Bridging the gap across global research on numeracy assessment in the digital era: Toward the development of diagnostic assessment

This research analyzed global research trends on numeracy assessment in the digital era to identify future directions for diagnostic assessment development. Numeracy is recognized as a key twenty- first century competency that supports problem-solving and lifelong learning; however, existing assessments predominantly focus on summative and formative purposes rather than diagnostic functions. To address this gap, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using 246 publications indexed in the Scopus database between 2020 and 2025. Data were processed using Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to examine publication trends, influential authors, institutions, journals, and keyword co-occurrence networks. The results indicate a consistent growth in publication productivity, with an annual increase of 8.92%, accompanied by strong international collaboration across institutions in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Thematic mapping revealed four major research clusters: student achievement and learning, education policy and systems, numeracy assessment and design, and home-based learning. These clusters reflect a shift toward contextualized, learner-centered, and technology-enhanced approaches to numeracy education. Overall, the findings highlight a substantial gap in diagnostic-oriented numeracy assessments. This study contributes a conceptual and empirical foundation for advancing adaptive, data-driven diagnostic assessment frameworks that are responsive to digital learning environments.