitigating viral diseases
Social media trends among the elderly
Quarantine as a mitigation approach for infectious diseases
Promoting social justice in patriarchal societies
Worrying trends among the young population
Emerging marketing trends in 2023

Qualitative research for college and high school students helps improve reading, writing, and intellectual skills. Here are some qualitative research examples and topic ideas for students :

How to detect and prevent natural disasters beforehand
Can the whole world have the same education system?
What is the most effective therapy for patients recuperating from brain surgery?
Possible solutions for promoting ethical practices in telehealth
Can addicts overcome addiction without therapy?
The latest technology trends and their impacts?
How can global governments promote mental health awareness?
Have smartphones caused reduced attention spans among users?
Sexual violence in rural areas
The introduction of Islam in African nations

We Are Here for You

Qualitative research is an investigative analysis of intangible or inexact data, mostly non-numerical. The title of qualitative research you choose will guide your entire research process and influence its conclusions. Do you need a paper or an example of a research title qualitative topic? Our expert team is ready to write it for you.

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A systematic review of high impact empirical studies in STEM education

Introduction

Learning from existing reviews of STEM education research

The importance of examining high impact empirical research publications in STEM education

Considerations in identifying and selecting high impact empirical research publications

Current review

Time period

Searching and identifying highly cited empirical research journal publications in STEM education

Research questions

Searching and identifying the top 100 most-cited empirical research journal publications in STEM education

Data analysis

Results and discussion

Top 100 most-cited empirical research articles from 2000 to 2021

Distributions and patterns of highly cited publications across different journals

Disciplinary content coverage

Research topics and methods

Corresponding author’s nationality/region and profession Footnote 1

Publications by school level over the years

Concluding remarks

Availability of data and materials

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Qualitative research in STEM : studies of equity, access, and innovation

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