A decade of advancing creative thinking skills in science education: trends and research frontiers from a bibliometric analysis (2015–2025)

This study systematically maps the evolving landscape of creative thinking in science education (CTS-SciEd) over the past decade, highlighting emerging research trends, pedagogical approaches, and thematic priorities. Using a bibliometric approach grounded in the PRISMA and supported by VOSviewer and Biblioshiny, we analyzed 122 peer-reviewed articles indexed in Scopus and ERIC between 2015 and 2025. The analysis reveals a growing emphasis on instructional strategies that explicitly foster CTS-SciEd through project-based learning, inquiry-driven activities, and reflective practices. Themes such as scientific literacy, sustainability, climate change education, and systems thinking have gained prominence as meaningful contexts to nurture creativity in addressing complex scientific challenges. Citation analysis (an average of 10.54 citations per article) further underscores the academic impact and visibility of this domain. Beyond descriptive mapping, the study advances theory by linking bibliometric clusters to socio-constructivist learning frameworks and Torrance’s four creativity dimensions. This positions CTS-SciEd as a discipline-specific construct that combines novelty with scientific validity. Findings highlight both progress and gaps: underexplored areas such as socioscientific issues, design thinking, and computational modeling; regional disparities in research output; and fragmented international collaboration. These insights point to a targeted agenda for advancing CTS-SciEd. We argue that future reforms should prioritize curriculum innovation, robust assessment frameworks, and strengthened global research networks to embed creative thinking as a core competency in the 21st century.