IJTDE_Analysis - James Max Christensen

 Running head: AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
1 Educational Technology Research Journals: International Journal of Technology and Design
Education, 2005-2014
James M. Christensen (jamesmax@byu.edu)
Jessica Rose Cooper
Brian Jones
Laura McAllister
Mark B. Ware
Richard E. West
Brigham Young University
Author Biographies
James M. Christensen is an information technology manager at Brigham Young
University pursuing a graduate degree in Instructional Technology and Psychology.
Brian Jones is currently working towards a master’s degree in Instructional Psychology
and Technology with research interests in assessment and measurement in K-12 education.
Jessica Rose Cooper, Laura McAllister, and Mark B. Ware are each currently working
towards a graduate degree in Instructional Psychology and Technology.
Richard E. West is an assistant professor researching collaborative innovation, online
collaborative learning, and open badges for facilitating technology teacher training. His
research, presentations, and other scholarly contributions are available at
http://richardewest.com. All authors are associated with Brigham Young University.
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
2 Abstract
This study examines the trends of the International Journal of Technology and Design
Education over the past decade (2005–2014). The researchers looked at trends in article topics,
research methods, authorship, and article citations by analyzing keyword frequencies,
performing word counts of article titles, classifying studies according to the various research
methods they employed, and analyzing citation data generated by Google Scholar. The paper
concludes by comparing the findings with the stated aims and scope of the journal.
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
3 Introduction
The International Journal of Technology and Design Education (IJTDE) is a peerreviewed journal established in 1990 in order to encourage an international discourse on
technology and design education. The journal aims to inform administrators, policy makers,
teachers in schools, and colleges and universities on the latest research, development, and
evaluation of technology and design education (Heywood, 1990). Many of the issues of the
journal feature critiques, reviews, and comparative studies. Journal issues also offer a variety of
perspectives on technology and design education such as those derived from historical,
philosophical, sociological, or psychological studies of the subject (“Aims and Scope,” 2014).
According to the journal, as of November 2014 the average acceptance rate of IJTDE is 16.8%
with an estimated 3-4 month review process.
As a field that seeks to distinguish itself from educational technology, technology
education is broadly defined as “a study of technology, which provides an opportunity for
students to learn about the processes and knowledge related to technology that are needed to
solve problems and extend human potential" (ITEA, 2007, p. 242). However, the two terms are
sometimes used interchangeably, and the significant overlap of these two fields shows a shared
interest in several major concepts such as design, creativity, and technology in education. This
analysis reviews the past decade of articles found in the IJTDE (2005-2014) and identifies trends
among article topics, research methods, authors, and article citations. The results highlight
trends of interest to researchers in the field of educational technology.
Method
From 2005-2014, IJTDE has published a total of 311 articles in 10 volumes. A new
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
4 volume of the journal is published each year. Volumes 15-17 (2005-2007) each contained 3
issues, whereas volumes 18-24 (2008-2014) each contained 4 issues. In our analyses, book
reviews, conclusions, introductions, editorials, and one obituary were excluded leaving 277
articles for categorization and analysis. One exception is that in our citations analysis we
included all article types, even the excluded articles, but we did not include 2014 because
citations accumulate over time, and this year was too recent to have meaningful citation counts.
Article Types and Methodologies
Our research methodology included categorizing the articles into the following types:
● Interpretive analysis— articles using qualitative methods to collect and analyze data.
● Inferential analysis—articles that use quantitative statistical analyses on data.
● Theoretical articles—articles that were not based on data. They were theoretical in
nature focusing on new approaches to thinking about technology and instruction. This
category also includes literature reviews.
● Combined methods—articles that give equal attention to both quantitative and qualitative
methods.
● Descriptive analysis—articles that use descriptive statistics only, such as means and
standard deviations, to describe the population or situation.
● Content analysis—articles using pre-determined categories to organize collected written
or spoken data.
● Other—articles that do not fit into any of the above-mentioned categories, but are still
considered research. This includes Delphi studies.
To ensure we were consistent in our understanding of the various article types, we began
by each coding all the articles from 2005. We then compared and discussed our coding
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
5 conclusions, resolving any differences that we had. After we had established consistency in our
understanding of the article types and methodologies, we assigned each person in our group two
years from the decade to code on his or her own. In the case that an article type was unclear,
coders collaborated with others in the group to determine how to code the article appropriately.
