Understanding the Academic Research Extent of Forest Education in South Korea

This study aims to understand the extent in research on forest education by analyzing 432 journal articles published in South Korea from 1989 to 2015. The analysis shows that the amount of research increased in 1998 due to the impact of the IMF crisis, and 65 articles, the highest number until that point, were published in 2014. In the content analysis, (1) curriculum and programs, (2) evaluation and effect, and (3) present condition analysis are found to be studied most frequently. The research topic analysis reports that forest kindergarten, school environmental education, and forest interpretation have been the top three topics researched so far. Additionally, the keyword network analysis found 55 main keywords in forest education, and the keywords with a high degree of centrality include "education," "subject," and "forest education," while the keywords with a high closeness centrality include "enterprise," "effect," and "design." Furthermore, the keywords with a high degree of betweenness centrality are "education," "forest education," and "subject." This study shows the current research extent of forest education in Korea and attempts to explore its future direction.