Design Based Research

According to Bereiter (2002), design based research is defined by its goal not by methodology or the research methods used.  

Bereiter emphasizes the focus on sustained innovation. The awareness of potential has, Bereiter states, been the important drivers in the innovation of the automobile, airplane and computer. Innovation in education is however characterized by another complexity. In education, the potential of innovation is social and personal changes and it is more difficult to imagine these kind of changes than the potentials of the automobile. However, only rather clear visions can provide the essential drivers for sustained innovation. So, it is the challenge and part of the explanation why design based research has been more dominant in medicine and engineering than in education.

As mentioned above, Bereiter defines the approach by the purpose: sustained innovative development. Furthermore, he adds four characteristics constituting design research.Firstly, the collaboration with designers is mentioned as a constituting principle. Second, Bereiter points at intervention as an essential part of the researchers work. The design researcher acts within the context and therefore crosses the traditional boundary between observation and intervention. Third, the goal of design research is to solve authentic problems in a concrete context focusing on both the positive and negative consequences of the changes. Fourth, emergent goals drive design research in a process characterized by shared visions in a dynamic community focusing on the potentials.

Reference

Bereiter, C. (2002). Design Research for Sustained Innovation. Cognitive Studies, Bulletin of the Japanese Cognitive Science Society, 9(3), 321-327.