Understanding trends in engineering design and design-based learning studies with a bibliometric approach

Abstract

Understanding how engineering design (ED) and design-based learning (DBL) are portrayed at various educational levels is essential in this transition to ascertain the state of the literature. We investigated ED and DBL studies in Web of Science and Scopus databases. Then we focused on educational levels, categorizing research based on participant types: studies with elementary or secondary school students; undergraduate students; teachers or teacher candidates. The bibliometric analysis revealed that as undergraduate engineering programs give students a variety of options to engage in design, higher education studies continue to be the main focus of ED and DBL literature. The number of studies on elementary and secondary education has gradually expanded over the past ten years, with secondary education received the majority of attention. The smallest group in our analysis was the teacher education studies. The findings of this study depicts how the themes change based on participant groups. Science education become a key discipline in studies on elementary, secondary, and teacher education. Engineering design is not supported by one course in higher education programs and we do believe that supporting engineering in various grade levels/disciplines in elementary/secondary and teacher education would be beneficial.