Reducing Fragmentation in University Pre-Service Teacher Education

We report insights from a design research study in higher education that aims at overcoming pre-service teachers’ experiences of fragmentation in their educational programmes. The design approach started from the assumption that fragmentation could be reduced by initiating and conducting boundary crossing between practices in subject matter and subject matter didactics courses at university. Following this assumption, the design principle of boundary crossing by design(ing) for interlinking subject matter and subject matter didactics (domain-specific pedagogy) was implemented in two subjects in pre-service teacher education at university, one in mathematics and one in English language teaching. The linking between subject matter and subject matter didactics we strive for is two-fold: On the one hand, it requires curricular and organisational dovetailing of the courses involved (boundary crossing by design); on the other hand, it requires a study space where students are urged to try to interlink the courses’ contents in their thinking and acting (boundary crossing by designing). Following this design principle, a nested design approach is developed in which students’ designs of teaching practice is interlocked with the design of courses at university level. In this paper, we illustrate two kinds of findings by empirical examples: a conditional model for the intertwined realisation of the two types of linking, and interlinking strategies as heuristics for the pre-service teachers’ thinking and acting.

Constructing a design framework and design methodology from educational design research on real-world educational technology development

Educational design research (EDR) seeks to contribute to both practice and theory by developing solutions that improve educational practice and generating usable and generalisable knowledge. Most EDR researchers tend to focus on reporting their research contributions to educational practice. Therefore, there is a need for disseminating research that pays more attention to the theoretical contributions of EDR so that those outside a particular EDR project can benefit. This paper focuses on the theoretical contributions, particularly the design framework and design methodological knowledge, of a 6-year EDR enquiry that aimed to develop educational technologies that promote primary school mathematics learning and classroom practice. Informed by the literature and direct experiences of working in collaboration with teachers and various disciplines during this iterative study, a design framework for developing real-world educational technologies and guidelines for conducting EDR are proposed. The design framework highlights four essential aspects—content, pedagogy, practice, and technology—that should be considered when developing educational technologies to ensure their educational benefits, feasibility, and successful real-world utilisation and adoption. The proposed guidelines for conducting EDR, such as exploring design alternatives and employing appropriate design construction and evaluation methods, can assist other researchers, including a single doctoral student, in embracing opportunities and overcoming the challenges that may emerge.

Rethinking Educational Assessment from the Perspective of Design Thinking

Because human processes are subtle, complex, and contextualized, computational representations of those processes face highly significant unmet design challenges. Design Thinking (DT) offers a potential new paradigm of creativity and innovation in education capable of effecting meaningful culture change. DT is nonlinear but encompasses elements of empathy, problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and tests that may freely move as needed from and to each other. DT's empathic focus on end users' needs suggests educational measurement's information infrastructures will have to coherently integrate assessment and instruction across multiple levels of complexity in communication. Applying DT reveals the need to attend to previously undeveloped technical issues in communication. Especially important are developmental, horizontal, and vertical forms of coherence, and denotative, metalinguistic, and metacommunicative levels of complexity. New solutions emerge when classrooms are reconceived as meta-design ecosystem niches of creativity and innovation structured from the bottom up by flows of self-organizing information. Recently identified correspondences between educational measurement and metrology support efforts aimed at developing multilevel common languages for the communication of learning outcomes. Prototype reports illustrate how emergent measured constructs can be brought into language in ways that integrate developmental, horizontal, and vertical coherence across levels of complexity. Coherent information infrastructures of these kinds are capable of adapting to new circumstances as populations of persons and items change, doing so without compromising the continuity of comparisons or the uniqueness of locally situated knowledge and practices.

How does didactic knowledge develop?: Experiences from a design project

We, the authors of the paper, have jointly conducted several design-based research (DBR) projects. The subject of this paper is a project lasting approximately 18 months, which dealt with the introduction of a new curriculum in a vocational college. We were involved in different roles: one as a representative of the research community and the other as a representative of the vocational college and thus of practice. In the project, different interests were considered: the research division wanted to generate knowledge while the practitioners were interested in implementing a curriculum and developing new forms of learning and teaching. It is not that we could always assign each of these two perspectives to exactly one of us, even though we were officially researchers and practitioners. We have always approached each other in our DBR projects. Both perspectives have been incorporated into the paper: One author is concerned with the genesis of knowledge—how knowledge is created in DBR projects, a partly methodological approach. The other author attempts to find theoretical points of reference and reassurances about the project work. This leads to very practical considerations. The project did not commence with an exactly defined problem; we began with broad concerns that had to be distilled into specific goals over the course of the project.. We had to conduct dialogical planning in our different roles and responsibilities. After each work phase and workshop, we reviewed and made a record of what had happened and how, the condition of the group and what it should work on in the next practical phase. This was supplemented with classroom visits and one-on-one discussions with various project participants. The information derived from these evaluations was subsequently used in the planning of the next cycle. Therefore, in the next cycle, the same project was not conducted, but a revised project was developed, which continued from where the previous cycle had ended. Thus, the problem definition continued evolving. In this paper, we have tried to concisely present how the work progressed in phases and cycles and roughly described the thought process and evaluations that shaped this project. Perceived this way, this paper serves two different interests. First, it shows how a problem definition was developed and further sharpened and what concrete result was obtained in the process. This is indicated by the subtitle. Second, it explains how knowledge is created and defines the scope and specificity of this knowledge.

