Electronic Research Notebooks in the Educational Setting: A Scoping Review

Electronic research notebooks (ERNs) are used under a variety of names: electronic laboratory notebooks, digital laboratory notebooks, electronic field notebooks, and electronic engineering logbooks, to name a few. ERNs are common in industry and increasingly common in academia. This scoping review explores the literature describing the various uses and application of ERNs in an educational and teaching context. Using a common search string and eight indices and databases—Scopus, Web of Science, Engineering Village, ERIC, PubMed, LISTA, Scifinder-n, and ASEE—the study identified 38 articles that describe educational and teaching uses of ERNs. The types of ERNs used, the fields in which they were used, and the educational level of their use are explored. Furthermore, the scoping review discusses common advantages and disadvantages of ERNs with respect to paper notebooks as identified by the literature and highlights issues of equity and access that ERNs implicate. Finally, directions for future studies and actions are offered.