Mapping research on misconceptions and conceptual change across education and sport sciences

Abstract

Research on misconceptions and conceptual change has become an increasingly consolidated field within educational research, yet its long-term intellectual development and disciplinary diversification have not been systematically examined. This study aimed to map the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and emerging research areas of misconception and conceptual change research across education and sport sciences. A bibliometric design was employed using 6,597 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection between 1983 and 2026. Scientific production, reference co-citation, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic evolution analyses were conducted using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer. The findings revealed a highly coherent intellectual structure organized around foundational cognitive and epistemological theories, with a marked expansion of scholarly output after 2010. Longitudinal thematic mapping demonstrated a gradual transition from theory-oriented investigations toward applied educational and assessment-related research. Comparative analysis further indicated that education constitutes the dominant theoretical domain, whereas sport sciences represent a smaller but emerging practice-oriented research niche emphasizing coaching, pedagogy, and concussion-related research. Overall, misconceptions and conceptual change remain the principal integrative themes connecting the field's historical foundations with its contemporary developments. These findings provide an evidence-based framework for understanding the evolution of conceptual change research and offer valuable directions for future interdisciplinary studies in education and sport sciences.