Emerging Research Themes in Mathematics Education: A Topic Modeling Analysis of Most Influential Journals (2019-2023)

As in various scientific fields, the volume of publications in mathematics education is rapidly increasing, complicating the detailed examination of academic outputs. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA)-based topic modeling algorithms have gained popularity for their ability to synthesize vast amounts of data and provide an overview of emerging research themes within specific fields. This article conducts a topic modeling analysis on 1,000 scholarly articles published between 2019 and 2023 in the five most influential journals in mathematics education. The study identifies 18 research themes, comparing these with a comprehensive topic modeling study conducted in 2018 (Inglis & Foster, 2018). Newly emerging themes include Mathematical Performance and Assessment, Lesson Study, Mathematical Modeling, Social Justice, Teacher Practice, Statistical Literacy, Prospective Teachers' Noticing of Student Thinking, and Framework Design and Development. The findings indicated teacher professional development and education-related studies have been the most prolific research areas over the past five years. Additionally, the research themes and keywords highlighted the ongoing social transformation and shifts in research focuses within mathematics education. This study is expected to be a resource for researchers who conduct research and determine the research theme.