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What is
Design-based Research?
Definition
While there is an ongoing debate about what constitutes
design-based research (Van den Akker & et al., in press), the definition
of design-based research proposed by Wang and Hannafin (2005) captures
its critical characteristics:
a systematic but flexible methodology aimed to improve
educational practices through iterative analysis, design, development,
and implementation, based on collaboration among researchers and practitioners
in real-world settings, and leading to contextually-sensitive design
principles and theories (p. 6)
Main characteristics of design-based research
Drawing on the literature, Wang and Hannafin (2005)
proposed five basic characteristics of design-based research: ¡°Pragmatic,
Grounded, Interactive, iterative and flexible, Integrative, and Contextual¡±
(p. 7).
First, design-based research is pragmatic because its
goals are solving current real-world problems by designing and enacting
interventions as well as extending theories and refining design principles
(Design-Based Research Collective, 2003; Van den Akker & et al., in
press). 
In traditional
educational research, existing theories are usually tested through artificial
treatments in controlled contexts. People engaged in these experimental
approaches hope to be able to design instruction based on the principles
that the theory and associated experimental results support (Edelson,
2002). In design-based research, however, the goal is not testing whether
or not the theory works (van den Akker, 1999). Rather, both design and
theory are mutually developed through the research process. Therefore,
researchers use design to enact and refine theories continuously (Edelson,
2002) so that the theories ¡°do real work¡± in practice (Cobb, Confrey,
diSessa, Lehrer, and Shauble, 2003, p. 10) and eventually lead to substantial
change in educational practice (van den Akker, 1999).
Second, design based research is grounded in both theory
and the real-world context (Wang & Hannafin, 2005).
Theory is
both the foundation and the outcome of design-based research; design-based
research has a ¡°theory-driven nature¡± (p. 9) and theory is continuously
developed and elaborated throughout the research process acting as a framework
for the enacted innovations (Van den Akker & et al., in press). In addition,
design-based research is conducted in real-world contexts replete with
the complexities, dynamics and limitations of authentic practice. The
way design-based research is conducted is fundamentally different from
laboratory experiments that deal with a single variable, control all other
factors and isolate subjects and situation from the real world (Collins,
1999; Collins, Joseph & Bielaczyc, 2004; Van den Akker & et al., in press;
Wang & Hannafin, 2005). The theories of traditional research are metaphorically
tossed over the walls of schools and other contexts with little resultant
improvement. Design-based research, by virtue of being conducted in real
world context in collaboration with practitioners, is much more likely
to lead to effective application.
Third, in terms of research process, design-based research
is interactive, iterative and flexible.
Design-based research requires interactive collaboration
among researchers and practitioners. Without such collaboration, interventions
are unlikely to effect changes in the real world context (DBRC, 2003;
Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver, 2005; Wang & Hannafin, 2005).
Also, design-based research usually takes a long period of time because
theories and interventions tend to be continuously developed and refined
through an iterative design process from analysis to design to evaluation
and redesign (Bannan-Ritland, 2003; Design-Based Research Collective,
2003; Van den Akker & et al., in press; Wang & Hannafin, 2005).
This ongoing recursive nature of the design process also allows greater
flexibility than do traditional experimental approaches.
Fourth, design-based research is integrative because
researchers need to integrate a variety of research methods and approaches
from both qualitative and quantitative research paradigms, depending on
the needs of the research.
The integrative use of multiple methods in the research
process results in data from multiple sources, which serves to confirm
and enhance the ¡°credibility¡± of findings (Wang & Hannafin, 2005,
p. 8). So called ¡°gold standard¡± experiments such as those used in medical
research cannot be used in most educational contexts. Instead, design-based
researchers utilize multiple mixed methods over time to build up a body
of evidence that supports the theoretical principles underlying a specific
innovation as well as refines the innovation itself in situ.
Fifth, design research is contextualized because research
results are ¡°connected with both the design process through which results
are generated and the setting where the research is conducted¡± (Wang &
Hannafin, 2005, p. 11).
It is imperative that design-based researchers keep
detailed records during the design research process concerning how the
design outcomes (e.g., principles) have worked or have not worked, how
the innovation has been improved, and what kind of changes have been
made. Through this documentation, other researchers and designers who
are interested in those findings can examine them in relation to their
own context and needs. To increase the ¡°adaptability¡± of the findings
in the new settings, guidance on how to apply those findings is also
required (Wang & Hannafin, 2005, p.12).
Outcomes
As explained above, design - based
research produces both theories and practical educational interventions
as its outcomes. Edelson (2002) proposed three kinds of theories that
can be generated from the design:
- Domain Theories
Domain theories describe learning situations involving
students, teachers, learning environments and their interactions.
Edelson (2002) argued that theories about context and outcomes are
some of the theories that design research generates.
- Design Methodologies
Design methodologies are prescriptive in nature,
serving as guidelines for how to implement a set of designs, what
kind of expertise is required and who should provide the expertise.
As a result of the iterative design process, researchers also continuously
refine design interventions to make them more applicable to practice.
The forms of interventions vary from concrete artifacts (e.g., tools)
to learning activities and curricula (CDBR, 2003). These interventions
are more usable and applicable because they are developed and enacted
based upon theories that are elaborated and revised during the design
process.
References
Bannan-Ritland, B. (2003). The role of design in research:
The integrative learning design framework. Educational Researcher,
32(1), 21-24.
Brown, A. (1992). Design experiments: Theoretical
and methodological challenges in creating complex interventions in classroom
settings. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2(2), 141-178.
Cobb, P., Confrey, J., deSessa, A., Lehrer, R., &
Schauble, L. (2003). Design experiments in educational research. Educational
Researcher, 32(1), 9-13.
Collins, A. (1992). Toward a design science of education.
In E. Scanlon & T. O’Shea (Eds.), New directions in educational
technology (pp. 15-22). Berlin: Springer Verlag.
Collins, A., Joseph, D., & Bielaczyc, K. (2004).
Design research: Theoretical and methodological issues. Journal
of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 15-42.
Design-Based Research Collective. (2003). Design-based
research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational
Researcher, 32(1), 5-8.
Edelson, D. C. (2002). Design Research: What we learn
when we engage in design. Journal of the Learning Sciences,
11(1), 105-121.
Reeves, T. C., Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2005).
Design research: A socially responsible approach to instructional technology
research in higher education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education,
16(2), 97-116.
Reigeluth, C. M., & Frick, F. W. (1999). Formative
research: A methodology for creating and improving design theories.
In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional-design theories and models
(Vol. II, pp. 633-651). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Van den Akker, J. (1999). Principles and methods of
development research. In J. van den Akker, N. Nieveen, R. M. Branch,
K. L. Gustafson & T. Plomp (Eds.), Design methodology and developmental
research in education and training (pp. 1-14). The Netherlands:
Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Van den Akker, J., Gravemeiger, K., McKenney, S. &
Nieveen, N. (in press). Introducing Educational Design Research. In
Van den Akker, J., Gravemeiger, K., McKenney, S. & Nieveen, N. (in
press) (Eds.), Educational design research. (pp. 1-8). London:Routledge.
Wang, F., & Hannafin, M. J. (2005). Design-based
research and technology-enhanced learning environments. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 5-23.
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