Design-Based Research or Formative Design

A brief summary of Design-Based Research

Design-based research, also known as formative design research in academic literacy circles, is a relatively new methodology with a goal to reduce the chasm that endures between research and practice. It is much like a well-planned journey, informed by road maps, or literature and theory, with modifications made during the trip for unexpected detours. It is often associated with a pragmatic epistemology associated with Dewey and James, and centers on improving practice to overcome real world problems. It is iterative in nature, inclusive of mixed methods, and identifies factors that positively or negatively affect the intervention (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012; Duke & Mallette, 2011; Gelfuso & Dennis, 2013; Ivey & Broaddus, 2013; Reinking & Bradley, 2008).

Theory and literature provide the road map for the research, while also elucidating the value of the research question. The goal, often to reach the specific destination of increased learning, is informed by literature, but also by authentic practice with teachers and researchers working collaboratively to implement an intervention. The collaboration between teacher and researcher often separates this methodology from action research (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012; Gelfuso & Dennis, 2013; Reinking & Bradley, 2008). In design-based research, teachers are often in the role of valuable informant and the researcher is a participant-observer (Reinking & Bradley, 2008). Together, teachers and researchers create a road map or plan with an intervention to improve practice, test the intervention, collect and analyze data, and modify the intervention. These modifications could be considered detours as the teacher and researcher attend to the conditions in the current context and after careful data collection and analysis, decide on an alternate route to explore new possibilities. As these phases repeat, practioners and researchers have opportunities to use professional judgment, based on their data collection and analysis.

The process “leave(s) open possibilities,” (Ivey & Broaddus, 2007, p. 515) through the iterative nature, to examine an intervention in a specific context and move beyond the initial intervention towards a modified intervention to investigate new avenues to improve practice, while recognizing and honoring the complexities involved in teaching and learning (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012; Duke & Mallette, 2011; Ivey & Broaddus, 2007). Thus, the teacher and researcher are responsive to the road conditions, or the “panoply of variables ” (Duke & Mallette, 2011, p. 193) in educational settings. Detours are made by the teacher and researcher based on the professional judgment, data collection, and data analysis of the current context and the plethora of variables inherent in that context. In contrast, some argue that experimental designs devalue the professional judgment of practioners (Duke and Mallette, 2011; Reinking & Bradley, 2008). While some suggests that researchers’ intimate involvement as participant-observer in solving the problem may lead to bias, others argue that the insider view provides a legitimacy that is otherwise missing in research (Anderson & Shattuck ,2012; Duke & Mallett, 2011).

Just as travelers often collect a large number of souvenirs on a long journey, researchers in design-based research frequently collect a large amount of data, qualitative and quantitative, over an extended period of time, that is sometimes left unanalyzed (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012; Reinking & Bradley, 2008). Ethnographic data situates the researcher in the particular context, providing a well-defined lens into the context. As data is triangulated, systematic data analysis throughout the journey is necessary to inform decision making that leads to detours that support attainment of the desired pedagogical goal. Frequent data analysis exposes both positive and negative effects of the intervention so interventions may be adapted or discontinued (Ivey & Broaddus, 2007; Reinking & Bradley, 2008). The triangulation of data, collected over time, adds to the rigor of design-based research.

Challenges remain in the area of design-based research. While design-based research is gaining acceptance in academia, the resistance of governmental agencies to acknowledge the rigor of the method limits the fuel, or funding, to execute the research. A lack of common language also creates a challenge when describing design-based, or formative design, research. From a recent classroom teacher perspective and my work with cooperating teachers and pre-service teachers, I would also argue that increased accountability that links high stakes assessments and teacher evaluations may hinder efforts to conduct design-based research in authentic contexts.

References

Anderson, T., & Shattuck, J. (2012). Design-based research: A decade of progress in education research? Educational Researcher, 41(16), 16-25.

Duke, N. K., & Mallette, M. H. (2011). Literacy research methodologies / edited by Nell K. Duke, Marla H. Mallette. New York : Guilford Press, c2011.

Gelfuso, A., & Dennis, D. (2013). Getting reflection off the page: The challenges of developing support structures for pre-service teacher reflection. Teaching and Teacher Education, 38, 1-11.

Ivey, G., & Broaddus, K. (2007). A formative experiment investigating literacy engagement among adolescent Latina/o students just beginning to read, write, and speak English, Reading Research Quarterly, 42(4), 512-545.

Reinking, D., & Bradley, B. (2008). Formative and design experiments

Reinking, D., & Bradley, B. A. (2008). On formative and design experiments : approaches to language and literacy research / David Reinking, Barbara Bradley. New York : Teachers College Press, c2008.