Conjectures, Cycles and Contexts: A Systematic Review of Design-based Research in Engineering Education

Abstract

Background: Design-based research frameworks have become more widely embraced by education researchers since . Ann Brown (1992 first suggested design-based research as a means to move research about learning from the laboratory to the classroom setting. Design-based research does not imply particular methods, but rather is an epistemological approach to carrying out research projects focused on the design of an innovation. This shift in epistemological outcome shifts how researchers consider evidence gathering and analysis. So how are engineering education researchers using and reporting on design-based research? Purpose: The design of educational innovations should be situated in context and balance both theory and practice. In this paper, we summarize research in engineering education that has used a design-based research approach. We first describe design-based research from a theoretical and epistemological perspective and then present its use thus far in engineering education settings. Our goal is to suggest it as a useful model for undertaking engineering education research that advances knowledge about the design of learning environments. Scope: Our analysis is situated in significant features of design-based research (Kelly, 2004;Sandoval, 2014). Our review process began with systematically searching for articles and then coding them for the features of design-based research. We have coded a set of engineering education and design-based research articles to summarize the contexts, conjectures, and design cycles. Discussion/Conclusions: We found articles across K-12 and higher education settings. The articles focused on designing models and tools for engineering education including curriculum, tasks, and frameworks. First, design-based research in engineering education includes conjectures about engineering disciplinary practices, problem-based learning, and affective aspects of students' learning. Second, cycles of design inform improvement and theory development. Design-based research is still emerging in engineering education but has potential for building knowledge and developing resources grounded in practice.

The Pengenbangan

“…Fun physics learning makes students active in learning so that learning is not boring (Nurtanto et al, 2018). During product manufacturing activities, students actively build their knowledge and understanding (Hjalmarson & Parsons, 2021). Learning activities through science, technology, and engineering practices can stimulate students' problem-solving abilities (Norlaili et al, 2022).…”

Aligning classroom assessment with engineering practice: A design‐based research study of a two‐stage exam with authentic assessment

“…Importantly, just as Vincenti (1990) argues that the engineering design process produces new theoretical knowledge unique to engineering, DBR can provide new theoretical knowledge unique to learning and instruction. Indeed, Hjalmarson and Parsons (2021) argue that the epistemological differences between DBR and experimental or quasi-experimental education studies are akin to the fundamental differences between engineering and science. Kelly (2004) describes a method's argumentative grammar as "the logic that guides the use of a method and that supports reasoning about its data" (p. 118).…”

Navigating the interlanguage space: Chinese international students’ perceptions of a virtual chemistry laboratory course

“…Linguistic studies, for example, have been especially animated by movements to de-colonize higher education in the wake of high-profile social justice issues that have arisen in the past three years (Toohey et al, 2020). Research in learning design, too, has become especially salient with the global shift to remote teaching under COVID-19, the circumstances of which have opened numerous lines of inquiry into how different sub-populations, including ELLs, engage in on-line learning (Hafner, 2019;Hjalmarson and Parsons, 2021). The present study seeks to integrate recent insights gained across the fields of K-12 education, linguistic studies, and learning design to illuminate the learning experiences of a group of ELLs navigating a learning environment that is technology-mediated, not in their first language, and inquiry-driven.…”