Topic Analysis
The author-supplied keywords were collected from the Educational Resources
Information Center (ERIC) EBSCO database for all articles from 2005-2014. The words were
then sorted and ranked based on frequency. Similar terms were combined into broader
categories. For example, 3 instances of the keyword “technical education” were counted in the
category of “technology education” and terms such as “creative thinking,” “creative
imagination,” and “creative design” were all counted simply as “creativity.” All of the titles
from this 10-year span were also collected and analyzed using the text analyzer from
http://www.online-utility.org/text/analyzer.jsp (Article Title Keywords, 2014).
Citation Analysis
Google Scholar Citations was used to examine the number of citations listed for each
article as of November 5, 2014 (Google Scholar). We included all articles in the citation
analysis, including editorials, book reviews, and commentaries. Although new citations will
continue to accrue, this process provided us with a snapshot of the top-cited articles for each
year. As already mentioned, we excluded articles written within the past year (2014) from the
citation analysis.
In order to understand how this journal compares to other journals in terms of citations,
we also collected and analyzed data for the most cited articles per year for other journals as
reported in previous articles in the Journal Analysis series. In addition, we compared this data to
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
6 the Impact Factor ratings provided by Thompson Reuters 2013 Journal Citation Reports (Journal
Citation Reports, n.d.).
Author Analysis
An analysis of article authorship was conducted by extracting supplied authorship
information for all articles from 2005-2014. The resulting information was used to determine the
top publishing authors along with their institutional affiliation and country at the time of
publication. An additional analysis was done to determine the overall top publishing countries
and institutions based on the number of associated authors.
Findings
Article Types and Methodologies
According to these data, the IJTDE favors interpretive and theoretical research.
Interpretive accounted for 43% of articles and theoretical accounted for 22% (see Table 1). The
combined, descriptive, content analysis, and other methods article types had consistently lower
numbers of articles published throughout the decade. The number of articles coded as inferential
has increased over the years, but they are still not as prevalent as the articles coded as
interpretive. We also noted an unusually high number of articles published in 2013, for which
we could not find an explanation. However, several of the articles in 2013 dealt with themes
relating to the history and development of the field of technology education.
Table 1
Total Articles by Methodology from 2005-2014
Method
Total number
of articles
Interpretive
119
Theoretical
61
Inferential
44
Combined Methods
22
Percentage of articles
from each method
43%
22%
16%
8%
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
Descriptive
18
Content Analysis
9
Other
4
* Figures are rounded to the nearest percent
7 6%
3%
1%
Table 2
Article Methodology by Numbers and Percentages According to Year
Content
Year Interpretive Theoretical Inferential Combined Descriptive Analysis Other Total
2005
4 (25%)
11 (69%)
0
1 (6%)
0
0
0
16
2006
4 (27%)
5 (33%)
1 (7%)
1 (7%)
4 (27%)
0
0
15
2007 10 (50%)
2 (10%)
5 (25%)
3 (15%)
0
0
0
20
2008 14 (64%)
5 (23%)
1 (5%)
2 (9%)
0
0
0
22
2009 10 (42%)
8 (33%)
0
1 (4%)
1 (4%)
2 (8%) 2 (8%) 24
2010 12 (44%)
3 (11%)
3 (11%)
3 (11%) 3 (11%)
3 (11%)
0
27
2011 16 (55%)
5 (17%)
5 (17%)
1 (3%)
0
1 (3%) 1 (3%) 29
2012 15 (48%)
4 (13%)
9 (29%)
1 (3%)
0
2 (6%)
0
31
2013 24 (36%)
15 (22%)
13 (19%)
6 (9%)
7 (10%)
1 (<1%) 1 (<1%) 67
2014 10 (38%)
3 (12%)
7 (27%)
3 (12%) 3 (12%)
0
0
19
* Figures are rounded to the nearest percent
Topic Analysis
The keyword analysis yielded twenty-two keywords that were used 10 or more times
(see Table 3), which is approximately the same number of articles published on that topic. The
most frequent keywords reflect the major subject areas addressed in IJTDE (e.g., technology
education, design and technology, curriculum, design education, teacher education, technological
literacy, technological knowledge, and engineering education) as well as an emphasis on
creativity and some more specific subjects that have been highlighted such as collaboration,
primary education, sustainability, assessment, gender, pedagogy, architecture, and robotics. The
frequency of word occurrences in article titles is shown in Table 4. The rank order in Table 4
excludes unimportant high frequency words such as an, the, and, etc. It can be observed here
again that the most frequently occurring words are design, technology, and education. It is also
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
8 interesting to note the 64 occurrences of “learning.” These articles focused primarily on factors
affecting student learning in technological subjects, as well as research and case studies
involving problem-based learning, project-based learning, design-based learning, and
collaborative learning.
