It is reported that engineering for play-based settings is a new body of knowledge under debate and contradictory. Many studies show how play-based settings are full of engineering possibilities for young children, whilst others have identified missed engineering teaching possibilities. In order to better understand the research, this paper answers the questions, ‘How is engineering knowledge being constructed through research into play-based settings?’, and ‘What do the results show for practice and future engineering research for preschool settings?’ To answer these questions, a critique of those studies which focused on engineering education in play-based settings was undertaken. By examining existing studies in relation to the study designs and the results, this paper reports on how categories of engineering knowledge were established and how knowledge was constructed for engineering education for play-based settings. Using cultural-historical theory, the results show that studies of play-based setting have primarily been guided by practices from only some engineering professions, knowledge construction is based on both pre-defined and emergent categories, and research has tended to focus mostly on constructing (e.g. blocks). Gendered engineering knowledge was also identified, suggesting only partial understandings of engineering education evident. The critique not only identified knowledge construction that positively contributes to scholarship but also found gaps in what was being studied, thereby contributing to research by cautioning against full acceptance of the existing analytical concepts in the literature and suggesting that the building of a broader set of analytical categories for future research is needed.

据报道，基于游戏的环境工程是一个新的知识体系，存在争议和矛盾。许多研究表明，以游戏为基础的环境如何为幼儿提供工程学的可能性，而其他研究则发现了错过的工程学教学的可能性。为了更好地理解研究，本文回答了以下问题：“如何通过研究以游戏为基础的环境来构建工程知识？”以及“结果对学前环境的实践和未来工程研究有何启示？” 为了回答这些问题，对那些专注于游戏环境中的工程教育的研究进行了批判。通过检查与研究设计和结果相关的现有研究，本文报告了如何建立工程知识的类别以及如何为基于游戏的环境的工程教育构建知识。使用文化历史理论，结果表明基于游戏的环境的研究主要以仅来自某些工程专业的实践为指导，知识构建基于预先定义的和新兴的类别，研究往往主要集中在构建（例如块）。还确定了性别工程知识，表明对工程教育只有部分理解。批评不仅确定了对学术有积极贡献的知识构建，而且还发现了所研究内容的差距，