ABSTRACT
Design-based research is frequently traced back to the work of Ann Brown (1992) and Alan Collins (1992). Since then, many researchers have employed this research methodology to investigate learning in context (e.g., Cobb, 2000; Lehrer & Schauble, 2000; Simon, 2000). Design-based research methodology is distinguished from traditional experimental research in its treatment of the participants, learners, their localities, and their communities. It addresses problems in real-world settings and has two primary goals: to develop knowledge and to develop solutions. This involves empirical investigations conducted in naturalistic contexts, many of which are designed and systematically changed by the researcher. As such, it can offer researchers and practitioners the opportunity to generate evidence-based claims about learning and to produce interventions that can be readily useable. To this end, Cobb, diSessa, Lehrer, and Schauble (2003, p. 9) affirmed:
Prototypically, design experiments entail both “engineering” particular forms of learning and systematically studying those forms of learning within the context defined by the means of supporting them. This designed context is subject to test and revision, and the successive iterations that result play a role similar to that of systematic variation in experiment.
