Methodology discourses as boundary work in the construction of engineering education

Abstract

Engineering education research is a new field that emerged in the social sciences over the past 10 years. This analysis of engineering education research demonstrates that methodology discourses have played a central role in the construction and development of the field of engineering education, and that they have done so primarily through boundary work. This article thus contributes to science and technology studies literature by examining the role of methodology discourses in an emerging social science field. I begin with an overview of engineering education research before situating the case within relevant bodies of literature on methodology discourses and boundary work. I then identify two methodology discourses – rigor and methodological diversity – and discuss how they contribute to the construction and development of engineering education research. The article concludes with a discussion of how the findings relate to prior research on methodology discourses and boundary work and implications for future research.