Figure 1
Engineering Education Contexts of Primary Sources (n = 24) Identified Publication Year.
Figure 2
Journal Focus of Primary Sources (n = 24).
Figure 3
Engineering Education Issue Addressed by Primary Source (n = 24).
Table 1
Technology and Web-Based Interventions Developed using Design-Based Research.
| Author (year) | Technology or Web-based Intervention | Issue Addressed |
|---|---|---|
| Huang et al. (2006) | OSSD online course environment and curriculum for graduate students in software engineering | Engineering professional skill development: interdisciplinary and open-ended problem solving |
| Kong et al. (2009) | Remote-controlled experiments for electrical circuits for Primary Four students (Hong Kong)2 | Engineering professional skill development: experimental inquiry and laboratory skills |
| Bernhard (2010) | Technology-based conceptual labs in mechanics and electrical circuits for undergraduate engineering students | |
| Yueh et al. (2014) | Digital laboratory courseware in nanotechnology for undergraduate engineering and science students | |
| Bower (2011) | Web-conferencing course environment for introductory software design course | Engineering professional skill development: design and teaming |
| Charlton and Avramides (2016) | Internet of Things (IoT) as a learning environment for design and making STEM activities for 14–15 year olds | |
| Friedrichsen et al. (2017) | AIChE Concept Warehouse – website to support use of concept-based pedagogies3 | Teaching or assessment in engineering |
| Liu and Yu (2019) | Online system to support active learning through questioning and formative evaluation in large undergraduate engineering classrooms | |
| Todd et al. (2011) | Online learning community for engineering cooperative students | Learning engineering content |
| Joo et al. (2014) | Online course in quality control for undergraduate students in an agroindustry engineering program |
Table 2
Other Interventions Developed Using Design-Based Research.
| Author (year) | Intervention | Issue Addressed |
|---|---|---|
| Curricula (4 studies) | ||
| Newstetter (2005) | Biomedical engineering curriculum based on cognitive apprenticeships and problem-based learning for graduate students | Engineering professional skill development: interdisciplinary and open-ended problem solving |
| Langman et al. (2019) | Mathematical modeling curricular module based on a tissue engineering context for high school and early college students | |
| Weber et al. (2014) | Life cycle assessment: environmental sustainability curricular module for introductory engineering students | Learning engineering content |
| Fan et al. (2018) | Engineering design curricular module for high school students | Engineering professional skill development: design and teaming |
| Pedagogy (3 studies) | ||
| Dasgupta (2019) | Improvable models, a new type of physical models, to engage K–12 students in engineering design | Engineering professional skill development: design and teaming |
| Gomez and Svihla (2019) | Parley sessions, decision matrices for supporting consensus building and decision making of chemical engineering students during design activities | |
| Guisasola et al. (2017) | Teaching and learning sequences for introductory engineering and science students learning physics | Learning engineering content |
| Tools (1 study) | ||
| Diefes-Dux et al. (2010) | Learning assessment tools for open-end problem solving in large engineering courses (rubrics, task-specific supports, scorer training) | Teaching or assessment in engineering |
| Frameworks (3 studies) | ||
| Tang (2013) | Similarities and differences between in-school and out-of-school media representations of engineering experienced by high school students | Interest, perceptions, and participation in engineering |
| Hira and Hynes (2019) | Interest-based engineering design challenges framework for interesting pre-college students in engineering | |
| Moore et al. (2014) | Quality assessment framework for K–12 engineering education | Teaching or assessment in engineering |
| In-Person Experiences (3 studies) | ||
| Hardré et al. (2010) | Six-week resident learning experience in science and engineering for K–12 teachers | Teaching or assessment in engineering |
| Blanchard et al. (2015) | Inquiry-centered after-school program for middle school students; provides design experiences focused on 21st century engineering challenges | Interest, perceptions, and participation in engineering |
| Guloy et al. (2017) | Learning support workshops paired with university courses for first year engineering and science students | Learning engineering content |
Table 3
Educational and Learning Outcomes Reported by Design-Based Research Studies.
