A systematic literature review of classroom observation protocols and their adequacy foe engineering education in active learning environments

This research discusses the characteristics of a global set of Classroom Observation Protocols (COPr) to uncover their design goals and assess the value propositions for Engineering Education (EE) in active learning environments. To achieve the research purpose, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method was chosen, based on a process-oriented model that covered a set of 23 global databases, from January 2000 to December 2020. The search and screening process retained 109 literature sources for deep study, after quality assessment. The research results revealed the approaches of 111 classroom observation applications and 68 different protocols. The upward trend of new protocols and applications in the last 6 years identified by the study has resulted in considerable information overload for practitioners. The authors address this by analysing the 68 protocols, characterising them and listing the strengths of each one aligned with the EE context. They achieve this goal by applying a systematic 4-category and 5-dimension framework to compare the protocols. The bibliometric data also reveals how the observation strategies in active learning environments incorporate Engineering disciplines in several applications over time, with 82% of the total.