Emotions in Engineering Education: Preliminary Results from a Scoping Review

Abstract

There is today a broad consensus that emotions influence all forms of teaching and learning, and scholarship on Emotions in Engineering Education (EEE) is an emerging and rapidly growing field. However, this nascent research is currently very dispersed and not well consolidated. There is also a lack of knowledge about the state of the art, strengths, and limitations of the existing literature in the field, gaps, and future avenues for research. PURPOSEWe have conducted a scoping review of EEE research, aiming to provide a first overview of the EEE scholarship landscape. We report here on preliminary findings related to (1) the status of the field, (2) geographical representation of authors, and (3) emerging hot spots and blind spots in terms of research approaches, contexts, and topics. METHODSThe scoping review is part of a larger, systematic review of the EEE literature. Using an inclusive search strategy, we retrieved 2,175 items mentioning emotions and engineering education, including common synonyms. Through abstract screening and full text sifting, we identified 184 items that significantly focus on engineering education and emotion. From these items, we extracted and synthesized basic quantitative and qualitative information on publication outlets, author origins, keywords, research approaches, and research contexts. PRELIMINARY RESULTSSurprised by the large number of EEE publications, we found that EEE is a rapidly expanding, but internationally dispersed field. Preliminary results also suggest a dominance of research on higher education, often exploring students' academic emotions or emotional competences. Research on emotional intelligence and anxiety is particularly common while studies focusing on cultural and sociological aspects of EEE are largely absent. CONCLUSIONSThe EEE literature is expanding exponentially. However, the field is not well consolidated, and many blind spots remain to be explored in terms of research approaches, contexts, and foci. To accelerate the development of the field, we invite current and prospective EEE researchers to join our emerging, international community of EEE researchers.

What does it mean to be “prepared for work”? Perceptions of new engineers

“…Second, the affective indications in our findings, coupled with studies such as Walther et al's (2011) work on accidental competencies and Lönngren's work on emotion (e.g., Lönngren, Adawi, & Berge, 2021; Lönngren, Bellocchi, et al, 2021), point to the need for further research on how affective factors impact students' preparation for and transition to work. What factors support or hinder participants' ability to apply existing skills to new contexts, or to learn new skills at work?…”

Engineering students' epistemic affect and meta‐affect in solving ill‐defined problems

“…This study differs from previous work on affect and emotions in engineering in several ways: a recent scoping review (Lönngren, Bellocchi, et al, 2021) found that only 10% of papers about emotions in engineering education related to the concept of achievement emotions (which are one aspect of epistemic affect, as described previously), whereas there is a larger focus on topics such as emotional intelligence (a keyword for 46 of the 184 papers in the review) (e.g., Adams et al, 2011;Roeser, 2012). We are in a smaller subset of researchers studying the intertwined nature of affect in the doing of engineering (epistemic affect), rather than merely as something required to interact between people or their attitudes/global affect.…”

“…6.1.1 | RQ1: Uncertainty and complexity in the problem cause strong emotions Emotion has been described as a "rapidly expanding, but internationally dispersed field" of study in engineering education (p. 232), most often introduced to complement or inform other areas of educational research, which has significant areas remaining to be explored (Lönngren, Bellocchi, et al, 2021). The range of both positive and negative emotions identified in this study through affective expressions is similar to the range of emotions reported in the literature elsewhere: first-year engineering students completing tool-based cutting challenges also reported feeling anxiety, frustration, stress, calm, comfort, and interest (Hu et al, 2016).…”

“…Even though engineering work is often cast as a rational process (Lönngren et al, 2020), emotions have been found and studied in engineering students (Aleong et al, 2018;Ge & Leifer, 2020;Kellam et al, 2011Kellam et al, , 2018Lönngren, Bellocchi, et al, 2021). Emotions are one aspect of students' affect, which collectively refers to the emotions experienced during disciplinary activity as well as the less changeable beliefs, attitudes, and values that a student holds within or about the subject (DeBellis & Goldin, 2006).…”

Compassion and engineering students' moral reasoning: The emotional experience of engineering ethics cases

“…Although engineering ethics remains very rationality‐oriented, there is a growing interest in emotion in engineering education (Lönngren et al, 2023; Lönngren, Bellocchi, et al, 2021; Villanueva et al, 2018) and this is reflected in a growing literature on emotions in engineering ethics education also. Examples include Pantazidou and Nair (1999) and Riley et al (2009) who have argued for engineering design to be reframed through an ethics of care perspective.…”