Expansive Design for Teachers

Innovative designs for learning have implications for the teaching practices and the system in which they are created, often with conflicting motives and tensions on systemic levels. Co-design processes with teachers and researchers require tools and concepts to grasp this complexity and to create durable changes. In the case studied in this article, activity theory and change laboratory methodologies were used in a participatory design process with a small group of teachers. Five key characteristics of the epistemological principles behind the change laboratory methodology were identified and analysed. The theoretical framework enabled tools for a collective analysis of the origin and development of systemic contradictions as well as a model to envision future practices and concrete learning designs. Findings suggest that the combination of participatory design and change laboratory methodologies can serve as a vehicle for expansive learning and new innovative learning designs in educational settings.

Gemeinsam verschieden unterwegs

Die Wissenschaft-Praxis-Kommunikation stellt in Design-Based Research (DBR)-Projekten ein zentrales Charakteristikum dar. Der Artikel diskutiert auf Basis eines konkreten DBR-Projekts mögliche Ausgestaltungsformen dieser Kommunikation und die damit verbundenen Mehrwerte und Herausforderungen. Beim referenzierten Projekt handelt es sich um die Entwicklung einer Lernumgebung zur Förderung der Entwicklung berufsrelevanter Selbst- und Sozialkompetenzen im Bachelorstudiengang Soziale Arbeit der Berner Fachhochschule. Das Vorgehen zur Entwicklung des anvisierten Lehr-Lern-Settings erfolgte dabei in Orientierung am Paradigma der Gestaltungsforschung. Der Zusammenarbeit mit unterschiedlichen Anspruchsgruppen wie den Coachs und Studierenden wurde dabei grosse Bedeutung zugesprochen. Die Wissenschaft-Praxis-Kommunikation wurde in den verschiedenen Projektphasen unterschiedlich ausgestaltet. Sie umfasste mitunter Einzelinterviews, Fokusgruppen sowie schriftliche Experteneinschätzungen. Auch variierte über die verschiedenen Projektphasen hinweg der Intensitätsgrad der Zusammenarbeit. Besonders intensiv war die Wissenschaft-Praxis-Kommunikation anlässlich der «Design-Evaluation». Insgesamt betrachtet bot die Wissenschaft-Praxis-Kommunikation für alle Akteursgruppen (persönliche) Mehrwerte und war insbesondere für die Entwicklung und Implementierung der anvisierten Lernumgebung sowie für die Gewinnung und Validierung der wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse hilfreich und wertvoll. Die grundsätzlich als reflexiven Dialog ausgestaltete Wissenschaft-Praxis-Kommunikation ermöglichte ein kreatives Miteinander von Vertreterinnen und Vertretern des Praxisfelds und der Wissenschaft und trug zum gegenseitigen Verständnis bei. Gleichzeitig zeigte sich aber auch die Herausforderung, bei der Gewinnung und Validierung wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse eine gemeinsame Sprache zu finden und im Sinne einer vollständigen Partizipation gemeinsam für sie Verantwortung zu übernehmen. Der Artikel schliesst mit auf diesen Erfahrungen basierenden Empfehlungen für die Ausgestaltung der Wissenschaft-Praxis-Kommunikation im Rahmen von DBR-Projekten im Hochschulbereich. Communication between science and practice represents a central characteristic of Design-Based Research (DBR) projects. Based on a specific DBR project, this article discusses possible forms of this communication and the associated added value and challenges. The project in question involves the development of a learning environment to encourage the development of professionally relevant personal and social skills as part of the BSc program in social work at the Bern University of Applied Sciences. The approach for developing the envisaged learning environment was established by following the paradigm of Design-Based Research. Great importance was placed on collaborating with various stakeholders such as coaches and students. The science-practice communication took different forms in the various phases of the project: individual interviews, focus groups, as well as written expert appraisals. The level of intensity of the collaboration also varied over the course of the various project phases. The communication between science and practice was particularly intensive when the designs were evaluated. Overall, the science-practice communication provided (personal) added value to all stakeholder groups and was particularly helpful and valuable for the development and implementation of the envisaged learning environment, as well as for obtaining and validating scientific findings. The science-practice communication, which essentially took the form of reflexive dialogue, enabled creative cooperation between representatives from the field of practice and from the scientific community and contributed to mutual understanding. At the same time, however, it became evident that it was a challenge to find a common language when obtaining and validating scientific findings and to take shared responsibility for these findings by fully participating. The article concludes by making some recommendations based on these experiences for the design of science-practice communication within the context of DBR projects in higher education.

