1. Agnieszka (Aga) Palalas, Ed.D.
apalalas@georgebrown.ca
March 2013 1

2. 1. DBR overview
2. MELLES case study
3. DBR implications, limitations and
recommendations
4. Conclusions
5. Discussion
2

3.  “Design experiments” > design-based research = design
research = DBR = EDR = researching innovative educational
designs in their naturalistic settings
(Brown, 1992; Collins, 1992)
 A systematic but flexible methodology aimed to improve
educational practices through iterative analysis, design,
development, and implementation, based on collaboration
among researchers and practitioners in real-world settings, and
leading to contextually-sensitive design principles and
theories.
(Wang & Hannafin, 1999, p. 7)
3

4. Informed Exploration Enactment Evaluation: Evaluation:
Local Impact Broader Impact
4

5. (Van den Akker, 1999, p. 9)
5

6. (Plomp, 2009, p. 19)
6

7.  Practice  research
 Drawing on engineering and technological research
 Focusing on design, construction, implementation
and adoption of learning solutions
 Process focused and iterative
 Interventionist: applied solutions to real
educational problems
 Contextual: real people, context, and cultural
background, in-situ investigation/evaluation
 “Action Research on steroids”

8.  Applied
 Participatory
 Collaborative
 Utility oriented
 Theory driven
 Unifying theory and practice
 Evolving
 Systemic

9.  Rich feedback
 Responsive
 Flexible
 Agile
BUT
 Multileveled and multifaceted
 Complex
 Messy

10.  Co-developing theory and design in-situ
 Testing in real-world learning situations involving
all actors/end users
 With people for people
 End-users as partners (active co-creators)
 Combination of motivation and efforts
 Students as researchers
 Diverse evaluation perspectives
“We are moving away from a passive information age towards an
active participation age” (Farmer & Gruba, 2006, p. 149)

11.  Diverse expertise of practitioners and researchers
 Collaboration and support
 Network of colleagues
◦ Flexible dialogue from whenever
◦ Online platform and tools (e.g., Wiggio, Collaborate)
 Dynamic feedback from actors
◦ at milestones and agile

12. Context is king
 Evolution of theory
 Evolution of practice

13.  Build foundational understanding of m-learning
trends and needs
 Gain insight into learner m-learning behaviours
 Generate inspiration and ideas for appropriate
design
 Define what functionality is most critical
 Improve the usability of infrastructure
 Inform future design solutions
 Provide professional development
 Raise awareness and understanding of m-learning

14. What are the characteristics of an effective, pedagogically-sound MELLES for
students’ mobile devices, through which adult ESP students in a community college
enhance listening skills, while expanding their learning outside the classroom?
 Evolution of theory
• MELLES design principles
• Ecological Constructivism
 Evolution of practice
• MELLES prototype
• Model for replication
 DBR application for educational context
(Palalas, 2012)
14

15. 15

16.  Inadequate aural skills instruction - college ESP
students
 Purpose: MELL educational intervention to enhance
effectiveness and appeal of ESP
◦ augment in-class learning
◦ out-of-class language practice
◦ students’ own mobile devices
◦ replicable and reusable design principles
16

17. What are the characteristics of an effective,
pedagogically-sound learning object MELLES for
students’ mobile devices, through which adult ESP
students in a community college enhance listening skills,
while expanding their learning outside the classroom?
17

18. • Bannan, B. (2009)
• Barab, S., & Squire, K. (2004)
• Brown, A. (1992)
• Dede, C. (2004)
• Herrington, J., McKenney, S., Reeves, T., &
Oliver, R. (2007)
• Kelly, A. (2009)
• Plomp, T. (2009)
• Reeves, T. (2006)
• Van den Akker et al (2006)
• Wang, F., & Hannafin, M. J. (2005)
18

19. 19

20. Critical Elements of Effective Design:
 Pedagogy
 PEDAGOGIC PROCEDURE - How
 CONTENT - What
 CONTEXT - When and Where
 ACTORS - Who
 Technology
 FUNCTIONALITY - How
 TECH SOLUTION – What
 TECH CONTEXT - When and Where
20