Table 3
Frequency of Author Keywords
Keywords
Frequency
Technology Education
68
Creativity
42
Design and Technology
26
Curriculum
22
Design education
22
Design
21
Teacher education
21
Collaboration
18
Science
17
Technology
17
Technological literacy
17
Primary education
16
Sustainability
15
Assessment
14
Gender
14
Pedagogy
14
Architecture
13
Design Process
13
Engineering Education
13
Robotics
12
Technological knowledge
11
Education
10
Table 4
Word Occurrences in Article Titles from 2005-2014
Order
Word
Occurrences
5
design
129
6
technology
128
7
education
92
10
learning
64
13
engineering
28
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
14
15
17
18
19
knowledge
technological
school
study
teaching
9 28
28
27
27
24
Citation Analysis
The journal averaged 8.76 citations per article and just fewer than 295 citations per year.
Table 5 shows the most cited articles for each year from 2005-2013. The most cited article
overall in the past decade appeared in 2005 and had 72 total citations at the time of this analysis.
The article is titled Creativity in Design Engineering and the Role of Knowledge: Modelling the
Expert by Henri Christiaans and Kees Venselaar.
Top cited articles came from a variety of universities from around the world: Taiwan,
New Zealand, The Netherlands, USA, Israel, Australia, and Turkey. Four out of 10 of the topcited articles were produced by authors from The Netherlands (Delft University of Technology
and Eindhoven University of Technology). The top-cited articles included 4 quantitative, 2
qualitative, 2 theoretical, 1 combined methods, and 1 Delphi study. Nine out of 10 of the top
cited articles had multiple authors.
Table 5
Most cited articles from IJTDE for years 2005-2013
Year Citations
Author(s)
Article
2013
21
Jones, A., Buntting, C., &
Vries, M.
The developing field of technology education: a
review to look forward.
2012
15
Hynes, M.
Middle-school teachers' understanding and
teaching of the engineering design process: a
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
10 look at subject matter and pedagogical content
knowledge.
2011
25
Rossouw, A., Hacker, M.,
& Vries, M.
Concepts and contexts in engineering and
technology education: an international and
interdisciplinary Delphi study.
2010
51
Rohaan, E., Taconis, R., & Reviewing the relations between teachers’
Jochems, W.
knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the field of
primary technology education
2009
51
Barak, M., & Zadok, Y.
2008
42
Mioduser, D., & Betzer, N. The contribution of Project-based-learning to
high-achievers’ acquisition of technological
knowledge and skills
2007
46
Chester, I.
Teaching for CAD expertise.
2006
35
Taşli Pektaş, Ş., & Erkip,
F.
Attitudes of Design Students Toward Computer
Usage in Design.
2005
72
Christiaans, H., &
Venselaar, K.,
Creativity in Design Engineering and the Role
of Knowledge: Modelling the Expert.
Robotics projects and learning concepts in
science, technology and problem solving.
Note: Analysis completed November 5, 2014
Table 6 compares the average number of citations per article for the most cited articles
each year for IJTDE and other journals highlighted in the Journal Analysis series in the past.
IJTDE’s average was just under 40, which is low compared to other journals that had a combined
average of 128 citations per article (at the time of their published analysis in this series of
articles), and commonly had articles with well over 200 citations.
Thomson Reuter’s overall Impact Factor rating of IJTDE for 2013 was 0.733, however
self citing was reported at 55% and the Impact Factor without self cites was 0.400 (Journal
Citation Reports, n.d.).
