Complete thesis - Murdoch University

outcomes - an action outcome whereby intervention helps to address the real world problem,and a research outcome whereby the research lessons from the project are harvested andtheoretically integrated.4.1.3 Educational research as Design or ActionThere are many similarities between Design Research and Action Research applied to education,in particular the Critical Science type of Action Research:• both are founded on the work of Dewey• both see the context of the learning as an important component of the environment• both conceive of a joint role: designer and researcher (although for Design Researchthe researcher is very possibly not the teacher)• both involve producing demonstrable changes at the local level• both advocate a cyclic/iterative approach to research• both borrow underpinnings and techniques from other methodologies• both advocate mixed methods for conducting the research and reporting on it.However, a critical component of Design Research is that the design is conceived not just tomeet local needs, but to advance a theoretical agenda, to uncover, explore, and confirm theoreticalrelationships in developing generalised models. Although providing credible evidencefor local gains as a result of a particular design may be necessary, it is not sufficient. Theresearcher moves beyond a particular design exemplar to generate evidence-based claims thataddress contemporary theoretical issues and further the theoretical knowledge of the field.Design researchers not only recognise the importance of local contexts but also treat changesin these contexts as necessary evidence for the viability of a theory.Although design researchers are comfortable with alternative world-states – changes to thestate-of-the-world through the introduction of novel ‘artefacts’ is the primary aim of DesignResearch – there is an obvious contrast with positivist stance where a single, given, compositesocio-technical system is the typical unit of analysis; even the problem statement is subjectto revision as a Design Research effort proceeds. However, the multiple world-states of thedesign researcher are not the same as the multiple realities of the interpretive researcher:many if not most design researchers believe in a single, stable underlying physical realitythat constrains the multiplicity of world-states. Physical laws are tentatively composed into194