Ethnoscience and Scientific–Digital Literacies: A Bibliometric Mapping of Global Research Trends in Science Education (2014–2024)

Over the past ten years, interest in using ethnoscience approaches in science education has continued to grow, particularly as a learning method relevant to local cultural contexts and capable of supporting the strengthening of scientific and digital literacy. However, research in this field remains scattered across various themes and regions without a comprehensive mapping, necessitating a thorough review to describe the direction and development of research globally. This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of publications related to ethnoscience in science education between 2014 and 2024, focusing on publication trends, dominant themes, key contributors, and collaboration patterns that support the development of scientific and digital literacy based on local culture. A total of 104 documents were analyzed after being filtered from the Scopus database using the keywords “ethnoscience,” “education,” and “learning,” with restrictions on publication year and English language. The data were analyzed using VOSviewer software for keyword mapping and author collaboration networks, supplemented by frequency and field distribution analysis. The research results show that publications have increased significantly since 2017, peaking in 2021, with a continuing upward trend in citations. Dominant themes in the research include science literacy, STEM-based learning, and contextual learning, which are linked to local wisdom values. Although international collaboration remains limited, Indonesia is the most significant contributor globally, with support from several institutions and leading authors. Visualization of the collaboration network shows that most collaborations are local and have not yet formed an integrated global research ecosystem.This study identifies several gaps, including the lack of cross-national research partnerships, the suboptimal use of digital technology in ethnoscience-based learning, and limited development at the higher education level. Research development should focus on transnational collaboration, the integration of innovative technology, and interdisciplinary approaches to expand the impact of ethnoscience in global science education.