Use of Current Educational Technology in Science Education: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The study aims to identify the educational technology used in elementary science and technology courses, and to determine their advantages and limitations. Based on this aim, 393 thesis and dissertations related with the usage of educational technology in science and technology courses published between 2012 and 2016 in national thesis center, which is a service of Publication and documentation department of Higher Education Council, were examined. This investigation was conducted through Scoping Review and 12 doctoral dissertations and 34 master's thesis were analyzed. The procedure followed to use this method is the framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley (2005). PRISMA (2009) model was used during the thesis selection process. According to the results, significant differences were observed in 91% of the thesis listed for academic achievement; in 78% of the thesis listed for the effect on the attitude toward science and technology course; and in 77% of the thesis listed for the effect on knowledge persistence. In the thesis and dissertations listed in the current study, quasi-experimental method was mainly used (89%) and mixed-methods were leastwise used. In these thesis and dissertations, achievements and persistence tests, attitude and motivation scales, and open-ended questions were used as the data collection instrument.