Background: Societal challenges that call for a new type of engineer suggest the need for the implementation of interdisciplinary engineering education (IEE). The aim of IEE is to train engineering students to bring together expertise from different disciplines in a single context. This review synthesizes IEE research with a focus on characterizing vision, teaching practices, and support.Purpose: We aim to show how IEE is conceptualized, implemented, and facilitated in higher engineering education at the levels of curricula and courses. This aim leads to two research questions:What aspects of vision, teaching, and support have emerged as topics of interest in empirical studies of IEE?What points of attention regarding vision, teaching, and support can be identified in empirical studies of IEE as supporting or challenging IEE?Scope/Method: Ninety‐nine studies published between 2005 and 2016 were included in a qualitative analysis across studies. The procedure included formulation of research questions, searching and screening of studies according to inclusion/exclusion criteria, description of study characteristics, appraisal, and synthesis of results.Conclusions: Challenges exist for identifying clear learning goals and assessments for interdisciplinary education in engineering (vision). Most pedagogy for interdisciplinary learning is designed to promote collaborative teamwork requiring organization and team management. Our review suggests that developing interdisciplinary skills, knowledge, and values needs sound pedagogy and teaming experiences that provide students with authentic ways of engaging in interdisciplinary practice (teaching). Furthermore, there is a limited understanding of what resources hinder the development of engineering programs designed to support interdisciplinarity (support).

The importance of social media for today’s youth often elicits teachers to explore educational use of these media. However, many teachers appear to struggle with the tension between possible pedagogical use and the tempting distraction of this technology. The current literature review aims to present a synthesis of conditions and outcomes relevant for a well-considered, evidence-based use of social media, and teacher professional development. A conceptual model consisting of intended curriculum (school level), implemented curriculum (teacher level) and attained curriculum (student level) guided the research questions. The review included 271 articles, which were analysed with framework synthesis. Ambiguous results and poor quality of studies often hindered clear statements about conditions and outcomes regarding social media in the classroom. Nonetheless, reported factors include school culture, attitude towards social media, support, teacher professional development, learning goals and a clear position in the curriculum. Considerations and advice for educational practice were formulated.

Increasingly higher education programs are made learner centred and flexible to face societal changes. Challenge-based learning (CBL) is an educational concept shaping these open and flexible programs. This article aims to articulate a framework for analysing CBL characteristics within and between study components in academic curricula. It contributes to a detailed conceptualisation of CBL and clarity on what CBL implementations consist of. The dimensions and indicators of the framework reflect points of attention for research and evaluation of CBL design and implementation. We argue for variety in CBL characteristics between study components or curricula. Furthermore, we point out how this conceptualisation of CBL opens for research into designing and teaching for multiple domains, and how it contributes to an identification of commonly agreed characteristics of CBL. Recent CBL projects are referenced as an illustration of the approach. The detailed conceptualisation informs debate and development in a nascent field of research.

In engineering education laboratories serve as experiential learning aimed at engaging students. The past decades saw an increased use of online laboratories, including virtual and remote labs. Remote labs, providing online interfaces to physical labs, allow students to conduct experiments with real-world equipment anywhere and at any time. However, this advantage challenges active student engagement. Little evidence is available on effective pedagogies for student engagement in remote labs. This paper aims to identify how a remote lab assignment based on active learning pedagogy in higher engineering education supports student engagement, with the overarching aim to promote students’ transfer skills from theory to practice. Our research question, “What impact does an active learning pedagogy have on students’ engagement with a remote lab?“, was answered with a case study of two courses on systems and control in higher engineering education. Data included digital traces, course evaluations, interviews, and observations. Students reported how remote labs, to be used anywhere at any time, require self-regulation and scheduling of experiments. However, accompanying open-ended lab assignments encouraged students to engage with the lab and the theoretical content of the course by creating a ‘need-to-know.’ Our results furthermore suggest the need for a structured arrangement of open-ended lab assignment, lab preparation, teamwork supporting peer learning and discussion, progress meetings focused on feedback and formative assessment, and reports focused on reflection. Engagement can be strengthened by support for students before and during the experiments, clear signposting about the experiment and lab set-up, and pre-structuring of lab activities.