Design-based research as research methodology in pre-service teacher education – a scoping review

As a methodological approach, design-based research (DBR) is widely applied within the research on educational systems. Still, the question of how DBR can be used as a research method in specific educational environments remains. This scoping review focuses on DBR within preservice teacher education and social education. This type of review is a quick way to map a research area and can guide further research within a field. For this scoping review, 27 articles were selected, and the results show that DBR is indeed a research method within preservice teacher education, but there are differences in how strictly the articles apply the approaches that are found within the DBR methodology. The main finding is that even though the selected articles outline their research according to DBR, the practical use of the methodology is not as strict. In these studies, most - but not consistently all - participants are considered co-designers, and the research is conducted in iterative cycles. Because these are the fundamental core features within DBR, it would be relevant to suggest a stronger emphasis on the guidelines within the methodology, and insist that future research follows these guidelines to stay within the design-based methodology.