"Education-based Research": How Students Can Contribute to Research at the Highest Level of Research-Based Design Education

This paper lays out a concept of education-based research-the production of research knowledge within the framework of tertiary design education-as an integration of problem-based learning and research-based education. This leads to a critique of reflective practice as the primary way to facilitate learning at this level, a discussion of the nature of design problems in the instrumentalist tradition, and some suggestions as to how design studies curricula may facilitate education-based research.