Design Research on Learning and Thinking in Educational Settings: Enhancing Intellectual Growth and Functioning

The central question this book address is how a design research-based science of learning (with its practical models and related design research) can provide insights and integrated models of how human beings actually function and grow in the social dynamics of educational settings with all their affordances and constraints? More specifically:How can specific domains or subject matters can be taught for broad intellectual development?How can technology can be integrated in enhancing human functioning?How can the social organization of classroom learning can be optimized to create social norms for promoting deep intellectual engagement and personal growth?Part I provides an overview of the foundations of instructional design for intellectual development and functioning, setting up an overarching framework. Parts II and III focus on substantive models for teaching subject matters and for technology- and community-enhanced designs. Each chapter presents the theoretical basis for the model and what educational and developmental issues it is designed to address, reviews how the conceptual model was developed and materialized in specific educational settings through design research; explains the distinct components and organizational features in the instructional design and how they are orchestrated in authentic learning settings to serve the instructional goals; and discusses what lessons can be learned from building these instructional models about enhancing intellectual functioning and promoting intellectual growth, conceptually as well as methodologically.