The Atlantic rift in Engineering Education Research Methodology.

In Europe educational research branched off from social sciences during the sixties of the last century. Combining theories and methods from pedagogy, sociology and psychology researchers explored the different fields of education, ranging from kindergarten till higher education including engineering. A revival of engineering education research started in the USA around the turn of the century. Building on the concept of ‘scholarship of teaching’, engineers were challenged to investigate their own role as educators. Since these researchers have their academic background mostly in engineering and science, they tend to aim for ‘rigorous research’ according to the natural sciences. Worldwide the engineering education community has recognized the need to blend both the social sciences research approach and rigorous research. This paper explores the variation in research methods used by researchers publishing in the
European Journal of Engineering Education, aiming to identify a shift in methods used for engineering education research.