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
11 Table 6
Comparison of Citations from Journals Included in the Journal Analysis Series
Years
Average
Citations
Most Cited
Article
Educational Technology Research and Development
2001-2010
200
669
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology
2003-2012
197.67
520
Journal of the Learning Sciences
2001-2010
197.33
479
Internet and Higher Education
2001-2010
174.7
468
American Journal of Distance Education
2001-2010
151
611
British Journal of Educational Technology
2001-2010
140.8
381
Cognition and Instruction
2003-2012
135.3
267
Journal of Research on Technology in Education
2001-2010
125.78
217
Journal of Educational Computing Research
2003-2012
123.22
319
Instructional Science
2002-2011
106.4
286
Distance Education
2000-2010
105.9
254
Journal of Technology and Teacher Education
2001-2010
80.89
158
International Journal of Technology and Design
Education
2005-2013
39.89
72
Performance Improvement Quarterly
2001-2010
22.22
44
Journal Name
Author Analysis
The analysis of total article publication resulted in seven top authors who had published
four to five times within the given time frame (see Table 7).
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
12 Table 7
Top Authorship Affiliation at Time of Publication
Author Name
Total Publications
Affiliation
David Barlex
4
Brunel University
Vicki Compton
5
University of Auckland
John Dakers
5
University of Glasgow
Wendy Fox-Turnbull
4
University of Canterbury
David Mioduser
4
Tel-Aviv University
Margarita Pavlova
4
Griffith University
Marc Vries
5
Delft University of
Technology
Country
UK
New Zealand
United Kingdom
New Zealand
Israel
Australia
Netherlands
The analysis of the top publishing countries resulted in 15 countries that topped the list of
publications with authors affiliated with that country. The most frequent contributing countries
were the United States, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and New Zealand (see Table 8).
Table 8
Total Authorship by Country
Country
Number of
Authors
USA
69
Taiwan
69
UK
68
New Zealand
56
Netherlands
41
Australia
37
Spain
27
Israel
25
Sweden
25
Turkey
24
Finland
23
South Africa
17
France
15
Canada
12
China
12
The analysis of the top publishing institutions resulted in 15 universities that topped the
list of publications with authors affiliated with that institution. The most significant contributing
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
13 universities were the National Taiwan Normal University, University of Auckland, University of
Waikato, Eindhoven University of Technology, Delft University of Technology, and the
University of Glasgow (see Table 9).
Table 9
Total Authorship by Institution
Institution
National Taiwan Normal
University
University of Auckland
University of Waikato
Eindhoven University of
Technology
Delft University of Technology
University of Glasgow
Colorado State University
Griffith University
University of Seville
University of Helsinki
Purdue University
Bilkent University
Queensland University of
Technology
Linköping University
Tel-Aviv University
Number
of Articles
22
19
14
13
13
13
9
9
9
9
9
8
8
7
7
Discussion
The emphasis we found on interpretive and theoretical methods corresponds to the
journal’s view of technology education as an emergent field, which is trying to develop a more
sound disciplinary foundation. Two important articles that speak to this issue are The developing
field of technology education: a review to look forward by Jones, Buntting, and Vries (2013)
and Research needs for technology education: an international perspective by Ritz and Martin
(2013). The first is co-authored by the Marc de Vries, editor-in-chief of IJTDE, and identifies
seven emergent representations of the field of technology education: skills and gendered craft
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
14 subjects; industrial arts and/or vocational training; technology informed by design; technology as
applied science; technology integrated within Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM); multiple technologies (process technologies, manufacturing technologies,
agritechnologies, biotechnologies, etc.); and technological literacy. The second, by Ritz and
Martin, offers a brief historical overview of the field of technology education and reports a
Delphi study that outlines what a panel of experts in the field agreed to be some of the most
important questions in the field to be researched.
Our topic analysis identified the keywords that define the major emphasis of IJTDE:
technology education, creativity, and design education. Looking at how articles in this journal
have used these terms helps paint a better picture of what the journal is about. For example, in A
model of creative design process for fostering creativity of students in design education, Wong
and Siu (2012) discussed how the term Design education refers to the school subject “Design
and Technology” and involves training students to become different kinds of designers. They
further discussed how it is closely related to creativity and involves “teaching students to design
output that solves problems” (Wong & Siu, 2012). The most cited article in the journal for the
past decade, Creativity in Design Engineering and the Role of Knowledge: Modelling the Expert,
also illustrates the relationship between design and creativity and focuses on how design
knowledge acquired by novice designers affects the quality and creativity of their designed
products.
