A Topic Modeling Analysis of Research Trends in Specialized Subject Teachers

This study applied Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling to 193 articles published in KCI-indexed journals between 2003 and April 2026 to systematically analyze research trends on specialized subject teachers in Korean secondary vocational education. Three major findings were identified. First, the annual publication trend showed a gradual increase from 2003, reaching a peak of 26 articles in 2018, with research output closely corresponding to major vocational education policy changes. Second, eight topics were extracted through topic modeling: instructional strategies based on learning modules, teacher competencies and psychological variables, job satisfaction and employment outcomes, management of hazardous environments and laboratory safety, intellectual property and invention education, teacher recruitment and practical training in industrial and health fields, industry-school cooperation and employment support policies, and career design for students with disabilities. Among these, teacher competencies and psychological variables accounted for the highest proportion at 19.2%. Third, analysis of annual topic distribution revealed that research themes expanded in multiple directions after the 2010s, with several topics increasing concurrently in the period around 2018. As the first empirical study applying topic modeling to the specialized subject teacher research domain, this study provides foundational data for policy development in teacher preparation, recruitment, and in-service training in vocational education.