DBR text

Design based research, otherwise known as ‘educational design research’ or ‘development research’ is an iterative framework that lends itself to the field of educational research (Anderson and Shattuck, 2012). It fosters collaborative design and development of new artefacts and tools to further an existing theory or develop new theories (Kennedy-Clark, 2013; McKenny and Reeves, 2013; 2021), helps to identify new insights through developing prototypes or pilots (Akker et al, 2011) or explores the testing of an intervention in the context of practice (Anderson and Shattuck, 2012). 

One of the main motivations behind using design based research for this study, is that it makes the learning more relevant for classroom practice (Riemann, 2011) and because it’s situated in a real educational context it provides a sense of validity to the research with results can be effectively used to assess, inform and improve practice (Anderson and Shattuck, 2012; p.16). Design based research views the process of designing artefacts as reflection in action, similar to action research, but instead of being the work of an individual practitioner, it is a result of constructivist processes with designs being developed around joint problem solving (Dorst and Dijkhuis, 1995). Design based research also brings directly together both researchers and participants to collaborate in the design process to create the new artefacts and understandings, but also offers a series of approaches, rather than a single one, allowing for flexibility in the research design (The Design Based Research Collective, 2003; Barab and Squire, YEAR). Design based research can be conducted several ways, either as cumulative and iterative cycles, the combination of several studies together to identify varied insights, or explore in depth each key feature to answer the research question, rather than focus on a single variable (Van den Akker, 2006). Exploring specific features in depth allows for retrospective analysis across all findings of a study to provide a more empirical grounding for the analysis (Van der Akker et al, 2006; Bohman, 2012). In this respect this research study will be conducted in phases as a series of studies to explore the full process of pedagogy in teaching and learning, such as pedagogy as planned, pedagogy as enacted and pedagogy as experienced (Curtin etc, YEAR; Billet, ???). The preparation phase, as typical in design based research will be the initial problem identification as informed through the literature review (Anderson and Shattuck, 2012; p.17) and through the pre-assessment of participant knowledge prior to the implementation, then this will inform and be followed by the collaborative processes of knowledge construction, through pedagogy as planned for a lesson, pedagogy as enacted in the classroom, and an in-depth retrospective post reflection study of pedagogy as experienced. Design based research studies always involve some type of designed intervention as the output (Anderson and Shattuck, 2012; p.21), however this study intends to additionally explore the development of teachers knowledge within the pedagogical process, therefore it will be jointly supported by a similar iterative framework.

Similarly, Anderson and Shattuck (2012, p.21) explored a decade of research articles relating to design based research and found that over half of these studies had progressed through three or more iterative cycles.

Collins, Joseph and Bielaczyc (2004) highlighted that DBR projects often produce a large amount of data as they progress through the various iterations.

Initial interviews build a rapport early on participants, something that will likely prove useful as they develop into co-researchers.