Description
Educational design research is a genre of inquiry that explicitly aims toward both scientific and practical goals, simultaneously. Theoretical understanding is generated throughout the cyclic process of identifying, developing, implementing and evaluating educational innovations that address real problems in practice. Design research often also contributes to knowledge production among those participating. While such local professional development is viewed in some studies as a fringe benefit, it often constitutes a third, planned goal. In relation to each of these three goals, standards can be identified. Specifically, the quality of educational innovations are measured by how well they address the problem identified, and the degree to which the innovations are usable. Theoretical understanding is considered valuable when reliable and valid insights describe, explain, predict and/or prescribe action in ways that address lacunas in existing scientific knowledge. While professional development can be limited to personal understandings, it is considered particularly worthy when it engenders professional experimentation and visibly contributes to improved performance. The stance taken in this contribution is that (1) the standards to be adhered to must be set in accordance with each goal of the initiative; and that (2) how those standards are adhered to is determined by the resources, research paradigms and especially methods present. The presentation includes several examples from design research studies to demonstrate that it is the goals and paradigms, not actor types (e.g. practitioner researchers), that determine standards in practice-oriented research.| Period | Nov 2013 |
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| Event title | European Association for Practitioner Resaerch on Improving Learning |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Biel/Bienne, SwitzerlandShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |