Visualization in mathematics education: Research trends and thematic evolution

Windia Hadi; Kamarullah Kamarullah; Csaba Csíkos

doi:10.20897/ejsteme/18864

Review Article

2026, 11(1), Article No: 36

Visualization in mathematics education: Research trends and thematic evolution

Windia Hadi ¹ ² ^* , Kamarullah Kamarullah ³, Csaba Csíkos ¹

¹ University of Szeged, HUNGARY ² Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof. DR. HAMKA, INDONESIA ³ Sekolah Menengah Atas Negeri 16 Banda Aceh, INDONESIA
^* Corresponding Author

https://doi.org/10.20897/ejsteme/18864

Published in Volume 11 Issue 1: 28 Jun 2026

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Abstract

Visualization is central to mathematical cognition, though the study of visualization in mathematical education (VME) has taken diverse, interdisciplinary directions. This paper seeks to critically chart the intellectual landscape, conceptual development, and research nature of VME literature. A revised bibliometric search strategy was implemented in the Scopus database using an expanded TITLE-ABS-KEY query that combined visualization-related terms with mathematics-education-specific terms. After applying document type, language, publication-year, duplicate-removal, and relevance-screening criteria, a final corpus of 279 journal articles published between 2014 and 2024 was retained for analysis. VOSviewer and Biblioshiny were used to conduct bibliometric mapping, thematic analysis, and temporal evolution to analyze patterns of publications, journals, and authors that emerged and disappeared, as well as influential collaboration patterns, thematic clusters, and research directions. Results indicate that studies on VME have been gradually increasing, with major contributions from the social sciences, mathematics, and computer science. The findings also indicate uneven geographical distribution and varying thematic concentration across VME research. This research offers a synthesis of VME research, organized by structural, thematic, and temporal perspectives. Also, the findings contribute to future visualization-focused mathematics education research by supporting stronger theoretical integration, methodological soundness, and broader contextual and technological representation across diverse educational settings.

Figure 1. Main information of the bibliometric dataset on VME

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APA 7th edition

In-text citation: (Hadi et al., 2026)
Reference: Hadi, W., Kamarullah, K., & Csíkos, C. (2026). Visualization in mathematics education: Research trends and thematic evolution. European Journal of STEM Education, 11(1), Article 36. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejsteme/18864

AMA 10th edition

In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Hadi W, Kamarullah K, Csíkos C. Visualization in mathematics education: Research trends and thematic evolution. European Journal of STEM Education. 2026;11(1), 36. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejsteme/18864

Chicago

In-text citation: (Hadi et al., 2026)
Reference: Hadi, Windia, Kamarullah Kamarullah, and Csaba Csíkos. "Visualization in mathematics education: Research trends and thematic evolution". European Journal of STEM Education 2026 11 no. 1 (2026): 36. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejsteme/18864

Harvard

In-text citation: (Hadi et al., 2026)
Reference: Hadi, W., Kamarullah, K., and Csíkos, C. (2026). Visualization in mathematics education: Research trends and thematic evolution. European Journal of STEM Education, 11(1), 36. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejsteme/18864

MLA

In-text citation: (Hadi et al., 2026)
Reference: Hadi, Windia et al. "Visualization in mathematics education: Research trends and thematic evolution". European Journal of STEM Education, vol. 11, no. 1, 2026, 36. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejsteme/18864

Vancouver

In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Hadi W, Kamarullah K, Csíkos C. Visualization in mathematics education: Research trends and thematic evolution. European Journal of STEM Education. 2026;11(1):36. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejsteme/18864

Keywords

visualization in mathematics education, VME, bibliometrics, Scopus

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