| Author (year) | Iterations | Outcome | Form of Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Educational Outcomes (14 studies) | |||
| Blanchard et al. (2015) | 1 | Increase in student interest and awareness of engineering careers, enjoyment of design-based activities, understanding of what engineers do | Analysis of questionnaire and focus group responses |
| Charlton and Avramides (2016) | 1 | Indicators of collaboration and problem-based learning (production) | Mapping of student activities to learning indicators |
| Diefes-Dux et al.(2010) | 2 | Fidelity to engineering expert-identified characteristics of high performance on MEAs | Comparison of TA scores with expert scores |
| Friedrichsen et al. (2017) | 1 | Propagation of a technology-based educational innovation | Diffusion network diagrams and survey responses |
| Guloy et al. (2017) | 1 | Identification of learning outcomes and design requirements needed for a paired learning support workshop | Analysis of questionnaire and interview responses |
| Hardré et al. (2010) | 1 | Identification of key features of teacher professional development that promote critical student and teacher outcomes | Documentation of expected/unexpected events, in relation to process and products |
| Hira and Hynes (2019) | 3 | Increase in student personal interest in engineering and inclusivity of pre-college engineering education | Vignettes: descriptions of student activities; analysis of survey results |
| Huang et al. (2006) | 1 | Factors that influence the success of software design projects | Descriptive analysis of course features and their effects on student interactions |
| Liu and Yu (2019) | 1 | Learning potential of intervention in terms of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and relative advantage | Statistical analysis of survey responses |
| Moore et al. (2014) | 5 | Key indicators of quality K–12 education | Analysis of literature, STEM education standards, and expert consultations |
| Newstetter (2005) | 2 | Instructional scaffolds for development of model-based reasoning | Thick description of student activities, events, and outcomes |
| Tang (2013) | 1 | Differences between in and out-of-school representations of engineering | Thick description; analysis of textual representations |
| Todd et al. (2011) | 2 | Online community design for cooperative education students | Analysis of focus group interviews; survey responses |
| Yueh et al. (2014) | 1 | Evaluation of a web-based courseware development approach | Analysis of e-Learning Courseware Quality Checklist version 3.0 results |
| Learning/Skill Development Outcomes (10 studies) | |||
| Bernhard (2010) | several | Improvement in student conceptual understanding | Pre/post test results; thick description of student courses of action |
| Bower (2011) | 3 | Increased co-construction of knowledge and collaborative design thinking | Vignettes: descriptions of key observations and critical learning episodes |
| Dasgupta (2019) | 1 | Evidence of productive disciplinary engagement during design | Distribution of design moves across disciplinary practices |
| Fan et al. (2018) | 1 | Student design performance in relation to conceptual knowledge, engineering design practice, and STEM attitudes | Scores on Mechanical Conceptual Knowledge Test (MCKT), design rubric, and STEM attitude questionnaire |
| Gomez and Svihla (2019) | 2 | Evidence of student consensus building on design decisions | Vignettes: descriptions of conversational sequences |
| Guisasola et al. (2017) | 2 | Learning improvements achieved through use of the intervention | Changes in pre/post problem-based test results and questionnaire responses |
| Joo et al. (2014) | 2 | Improvement in students’ cognitive engagement and learning outcomes | Statistical analyses of assignment scores’ analysis of self-checklist scores |
| Kong et al. (2009) | 1 | Learning achievement as a result of the remote experiments | Pretest/post test evaluation; analysis of interviews |
| Langman et al. (2019) | 1 | Gain in maturity of mathematical models; disciplinary learning gains | Analysis of mathematical models and pre/post student responses to a science prompt |
| Weber et al. (2014) | 1 | Learning gains about environmental sustainability | Statistical analysis of Environmental Inventory survey responses |
Table 4
Evidence of Design and Theoretical Findings in Design-Based Research (n = 24).
