Handbook of Design in Educational Technology

4 Design-Based Research—Designing as Research

Peter Reimann

1. Introduction

Design-based research (DBR) is usually introduced as a research methodology, not a design methodology; this chapter looks at DBR primarily from a design perspective. As such, DBR can be seen in the tradition of participatory design, as a design method that incorporates strong involvement of the end user.

DBR is increasingly applied in educational software projects. This is because it is seen as helpful in understanding some of the “deep” problems of learning, such as bringing about conceptual change, and in shedding light on the processes through which technology gets interpreted and appropriated by teachers and students. Studies show that adoption of technology-supported ...