Using the Design-Based Research Approach to Develop and Evaluate a New Study Module about Knowledge Acquisition in Science

Abstract

The research approach design-based research has become more popular in recent years, also in the field of science didactics. Representatives of this field usually explicitly distinguish themselves from evaluation. In contrast, we have formed a synthesis of both research approaches for our development and evaluation project. By conducting the development and evaluation according to a design-based research process, we are able to take advantage of the added value of the design-based research approach. This article describes the philosophy of our research with the image of the didactic engineer and gives an insight into the implementation through the concrete description of our project, the development and evaluation of a new study module on knowledge acquisition in science for pre-service teachers. Finally, we discuss the added value of the elements of design-based Research compared to a pure evaluation and where the limits lie regarding the claims of design-based research.