Building the Case for Use of Systematic Mapping Reviews in Engineering Education Research

Muhammad Asghar; Angela Minichiello

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: ERM: Systematic Reviews!
Page Count: 25
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40986
Permanent URL: https://sftp.asee.org/40986
Download Count: 372

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Muhammad Asghar Utah State University

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Muhammad Asghar is a graduate researcher and a Ph.D. student in Engineering Education Department at Utah State University. He has a master's in clinical psychology, a master's in educational psychology, and a bachelor's in computer information systems engineering. His research interests consist of investigating undergraduate engineering students' mental health and well-being. He is also interested in research related to using different technical and non-technical methods to enhance the learning processes of undergraduate engineering students.

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Angela Minichiello Utah State University

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Angela (Angie) Minichiello, Ph.D., P. E., is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education and Adjunct Faculty in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Utah State University. Her research employs asset-based frameworks to improve access, participation, and inclusivity across all levels of engineering education. Angie engages with qualitative, mixed-method, and multi-method approaches to better understand student experience for the ultimate purpose of strengthening and diversifying the engineering workforce. Her most recent work explores the effects of mobile educational technology, online learning and distance education; metacognition and self-regulation, and contemporary engineering practice on engineering student learning and professional identity development. Angie graduated from the United State Military Academy at West Point with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. She later earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in engineering education at Utah State University. In 2021, Angie's research earned her a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to critically examine the professional formation of undergraduate student veterans and service members in engineering.

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Abstract

Abstract Background: This theory/methods paper describes a lesser-known research methodology, called the Systematic Mapping Review (SMR), which is currently under-utilized in engineering education. SMR provides researchers with a useful approach for defining, synthesizing, and implementing today’s rapidly developing literatures located within the interdisciplinary field of engineering education. Recent years have witnessed a marked increase in the number of research articles published in the field of engineering education. As a result, tracking and reviewing the state of the art in engineering education research (EER) has become more onerous and resource and time-intensive. To date, there are several types of research literature reviews (e.g., critical reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and systematic literature reviews) used by engineering education researchers to critically evaluate existing EER literature and to locate and define the extent of the literatures related to a particular topic area of research interest. In this article, we argue that SMRs provide another key tool that engineering education researchers can implement prior to conducting other systematized or systematic literature reviews (SLR), which by their nature have narrow foci in order to address the precise research question(s). When implemented before SLRs, for example, SMRs enable researchers to construct a broad visual synthesis of the diverse research literature and develop focused topic areas for, perhaps, multiple SLRs. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to build a case for the use of the SMR as an evidence synthesis methodology in the rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field of engineering education. Method: To build the case for SMRs in engineering education, online digital education research databases are used to conduct a scoping review of literature related to SLRs and SMRs in the field of engineering education. Search results are systematically analyzed to include relevant literature. Trends in the use of SLRs since their introduction and the current status of use of SMRs in engineering education are descriptively analyzed. Examples of the existing SMRs (which primarily exist within the subdiscipline of software engineering education) are presented to emphasize and describe their benefits in engineering education more broadly. Conclusion: Since the formal introduction of SLRs to the field of engineering education in 2014 (Borrego et al., 2014), an increasing trend in their use is observed. While the goal of SLRs is to answer a clearly formulated (set of) research question(s), the goal of SMRs is to define and describe the broader landscape of existing scholarly research on a topic. In this way, SMRs are particularly useful for defining the scope of follow-on SLRs. Keywords: literature reviews, systematic maps, systematic mapping reviews, systematic literature reviews, engineering education

Citation
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Asghar, M., & Minichiello, A. (2022, August), Building the Case for Use of Systematic Mapping Reviews in Engineering Education Research Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40986

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Abstract
Background: This theory/methods paper describes a lesser-known research methodology, called the Systematic Mapping Review (SMR), which is currently under-utilized in engineering education. SMR provides researchers with a useful approach for defining, synthesizing, and implementing today’s rapidly developing literatures located within the interdisciplinary field of engineering education.
Recent years have witnessed a marked increase in the number of research articles published in the field of engineering education. As a result, tracking and reviewing the state of the art in engineering education research (EER) has become more onerous and resource and time-intensive. To date, there are several types of research literature reviews (e.g., critical reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and systematic literature reviews) used by engineering education researchers to critically evaluate existing EER literature and to locate and define the extent of the literatures related to a particular topic area of research interest. In this article, we argue that SMRs provide another key tool that engineering education researchers can implement prior to conducting other systematized or systematic literature reviews (SLR), which by their nature have narrow foci in order to address the precise research question(s). When implemented before SLRs, for example, SMRs enable researchers to construct a broad visual synthesis of the diverse research literature and develop focused topic areas for, perhaps, multiple SLRs. 
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to build a case for the use of the SMR as an evidence synthesis methodology in the rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field of engineering education. 
Method: To build the case for SMRs in engineering education, online digital education research databases are used to conduct a scoping review of literature related to SLRs and SMRs in the field of engineering education. Search results are systematically analyzed to include relevant literature. Trends in the use of SLRs since their introduction and the current status of use of SMRs in engineering education are descriptively analyzed. Examples of the existing SMRs (which primarily exist within the subdiscipline of software engineering education) are presented to emphasize and describe their benefits in engineering education more broadly. 
Conclusion: Since the formal introduction of SLRs to the field of engineering education in 2014 (Borrego et al., 2014), an increasing trend in their use is observed. While the goal of SLRs is to answer a clearly formulated (set of) research question(s), the goal of SMRs is to define and describe the broader landscape of existing scholarly research on a topic. In this way, SMRs are particularly useful for defining the scope of follow-on SLRs. 
Keywords: literature reviews, systematic maps, systematic mapping reviews, systematic literature reviews, engineering education

AU  - Muhammad Asghar
AU  - Angela Minichiello
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Building the Case for Use of Systematic Mapping Reviews in Engineering Education Research
UR  - https://sftp.asee.org/40986
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--40986
ER  -