Organizing Research and Development at the Intersection of Learning, Implementation, and Design

2011/10/01 by William R. Penuel, Barry J. Fishman, Barry Fishman +3 · 745 citations
Decision Sciences · Engineering · Social Sciences · #Computer science #Development (topology) #Educational Assessment and Improvement #Educational Environments and Student Outcomes #Educational research #Engineering #Engineering ethics #Engineering management #Focus (optics) #Intersection (aeronautics) #Key (lock) #Knowledge management #Management science #Pedagogy #Process management #Research design #Sociology #Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

paper · doi:10.3102/0013189x11421826

published in Educational Researcher 40(7), 331-337 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2011/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

This article describes elements of an approach to research and development called design-based implementation research. The approach represents an expansion of design research, which typically focuses on classrooms, to include development and testing of innovations that foster alignment and coordination of supports for improving teaching and learning. As in policy research, implementation is a key focus of theoretical development and analysis. What distinguishes this approach from both traditional design research and policy research is the presence of four key elements: (a) a focus on persistent problems of practice from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives; (b) a commitment to iterative, collaborative design; (c) a concern with developing theory related to both classroom learning and implementation through systematic inquiry; and (d) a concern with developing capacity for sustaining change in systems.

Citations

• Teachers' Responses to Success for All: How Beliefs, Experiences, and Adaptations Shape Implementation
• Instructional Coaching
• Design Experiments in Educational Research

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Related

• Design-Based Research: An Emerging Paradigm for Educational Inquiry
• Design Research: What We Learn When We Engage in Design
• Design-Based Research
• Infrastructuring as a Practice of Design-Based Research for Supporting and Studying Equitable Implementation and Sustainability of Innovations
• Creating Design Knowledge in Educational Innovation