The topic analysis also revealed more specific topics in the journal such as collaboration,
primary education, engineering education, robotics, and architecture (i.e. architectural design and
education). Two of the most cited articles of the decade also reflected the interest in two of these
topics: In 2009, Robotics projects and learning concepts in science, technology and problem
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
15 solving (Barak & Zadok) and in 2010, Reviewing the relations between teachers’ knowledge and
pupils’ attitude in the field of primary technology education (Rohaan, Taconis, & Jochems).
We encountered one article that provided an important comparison to our topic analysis.
Research in technology education: looking back to move forward (Williams, 2013), analyzed 79
articles from IJTDE as well as articles published by 2 other journals of the field and papers from
4 professional conferences since 2006. In his analysis Williams reported that the most frequently
published research topic in IJTDE was around a theme of sustainability and environmental issues
in technology education. Our analysis identified sustainability as a sub-focus, with the majority
of keywords coming from a special issue dedicated to the topic in 2009. Williams’ also
identified the three most common topics across all journals and conferences included in his
analysis as 1) design, 2) curriculum, and 3) technological literacy. This is fairly consistent with
our analysis, especially when combining our keyword counts of technological literacy and
technological knowledge, which we reported separately although they carry similar meanings.
Conclusion
Our analysis shows that publications of the International Journal of Technology and
Design Education over the last decade are consistent with its aims to establish an international
discourse on technology and design education. Based on our author analysis we conclude that it
has attracted widespread international contributors and, according to Williams (2013), this
journal has significant status within the profession. However our citation analysis suggests that
the reach and impact of IJTDE is still developing, perhaps indicating this field is still emerging
from niche status to wider appeal. We have reported topical and methodological trends as well
as specific articles that we hope will be of interest to the readership of Educational Technology
Research and Development as well as the broader community of educational technologists in
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
16 general. While it may be important to recognize the difference between the fields of technology
education and educational technology, we also note the significant overlap in subjects that are of
mutual concern to these fields. As instructional designers ourselves, we found this journal to be
full of relevant and insightful articles for our education.
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
17 References
Aims and Scope: International Journal of Technology and Design Education. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 28, 2014, from http://www.springer.com/education & language/learning &
instruction?SGWID=0-40666-9-10798-print_view=aimsAndScopes
Article Title Key Words. (n.d.). Utilities for Online Operating System. Retrieved November 16,
2014, from http://www.online-utility.org/text/analyzer.jsp.
Barak, M., & Zadok, Y. (2009). Robotics projects and learning concepts in science, technology
and problem solving. International Journal Of Technology & Design Education, 19(3),
289-307. doi:10.1007/s10798-007-9043-3
Google Scholar. (n.d.). Search Tool for Scholarly Literature. Retrieved November 5, 2014, from
http://scholar.google.com/
Heywood, J. (1990). Editorial. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 1(1),
2-2.
International Technology Education Association (2007). Standards for technological literacy:
Content for the study of technology. Third Edition. Reston, VA: Author.
Jones, A., Buntting, C., & Vries, M. (2013). The developing field of technology education: A
review to look forward. International Journal Of Technology & Design Education, 23(2),
191-212. doi:10.1007/s10798-011-9174-4
Journal Citation Reports. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://adminapps.webofknowledge.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/JCR/JCR?RQ=HOME
Ritz, J., & Martin, G. (2013). Research needs for technology education: an international
perspective. International Journal Of Technology & Design Education, 23(3), 767-783.
AN ANALYSIS OF IJTDE, 2005-2014
18 doi:10.1007/s10798-012-9215-7
Rohaan, E., Taconis, R., & Jochems, W. (2010). Reviewing the relations between teachers’
knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the field of primary technology education.
International Journal Of Technology & Design Education, 20(1), 15-26.
doi:10.1007/s10798-008-9055Williams, P. (2013). Research in technology education: looking back to move forward.
International Journal Of Technology & Design Education, 23(1), 1-9.
doi:10.1007/s10798-011-9170-8
Wong, Y., & Siu, K. (2012). A model of creative design process for fostering creativity of
students in design education. International Journal Of Technology & Design Education,
22(4), 437-450. doi:10.1007/s10798-011-9162-8