Design-Based Research is one terminology use to describe
a research methodology based on the influential works of Brown (1992)
and Collins (1992). Examples of other terminologies used to describe research
methodologies that shared common characteristics are design studies, design
experiments, and development research. In the seminal works of Brown (1992)
and Collins (1992), ¡°design experiments¡± were used. 
Brown (as cited in Sandoval, & Bell, 2004) described
her evolving approach to ¡°design experimentation¡± as an effort to bridge
laboratory studies of learning with studies of complex instructional
interventions. In her research program devoted to the study of learning
in a classroom environment that was rich, complex, and constantly changing,
Brown (1992) conducted what Collins (1992) referred to as ¡°design experiments¡±
and addressed the theoretical and methodological challenges in doing
so.
Collins (1992) argued for the need to develop a design
science of education, similar to aeronautics or artificial intelligence,
to determine how different learning-environment designs affect dependent
variables in teaching and learning. The goal was to construct a more
systematic methodology for conducting design experiments that would
involve working with teachers as co-investigators and help develop design
theory to guide implementation of innovations.
With the dismal record of educational research in yielding
discernable benefits and impact on practitioners, coupled with calls for
educational research to close the ¡°credibility gap¡± (Levin & O¡¯Donnell,
1999), develop more ¡°usable knowledge¡± (Lagemann, 2002), and be more socially
responsible (Reeves & Herrington, 2005), a search for a research methodology
that would help address these issues ensued and many deemed ¡°Design-Based
Research¡±, aka ¡°design experiment¡±, as a, if not the, methodology that
would fit this bill. The Design-Based Research Collective (2003) chose
to use the term ¡°Design-Based Research¡± instead of ¡°design experiments¡±
to avoid invoking mistaken identification with experimental design, studies
of designers and trial teaching methods.
Brown, A. L. (1992). Design experiments: Theoretical
and methodological challenges in
creating complex interventions. Journal of Learning
Sciences, 2(2), 141-178.
Collins, A. (1992). Toward a design science of education.
In E. Scanlon & T. O’Shea
(Eds.), New directions in educational technology
(pp. 15-22). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Lagemann, E. C. (2002). Usable knowledge in education.
Retrieved March 20, 2007 from
http://www.spencer.org/publications/usable_knowledge_report_ecl_a.htm#_ftnref13
Levin, J. R., & O’Donnell, A. M. (1999).
What to do about educational research’s
credibility gaps? Issues in Education, 5,
177-229.
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.
Sandoval, W. A., & Bell, P. (2004). Design-based
research methods for studying learning
in context: Introduction. Educational Psychologist,
39(4), 199-201.
The Design-Based Research Collective. (2003). Design-Based
Research: An Emerging
Paradigm for Educational Inquiry. Educational Researcher,
32(1), 5-8.
