Design

Definitions

Design as a verb entails the process of imaginative formation of an entity. In the context of education, the entity, which may be  as simple as a text or as complex as an organisation, may provide a response to some or all the key questions to progress learning, from motivation to recognition ([A3] Millwood 2009, The Learner at the Centre). Design as a noun is concerned with the specification of such an entity. A more formal, nuanced and rich definition can be found in Ralph and Wand (2009), but is beyond the scope of the pragmatic view I have taken.

The verb design in my practice is an iterative process of development, accompanied by trialling, feedback and evaluation to determine the focus for further improvement. The mutability of designs may be promoted by their expression in computer formats, which offer ready correction and change. With the advent of computer programs, many designs can be expressed in the computer language or information system directly, although not all such languages make such designs accessible. This is the domain of Learning Design (Koper 2006), where one possible benefit is that the design may become enacted through the computer to guide a student on a learning trajectory, but this is not territory which I have explored in any detail in my practice, preferring designs to provide infrastructure and tools for human decision making in a freer sense. I regard learning as less likely to succeed when too tightly prescribed and in its nature, more of a creative activity which benefits from openness in outcome rather than to be restricted to such sequences with too closely focussed learning outcomes.

In my practice the designed entities have all employed some element of computer technology to enhance learning. In my conception of design as a noun, it is a mutable specification:

a representation of teaching and learning practice documented in some notational format so that it can serve as a model or template adaptable by a teacher to suit his/her context

Agostinho (2006)

I would extend this definition so that a design may be that of an information resource, tool, activity, environment or educational organisation. I have learned and employed a wide range skills including composition of words, graphic design, desktop publishing, video editing and computer programming. I have tackled the design and making of computer programs, web sites, films, furniture, office spaces, online spaces and rooms to support education.

Design Science

Defined by Buckminster Fuller (1963), Design Science brought systematisation to the design process, and became understood as the scientific study of design (Gregory, 1966).

In the context of education, Mor explains it well:

A design science of education should be based on a linguistic framework which offers an intermediate level of systematisation, rising above anecdotes but remaining grounded in reality. Such a framework would allow us to capture the structure of educational situations, the challenges they engender, as well as the means of addressing them, in forms which should empower learners and teachers to control their practice as much as it allows researchers to inspect it scientifically.

(Mor 2010, p14)

I would extend Mor's view to say that a design science of education might also encourage creativity in the attempt to transform education for the better.

Complexity and iteration in design

Educational designs I have engaged with have been complex and iterative, and in a research context could be considered as design studies as described by Shavelson et al:

Design studies have been characterized, with varying emphasis depending on the study, as iterative, process focused, interventionist, collaborative, multileveled, utility oriented, and theory driven.

(Shavelson et al. 2003)

The iterative view of design (the verb) is not opposed to a design process base on architectural/engineering specification, where well known and predictive calculations can be made to find the exact dimensions and materials to create a building or bridge. Instead, the iterative view recognises the unpredictability of the design of education where people, their diversity, complexity and culture are part of the design space, not simply users of an end product. It is not enough to design a computer program which performs to specification, tests correctly and is viewed as satisfactory - in education such software is subject to the richness of human discourse, re-interpretation and creativity. In the process of iterative design, such issues can be explored and the design improved with the evidence gathered to make the most effective educational outcome in a dynamic context.