Knowledge Graphs in Education: A Systematic Literature Review and Directions for Future Work

Abstract

In the last decade, a new technology and tool named ‘knowledge graph’ has caught the attention of experts in a variety of fields, such as education, artificial intelligence, big data, natural language processing and the semantic web. It acts as a new type of database for graph structures and offers a new knowledge management solution for students, teachers and knowledge workers. To understand the development and research implications of this emerging field, the author of this dissertation conducts a CiteSpace-based bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review of all 84 papers in the field using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research. In terms of study results, the author quantifies the disciplines covered by the research field, as well as changes in the year of publication, authorship, and institutional and national collaborations, to demonstrate the changing interests of stakeholders in the field. Furthermore, a thematic analysis is conducted to provide a systematic and contextualised presentation of a generalised educational knowledge graph research paradigm and show how the existing research responds to relevant needs at all stages of educational knowledge graph construction and application. In addition, a set of criteria for evaluating the quality of research in the educational knowledge graph field is proposed, and suggestions for addressing the gaps in current research are provided.