ABSTRACT
A central and enduring goal of education is to provide learning experiences that are useful beyond the specific conditions of initial learning. Issues of the generalization of learning are particularly important in design experiments. For example, in design experiments, researchers typically use a complex artifact (often a computer software tool) and then are interested in how learners’ interactions with the artifact will influence their attempts to solve problems without the artifact. Furthermore, the generation of these creative and innovative artifacts is often aimed at helping students to develop robust understandings that will generalize to decision making and problem solving outside the classroom. Finally, information about the specific ways in which students are generalizing what they have learned in local iteration (x) of a design experiment can inform the action of redesign as the design experiment progresses to iteration (x + 1).
