Abstract

Recent years have seen an increase in the amount of research being conducted under some variation of the term design research (Hoadley, 2004). Our intent in this chapter is to return to the foundations of design research as a perspective for conducting research and examine some of the fundamental characteristics of design in research, evaluation, and assessment. The discussion includes examination of the relationship between engineering and education research in terms of the definitions, questions, and problems that need to be addressed and the means for conducting design. We describe the parallels between engineering and education from a design perspective and draw on examples from recent design projects in engineering education. Both fields can be viewed as applied sciences with the goal of impacting and resolving human problems (Wittman, 1995). In addition, educational products such as curriculum or technology are designed as other products are designed in engineering.