Engineering through distance education in the time of the fourth industrial revolution: Reflections from three decades of peer reviewed studies. Issue 4 (23rd November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kocdar, Serpil; Bozkurt, Aras; Goru Dogan, Tulay
• Other Names: Sunar Ayse S. guestEditor.; Leon‐Urrutia Manuel guestEditor.; White Su guestEditor.; Uhomoibhi James guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Computer applications in engineering education. Volume 29:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 931
• Page End: 949
• Publication Date: 2020-11-23
• Subjects: distance education -- educational technology -- engineering -- online learning -- open and distance learning; Engineering -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Periodicals; Engineering -- Computer-assisted instruction -- Periodicals; 620
• DOI: 10.1002/cae.22367
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1061-3773

Abstract

Abstract: In this current era of the fourth industrial revolution, the fifth generation of distance education has held out hopes of unique opportunities for engineering. With the aim of investigating the field of engineering through distance education, this study conducted a systematic review involving text‐mining and social network analysis to examine 120 publications on this topic. The time trend analysis found that there has been a steadily increasing interest in engineering through distance education. Analysis of subject areas revealed that a considerable amount of the publications on engineering through distance education falls under the social sciences subject area, suggesting that there is a need for more interdisciplinary studies. In examining the geographical distribution of the publications, it was observed that most contributions come from the United States, a developed country that has invested heavily in educating students through distance education. The research patterns identified through text‐mining and social network analysis revealed three major themes: (I) technology‐enhanced distance engineering education, (II) e‐learning and m‐learning, and (III) virtual and remote labs.