The Bibliometric Analysis of Spatial Thinking Research in Elementary Education: Global Trends from 2015 to 2025

Syafrizal Isnain Maulana; Dini Rahma Wati Handono Putri; Azzahra Qurrota A'yun; Zaenal Abidin; Felmar Roy S. Adam

doi:10.26740/jrpd.v11n3.p286-296

Authors

Syafrizal Isnain Maulana State University of Surabaya
Dini Rahma Wati Handono Putri State University of Surabaya
Azzahra Qurrota A'yun State University of Surabaya
Zaenal Abidin State University of Surabaya
Felmar Roy S. Adam Mindanao State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26740/jrpd.v11n3.p286-296

Keywords:

Spatial Thinking, Elementary Education, Bibliometric Analysis, VOSviewer

Abstract

Spatial thinking supports learning in mathematics and other STEM-related domains, and classroom studies have examined how it can be developed in elementary education. Limited research has examined how this body of work is distributed over time, which records attract the most citations, and which themes co-occur in the literature. This study aims to map publication trends, citation patterns, and term co-occurrence structures of research on spatial thinking in elementary education published between 2015 and 2025. The study extends previous synthesis work by applying bibliometric mapping to the elementary education level. Records were retrieved from Google Scholar through Publish or Perish using the search term “spatial thinking in elementary school” and analyzed with VOSviewer. The search returned 420 records. Annual output rose from 27 records in 2015 to a peak of 67 in 2020 and declined to 3 records in 2025, a year that may be incompletely covered. Title-based classification of the ten most cited records showed that one addressed spatial thinking among elementary students, one addressed spatial ability among middle school students, and the remaining records addressed other forms of thinking or STEM education more broadly. Term co-occurrence analysis identified 103 terms in six clusters, with student, spatial thinking, and elementary school as the most frequent terms. The findings suggest that, within this retrieved set, highly cited records combining a spatial focus with an elementary-level focus are limited. Because the data source is Google Scholar, the results should be interpreted with caution and tested through replication in curated databases.

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