Background This theory/methods paper describes a lesser-known research methodology, called the Systematic Mapping Review (SMR), which is currently under-utilized in engineering education. The SMR provides researchers with a useful approach for defining, synthesizing, and implementing today’s rapidly developing literatures located within the interdisciplinary field of engineering education. Purpose The purpose of this article is to build a case for the use of the SMR as an evidence synthesis methodology in the rapidly evolving and interdisciplinary field of engineering education. Method To build the case for use of SMRs in engineering education, a systematic scoping review was conducted using online digital education research databases to locate literature related to Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) and SMRs in the field of engineering education. Search results were systematically analyzed and only relevant literature was included. Trends in the use of SLRs since their introduction and the current status of the use of SMRs in engineering education were descriptively analyzed. Examples of existing SMRs in engineering education, which exist primarily within the subdiscipline of software engineering, are presented to emphasize and describe their benefits in engineering education more broadly. Conclusion Since the formal introduction of SLRs to the field of engineering education in 2014 by Borrego and colleagues, increasing trends in SLR use and impact were observed. While the goal of SLRs is to answer a clearly formulated (set of) research question(s), the goal of SMRs is to define and describe the broader landscape of existing scholarly research on a topic. In this way, SMRs may be particularly useful for defining the scope of follow-on SLRs in engineering education research.