Design Research: Theoretical and Methodological Issues

TLDR

Design experiments, introduced in 1992, are formative research methods used to test and refine educational designs, and the term design research has since been applied to this work. The article outlines the goals of design research, its relationship to other methodologies, and provides guidelines for future practice. Design research is demonstrated through two distinct examples, illustrating how it can be carried out.

Abstract

The term "design experiments" was introduced in 1992, in articles by Ann Brown (1992) and Allan Collins (1992). Design experiments were developed as a way to carry out formative research to test and refine educational designs based on principles derived from prior research. More recently the term design research has been applied to this kind of work. In this article, we outline the goals of design research and how it is related to other methodologies. We illustrate how design research is carried out with two very different examples. And we provide guidelines for how design research can best be carried out in the future.