Using design-based research to explore the influence of context in promoting pedagogical reform

Many developing countries are seeking to improve the quality of education by promoting the use of learner-centred pedagogy as part of system wide reform. Yet many studies reveal a gap between what is envisaged in policy and what happens in practice and the inherent limitations of uncritical adoption of 'best practice' from elsewhere into local contexts. Therefore design-based research (DBR), as an interventionist approach, was selected to investigate the conditions under which the innovation of learner-centred education can be implemented in the authentic setting of a Maldivian island school. The paper elaborates the rationale underpinning this choice and a discussion of the defining features of DBR as they applied in this study: acknowledging the importance of context; facilitating collaboration between researcher and participants; and attending to a theoretical output of the research. The participatory approach which underpinned how DBR was utilised in the study and its implications for enhancing the context-appropriateness of and teachers' engagement with the reforms is also discussed. In so doing, the paper illustrates the ways in which the defining features of DBR respond to the call for better attention to context as a means for enabling greater success of global reform efforts.

Ein holistischer Design-Based Research-Modellentwurf für die Hochschuldidaktik

Der Beitrag beschreibt und begründet ein holistisvches DBR-Modell für die Hochschuldidaktik, das in fünf Schritten entfaltet wird: Ich bestimme in einem ersten Schritt fünf semantische Felder, welche den Bedeutungsumfang eines DBR-Zyklus abstecken. Ich bezeichne diese bewusst nicht als Phasen oder Prozesse, weil es hier primär um die Bedeutungen des Handelns in DBR geht, die das Wesen von DBR als Ganzes prägen. In einem zweiten Schritt definiere ich darauf aufbauend fünf Handlungsfelder, in die sich Aktivitätsschwerpunkte projizieren lassen. Der Begriff des Handlungsfelds soll verdeutlichen, dass es hier um konkrete Aktivitäten geht, die immer nur ein Teil vom Ganzen sein können, weil jedes Handeln eine gewisse Fokussierung der Aufmerksamkeit braucht. Ich schlage in einem dritten Schritt Spielfelder vor: Diese metaphorisch bezeichnete Brücke zwischen dem Handlungsfokus (als Teil) und dem Wesenskern (als Ganzem) von DBR eignet sich dazu, die vor allem Experten sich eröffnenden Handlungsspielräume zu beleuchten. Diese drei Schritte bilden zusammen den Argumentationsgang für die Beschreibung und Begründung des holistischen DBR-Modellentwurfs. In einem vierten Schritt gehe ich auf die Methodenfrage in DBR ein und prüfe, inwiefern das Modell dazu geeignet ist, typische Schwierigkeiten im Umgang mit Methoden in DBR konstruktiv aufzufangen. Die Rolle von Design-Gegenständen in DBR greife ich in einem fünften und letzten Schritt auf und gehe wiederum der Frage nach, welchen Mehrwert das holistische Modell hierfür haben kann. Der Beitrag endet mit einem zusammenfasenden Fazit.

Entwicklung von Gestaltungsprinzipien zur Förderung interkultureller Lehrkompetenz

Lehrpersonen benötigen immer häufiger interkulturelle Lehrkompetenzen, um mit der zunehmenden ethnisch-kulturellen Heterogenität der Lernenden in ihren Klassen umgehen zu können. Der Artikel beschreibt eine Untersuchung, in der mittels eines Design-Based Research-Ansatzes eine innovative Praxislösung für die Förderung interkultureller Lehrkompetenz in der universitären Lehrerbildung umgesetzt wurde. Der Fokus des Artikels liegt auf der Reflexion des Evaluationsprozesses, wobei die Entwicklung der ursprünglichen vorläufigen Gestaltungsannahmen über zwei Evaluationszyklen hinweg zu Gestaltungsprinzipien näher aufgezeigt wird.

Validation arrangements for formally low-qualified staff in geriatric care: The Design-based Research project KomBiA

Validation arrangements aim to increase the visibility and recognition of non-formal and informal learning. For geriatric care in Germany, such validation arrangements currently do not exist. The workplace learning of assistant nurses is therefore yet to be documented and certified. The Design-based Research project KomBiA was initiated in order to solve this practical problem. The interventions, which were developed, tested and evaluated, are based on the CEDEFOP model for the validation of non-formal and informal learning in Europe, which had to be adapted and modified according to the national and sectoral specifics of geriatric care in Germany. The project set-up focused on the development of an innovative solution to the problem that could gain support among all major stakeholders. Hence, the project included practitioners representing different interests. The collaborative development of the prototype was tested and evaluated in a two-cycle-approach. On this basis, a viable model of validating non-formal and informal learning in the field was designed and corresponding design principles were deduced.