Mapping creativity and higher-order thinking in STEM and higher education research (2014–2024)
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The ability to think critically and creatively is a central goal of 21st-century education. This study uses scientometric and bibliometric analysis to map the development of research on creativity and higher-order thinking (HOT) from 2014 to 2024 within a Scopus-indexed STEM/science and higher education-related dataset. Using Scopus as the primary database, 799 publications were analyzed to identify publication growth, citation impact, influential authors and sources, country-level publication output, collaboration networks, and thematic structures. VOSviewer and Biblioshiny were used to visualize and examine co-authorship networks, citation patterns, and keyword co-occurrence clusters. The findings show a sharp increase in creativity and HOT-related publications, especially after 2020, indicating growing scholarly attention to critical thinking, creative thinking, technology-enhanced learning, STEM/STEAM education, and interdisciplinary pedagogy. The geographic analysis shows that Indonesia, the United States, China, Malaysia, and Taiwan were the most visible contributors in terms of publication output within the analyzed Scopus dataset. However, publication volume should not be interpreted as a complete measure of research leadership without considering citation impact, collaboration quality, policy context, and journal influence. The keyword analysis identified several major themes, including critical thinking in education, digital and technology-supported learning, STEM/STEAM and interdisciplinary learning models, student-centered pedagogy, sustainability-oriented problem-solving, teacher education, and assessment of complex competencies. Overall, the study shows that creativity and HOT research in this dataset has evolved from a primarily cognitive focus toward a broader educational agenda involving curriculum design, digital learning, teacher capacity, sustainability, and competency-based assessment. The findings suggest the need for further studies on AI-supported HOT education, cross-cultural comparisons, teacher professional development, equity in technology-enhanced learning, non-STEM contexts, and longitudinal assessment of HOT skill development.
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