| Author (year) | Design Findings | Theoretical Findings |
|---|---|---|
| Bernhard (2010) | Principles for designing labs, or lab-like learning environments, that support conceptual learning | Variation theory supports the design of conceptual labs |
| Blanchard et al. (2015) | Program promoted adoption of concrete strategies and aspirational career goals simultaneously. Concrete strategies supported and nurtured aspirational goals while still in school | Program is one approach to respond to calls to broaden access to and increase awareness of engineering, especially among underrepresented groups |
| Bower (2011) | Principles for scaffolding creative design learning in online environments | Multimedia and socio-constructivist learning principles support design learning in online environments. |
| Charlton and Avramides (2016) | IoT environment enabled flexible “making” and encouraged experimentation by not exactly helping to solve the problem directly | Flexible knowledge construction and production during IoT-based design challenges foster collaborative learning and collective engagement. |
| Dasgupta (2019) | Improvable models engaged students in idea generation through processes of revision and redesign, manipulation of current design parameters, and design decomposition and optimization | K–12 students can productively engage in heuristics generation and engineering design practices using Improvable Models |
| Diefes-Dux et al. (2010) | Assessment tools to promote high fidelity to expert evaluation of MEA products | Design of evaluation tools for open-ended problems embedded within a larger educational system can be addressed through use of various educational research methods and a multi-tiered teaching experiment methodology |
| Fan et al. (2018) | Engineering design course used to create mechanical toys (Automata) using various mechanisms (see Fan & Yu, 2017) | Interest and metacognitive skills are key motivational factors for students involved in engineering design |
| Friedrichsen et al. (2017) | DBR-based model for collecting and analyzing intervention propagation data for developers and researchers interested in research impact and education reform. | Intervention propagation data can guide approaches for increasing use and be fed back into the design process to guide design of the technology itself |
| Gomez and Svihla (2019) | Parley sessions related to key design decisions improved communication by providing students opportunities to argue through evidence and negotiate ideas through uncertainty. Scaffolding to key decisions resulted in more manageable amount of core content | Negotiating ideas with peers through uncertainty shifts peer communication from transfer of knowledge to collaboration |
| Guisasola et al. (2017) | Guide to teachers for implementing Teaching and Learning Sequences (TLS) | DBR can be used as a model for teacher driven design and evaluation of TLS |
| Guloy et al. (2017) | By embodying aspects of more autonomous forms of extrinsic motivation (i.e., identification), the intervention is more likely to help students persist through challenges, engage in disciplinary craft, and seek help from peers, while studying | Future research should focus on how students can be extrinsically motivated to participate and value the adoption of desired learning strategies. |
| Hardré et al. (2010) | Guidelines for designing effective professional development programs | Authentic transfer among teachers is key to bridge professional development into teaching practice |
| Hira and Hynes (2019) | Guiding principles for engineering design challenges (being human-centered, having broad themes, and involve the making of things) are realized by including authentic clients, students choosing their own themes of interest, and providing access to tools and materials | Provides evidence that guiding principles for engineering design challenges can provide more engaging engineering activities. |
| Huang et al. (2006) | Guidelines for designing a computer science courses based on an Open Source Software Development framework | Provides evidence of the potential for open source software courses to address concerns generated by more traditional computing courses |
| Joo et al. (2014) | Course redesign impacted the distance learners’ cognitive engagement and learning outcomes through a heightened level of structure | Provides evidence to support theory that states that the appropriate balance between dialogue and structure in online instruction must account for the educational sophistication of the learner and the content |
| Kong et al. (2009) | Teacher guidelines for teachers implementing remote experiments | Remote experiments have potential to promote elementary students’ learning by observation |
| Langman et al. (2019) | Teachers guidelines for promoting development of mature mathematical models | An agenda for future research on module design and the relationship between disciplinary learning and authentic engineering problems |
| Liu and Yu (2019) | System feature of deferring display of other students’ responses stimulates independent thinking and supports meaningful formative evaluation in a large group environment | Findings support tenets of conformity theory in that viewing peers’ responses too soon limited the positive effects of formative evaluation and active learning |
| Moore et al. (2014) | Quality framework can be used for curriculum development both for the development of units of instruction and for the development of scope and sequencing throughout K–12 curricula. | Quality framework can be used to inform the development and structure of future K–12 engineering and STEM education standards and initiatives |
| Newstetter (2005) | Forced use of cartons, sketches, and assumptions on whiteboards makes the role of diagrammatic reasoning in engineering problem solving explicit | Argues the need to scaffold the development of model-based reasoning throughout the engineering curricula |
| Tang (2013) | Conjectured pedagogical strategies to address contrasting views of technology | Out-of-school representations, which present contrasting views of technology based on the diverging practices and rhetorical purposes of media professionals, pose affective challenges for beginning engineering students |
| Todd et al. (2011) | Factors to consider in the design of an online community for cooperative engineering education | Findings suggest enhancements to the Model of Community-based Online Learning |
| Weber et al. (2014) | Provides insights about which misconceptions about environmental sustainability are the most malleable and which are the most stable | Four-week module may not be enough to shift student attitudes about sustainability |
| Yueh et al. (2014) | Validated courseware in nano-biotechnology with areas for improvement noted | To accomplish creative learning design in content, navigation and media design, it is necessary to provide substantial assistance within the quality assurance framework to inspire more creative design |