Design-research-in-education; combining the best of both worlds

The pressure of publishing becomes more and more important, while on the other hand we have to deal with hard deadlines when it comes to education. In achieving the difficult balance between a good research track record and appropriate education we are condemned to see how we can implement design research in education. Performing such research can however have a benefit for both worlds. Students can learn from the developments in research and can also take part of it. On the other side we can use those students to test certain principles like a new developed design method, which can also improve the learning experience of the student. Best of both worlds you would think. Nevertheless, there are also some pitfalls that we came across. Especially with regard to evaluating different approaches, because normally it is deemed unethical to teach separate groups of students differently. This paper will share insights about performing design research in education. We will discuss a case where design research in education is used and we will evaluate the benefits, the pitfalls and the results for students as well as researchers.