design based investigations for project based inquiry learning

8/7/2019 Design Based Investigations for Project Based Inquiry Learning

1/6

DESIGN-BASED INVESTIGATIONS

Investigation Through Design

Often, student investigations are not simply created to find an answer to a question, or to

explore some phenomenon. Rather, science is often used to create solutions to problems

through application of scientific concepts and principles to a real-world situation. This is

the work of applied science and engineering.

This resource and activity is designed to examine aspects of a design-based investigation as

a strategy for learning and exploring different phenomena. Design projects often take on a

different set of procedures that vary somewhat from the standard scientific method to

which we are all so accustomed. Often, such projects may appear to be very much like the

investigations we have all focused on as a way to support authentic student learning.

However, there are some significant differences in the process. The following materials are

intended to help you better understand the Design Process, and how you might consider

using a design activity as a way to build understanding and assess student learning,

The Design Process

Design is a process that we use to solve problems, whether we are cognizant of the process

or not. We often try coming up with processes, solutions, etc. without really thinkingthrough all possible ways to address a problem, and then actually try things out.

Sometimes we succeed in what we want to accomplish; most of the time we dont. When

we dont, we usually tinker with something and try it again, or, ideally, try to learn a bit

more about the situation or issue we are trying to address, then tinker and see what

happens.

In science and engineering, there is a more formal process that takes place, but it is still

very similar in process to what we do. In a classroom, this process can be represented by

the diagram below. Design is a cyclic process that involves research, concept development,design and building, and testing or feedback. Each iteration is intended to help refine the

process or add a new factor to consideration in the design. These steps are outlined in

detail on the following page:

GPS Phase III - Design-Based Investigations Page 1 of 6


2/6

1. Identify and Define Design ContextThis is the initial step in any design project, and one that you will want to address

specifically with students at the outset of any project. This is also, most likely, going to be

developed by you, the teacher, for any project you have students do in the classroom. This

includes the following:

Identifying the goals of the product. What is it supposed to do or accomplish? (What

is the function of the item?)

Identify the context for the product. Are there specific needs or conditions that you

need to work with for the product?

Define the design goal/outcome. State what you are creating, what you will developto get there, and what the intended outcome is. This also identifies the guidelines for

assessment of the success of the design. This might also address theform of the

product, which is what it should look like.

Define the context and conditions for the design. What are the constraints that you

are working with to complete the design? These might include time, personnel,

resources or supplies, and other constraints about the use of the product.

2. Research and Learn New Content

Like the student investigations we addressed earlier in this program, one of the criticalsteps before the actual design or investigation can be done is to gather information and

build understanding of content relevant to the design. This may take the form of

benchmark lessons that you, the teacher, lead to help build a common foundation of

knowledge and understanding among all students, or it may be individual or team research

that students undertake to gather information and ideas about the problem.



3/6

This research can also focus specifically on the product itself and not just the conditions for

the design. Research might examine the following:

Existing Designs. What have others designed or considered in the past?

Conditions for Use. Where will the product be used and for what purpose?

Components. What parts make up the product?

Materials. What will the product be made of? What do we need to know about this?

Often, a design might include many cycles, each of which is intended to look at a different

aspect of a problem. For instance, design of a building might first include design for the

basic structure, but then address a different factor, such as heating/cooling, energy, or

lighting in the next iteration of the design. Doing this can often help you specify what

benchmarks and content you need to address with each cycle.

3. Develop Personal or Team IdeasThe is where students can generate ideas about the design based on the information

gathered in the first two steps. You may wish to incorporate an individual brainstorming

activity first, so that all students can get ideas on paper. Something as simple as a bulleted

list of considerations can be useful here. Then, if working in groups, it can be useful to

have a group brainstorming/editing activity where ideas from individuals are shared and

refined or modified into a group list of ideas. This two-step strategy can often help groups

develop better, more thorough lists of ideas, whereas moving immediately to the group can

result in ideas only being generated by the more dominant personalities.

Often, students want to immediately jump to this step, and so it is often useful to have a

quick set of questions for any students to address at this point about their design ideas.

Asking how the questions identified in steps 1 and 2 are addressed by their ideas can help

students better understand the importance of these issues.

4. Design and Build Models or Artifacts

This is the step where students will actually design the product, or some model of the

product. This can include tangible three-dimensional objects, or sketches or drawing that

are very clear about the design considerations, dimensions, or other factors in the design.

Build in time for such activities, and if groups are involved, the time on task and nature of

the task should fit the number of people working on the task.



4/6

5. Feedback ActivitiesTesting, Critiquing, and Pin-ups. The intent of this final phase of the design process is to

gather feedback that will become the information from the actual model or artifact

created that is used in the next cycle of the design. This feedback can be generated in a

variety of forms, and may include the following activities, individually or grouped together

to provide such feedback.

