Taking Stock: An Analysis of the Publishing Record as Represented by the Journal of Engineering Education

Journal of Engineering Education, Jan 2004 by Whitin, Katherine, Sheppard, Sheri

A trend in topics over the six-year period emerges in the category of Courses and Programs. Topics covered in earlier issues of the Journal focused on course and curriculum redesign, particularly including "hands-on" design components. In 1996, Luxh�j, et al. described efforts at reforming the engineering curriculum at Aalborg University [18]. D.R. Carroll discussed integrating design into sophomore and junior level mechanics courses in 1997 [3]. The same year, Dutson, et al. observed a shift towards increasing the design component in engineering curricula through their extensive review of capstone courses [6]. More recent topics included integrated first-year experiences. Porter reported on integrative first-year courses that tie engineering to the basic sciences [29]. Evcrett, et al. took the topic further, publishing a paper on the purpose and design of integrated curricula in 2000 [7]. Other recent topics noted were multidisciplinary and international courses and programs. King, et al. reported on a multidisciplinary engineering laboratory course [15]. Gonzalez-Quevedo, et al. reported on an innovative, joint program between the University of Puerto Rico and MIT [11].

A trend in Faculty category topics also emerges. In particular, those topics focusing on teaching methods expanded to include discussions of the types of experiences engineering students should have. Over the years reviewed for this study, there were numerous papers focusing on improving communication skills through the use of written and oral activities. For example, in 1997, Waitz and Barrett reported on specific assignments used in a joint engineering and humanities program [37]. Since then, the observed trend is the inclusion of more topics dealing with non-technical skills, such as active learning, interdisciplinary teamwork and project management. Muscat, Allen, et al., in 1998, described the interdisciplinary team approach, focusing on the team elements and active learning [22]. Pimmel, in 2001, identified the implicit curriculum as those skills engineering students are expected to learn, but are never explicitly taught [10].

A clear trend m topics did not emerge for papers coded to Assessment and Evaluation over the six-year period. In the issues from 1996 to 1998 the topics ranged widely from issue-to-issue. A trend in topics is more apparent in 1999 and early 2000. During this period, several papers were published directly dealing with the EC2000 accreditation process [34, 17]. Also observed in the last few issues of 2000 is the appearance of papers explicitly discussing the type of experiences an undergraduate engineering education should provide. For example, in 2000, Meier, et al. reported on the findings of a NSF-funded study that detailed the non-technical skills that are required of engineering graduates [20].

IV. RESULTS-PART 2

This review of the Journal was in part undertaken to review characteristics and attributes of these papers as related to their scholarliness. To this end, particularly convincing papers within the three most commonly coded categories (Courses and Programs, Faculty, and Assessment and Evaluation) were identified. Based on these papers, a list of characteristics and attributes evolved during the study. This list of characteristics was confirmed by several commentaries published by the Editor of the Journal; on three separate occasions, the Editor outlined what the Journal expects of papers submitted for publication.[30-32]. The resulting list of scholarly characteristics is the following. A scholarly paper: