Educational design research for relevant & robust scholarship

Research on computing in higher education research has been dominated by studies on things that work (or not). While useful, the field now needs more research on authentic tech-related problems of practice and viable solutions that resolve them. This article describes one such approach: Educational Design Research (EDR). It begins with a brief portrayal of the research we have, and elaborates on the research we need now, before introducing EDR as one way to meet today’s needs. The evolutionary nature of EDR is discussed and multiple illustrations are given before a generic model is presented, together with a detailed example. Challenges are discussed as well as ways to support design researchers in facing these challenges. With the goal of increasing the relevance and robustness of scholarship in our field, the piece concludes with a call for increased use of EDR approaches.