Scientific testing. This would include performing any tests or experiments to ensure that

the artifact works for the conditions provided, and to identify any possible problems which

might exist that could be addressed in the next iteration of the design cycle. This is a good

opportunity to focus students on data collection and observations.

Usability / Feasibility testing.While the above item is intended to deal with the scientificphenomena that are addressed in the project, one of the other aspects of building an item

to solve a problem is doing any testing for usability. For instance, you could design a tool

to address a specific problem, but if the materials to build that tool cost more thanalternative solutions, it is not likely to be considered as the final design. This type of

testing is likely to be done by analyzing data or making observations about the creation of

the object, rather than specific testing of a variable using scientific means.

Critiques. This can take many forms, but the main goal is to get subjective feedback about

the design that might be used to enhance the design in the next cycle. When working with

students, it it important to frame feedback in a constructive manner that is not judgmental

of the designer, but rather focuses on aspects of the design. It can often be helpful to use

a set of guiding questions that are generated by you, experts, and/or the class.

Pin-ups.This is a specific form of critique that is used often in design fields, such asengineering and architecture, especially when working with sketches or drawings of an

object. This strategy has students post their drawings of the design on the wall around the

room, inviting feedback from others. The feedback can be provided on note cards that

everyone completes during a walking review of each item, a poster sheet next to each

design inviting comments, or verbal feedback if the designer is present. If structured well,

you can actually invite students to sketch new suggestions on the design itself. The pin-up

method is often a relatively quick way to provide feedback and opinions from others,

especially if early in the design process.

Presentations. Another way to solicit constructive feedback can be to have each design be

presented to the rest of the group. This can provide considerable feedback if students are

used to verbal critique, but is usually a time-intensive process that might be reserved for

the final design, else it can drag out the design process considerably.



5/6

The design cycle then begins again, though the difference is that the second (and all

successive) iteration actually has a design to work with. As a result, steps 1 and 3 are often

much shorter in the process, and more attention is paid to the design, model, and critique.

Design as a Learning Strategy

Introducing a design project in a class can be challenging and time consuming for all

involved, but can be truly beneficial to students in a variety of ways. The following aspects

of design are very useful to further student learning, and are worthy considerations if you

are debating use of a design project in your classroom.

Design is Purposeful. Students are often asking about the relevance of a particular topic.

Using a design-based project often provides a very clear picture of how the topic being

studied can relate to real life practices. This can also provide an anchor for you as a

teacher as a clear end goal of a project if you are designing the curriculum yourself.

Design is Deliberate. People dont design something by chance, unlike the process of

observation. Because of this, design has a natural iterative cycle that is often used to carry

out the purpose of the design. This cycle can provide an organization process and habits of

mind for students that encourage higher-order thinking skills. Often, design is viewed as a

particular strategy for problem solving, which is so often mentioned as a skill lacking in

many students.

Design is Creative. Unlike scientific investigation, which can be extremely focused on

method and procedure to ensure scientific validity in results, design allows students to flextheir creative muscles in a way that is not often presented in science classes. Students

enjoy this creativity, and this can be a great way for teachers to also practice facilitation

(as opposed to direct instruction), as design projects make it extremely hard to be teacher

directed. For this reason, a design project might be a particularly effective way to

encourage a teacher who struggles with an inquiry approach to instruction to let go and

focus more on student work and less on correct answers.

Design is Naturally Collaborative. Unlike finding a scientific fact or truth, design is an

applied task that does not have a correct answer. Rather, it requires compromise from all

involved. The review process necessary for effective design requires feedback for others.

As a result, design tasks often encourage effective collaboration toward an end, though this

is one area where effective facilitation skills are necessary to ensure that feedback is

appropriate and constructive, and that the design process itself, when done in groups, is

collaborative in nature.



6/6

Design is Complex. Unlike scientific investigations that are often seeking to isolate

variables, design often has to deal with multiple variables at one time for a workable

solution. While this can, at times, be to the detriment of student understanding (if they

havent worked out how all of the factors work together, or how the science of a set of

factors actually works), it also can get students to begin thinking in systems, rather than

individual factors.

Design Can Fail... And thats okay! Once of the main criticisms of modern instruction in

math and science in the U.S. is that we often focus on just getting the correct answer, and

that coverage of content standards in a short time limits the ability of students to learn

from failure. But, the point of the design cycle itself, and the reason we can go through

the cycle many, many times, is because we can EXPECT failure. What we want is to

encourage finding failure and learning from it, preferably early in the process, so that we

dont get the tragedies of projects that have not been thoroughly tested. (think Space

Shuttle or Hindenburg, among others).

Design is More Authentic. The process of design actually is much closer to the ways in

which we all think, and the ways in which scientists working with authentic problems

develop practices that lead to discoveries. What better way to illustrate to students the

kind of work that an engineer or environmental scientist does than to pose a problem

requiring a design solution.


design based investigations for project based inquiry learning

Documents