21.  Ecological Constructivism
• Social Constructivism + Sociocultural Theory + Ecological
Linguistics
• “the recent metaphor of ecology attempts to capture the
interconnectedness of psychological, social, and
environmental process in SLA” (Lam & Kramsch, 2003, p.144)
• Affordance: “ … a particular property of the environment
that is relevant – for good or ill – to an active, perceiving
organism in that environment” (van Lier, 2000, p. 252)
21

22. 22

23. 23

24. 24

25. (Palalas & Hoven, 2013)
The intervention “embod[ied] specific theoretical claims about teaching and learning,
and reflect[ed] a commitment to understanding the relationships among theory,
designed artifacts, and practice. […] research on specific interventions can contribute
to theories of learning and teaching.”
(Design-Based Research Collective, 2003, p.6)

26.  The scope of DBR
• complexity of the system – breadth
• coordination of research and design activities
• no objective measure of learning
• amount of data
• consensus-reaching and interaction among actors
• intensity
 The role of the researcher
• multifaceted
• conflicting roles
• threats to validity
 Transferability of findings
26

27.  Rigorous data collection/analysis procedures
 Regular communication
 Findings documentation and reporting
 Sound conceptual framework
 Clear deadlines and deliverables
 “Flexible” (academic schedules)
 Solid project management
 Collaborative DBR research team
“If a researcher is intimately involved in the conceptualization, design, development,
implementation, and researching of a pedagogical approach, then ensuring that
researchers can make credible and trustworthy assertions is a challenge”
(Barab & Squire, 2004, p.10)

28.  Project context
 Objectives
 Audience
 Location
 Methods
 Schedule
 Outcomes

29. apalalas@georgebrown.ca
http://mobi-learning.com/
Twitter: @agaiza
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/apalalas
Presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/agaiza
Publications: http://georgebrown.academia.edu/apalalas
29

30.  Bannan, B. (2009). The Integrative Learning Design Framework: An illustrated example from the domain of instructional
technology. In T. Plomp & N. Nieveen (Eds.), An introduction to educational design research (pp. 53-73). SLO: Netherlands
Institute for Curriculum Development.
 Barab, S., & Squire, K. (2004). Design-Based Research: Putting a stake in the ground. The Journal of the Learning Sciences,
13(1), 1-14. doi:10.1207/s15327809jls1301_1
 Brown, A. L. (1992). Design experiments: Theoretical and methodological challenges in creating complex interventions in
classroom settings. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2(2), 141–178.
 Collins, A. (1992). Towards a design science of education. In E. Scanlon and T. O’Shea (Eds.), New directions in educational
technology (pp. 15–22). Berlin: Springer.
 Dede, C. (2004). If Design-Based Research is the answer, what is the question? The Journal of the Instructional Sciences, 13 (1).
 Design-Based Research Collective. (2003). Design-Based Research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational
Researcher, 32(1), 5-8. Retrieved from http://www.designbasedresearch.org/reppubs/DBRC2003.pdf
 Farmer, R., & Gruba, P. (2006). Towards model-driven end-user development in CALL. Computer Assisted Language Learning,
19(2 & 3), 149-191.
 Palalas, A. (2012). Design guidelines for a Mobile-Enabled Language Learning system supporting the development of ESP
listening skills (Doctoral dissertation, Athabasca University). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10791/17
 Palalas, A., & Hoven, D. (2013). Implications of using DBR to investigate the iterative design of a mobile-enabled language
learning system. CALICO
 Plomp, T. (2009). Educational design research: An introduction. In T. Plomp & N. Nieveen (Eds.), An introduction to educational
design research (pp. 9-36). SLO: Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development.
 Reeves, T. (2006). Design research from a technology perspective. In J. van den Akker, K. Gravemeijer, S. McKenney & N.
Nieveen (Eds.), Educational design research: The design, development and evaluation of programs, processes and products (pp.
52-66). New York: Routledge.
 Van den Akker, J. (1999). Principles and Methods of Development Research. In J. van den Akker, R.M. Branch, K. Gustafson, N.
Nieveen, & T. Plomp (Eds.), Design approaches and tools in education and training (pp. 1-14). Boston: Kluwer Academic.
 Wang, F., & Hannafin, M. J. (2005). Design-based research and technology-enhanced learning environments. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 5-23.
30