Creating Design Knowledge: Future Directions

How is design knowledge created and used in educational innovations? Where is the field now? What are the overlooked areas? What are the next steps for moving the field forward? How can ideas from diverse fields inform the creation, representation, and use of design knowledge to produce more impactful and scalable principled practical knowledge for educational design? This chapter synthesises critical ideas discussed in the book, focussing on unsolved theoretical, methodological and practical questions, and charts future research directions. It concludes that the field is characterised by complexity and plurality, with diverse and fast-changing terminologies, conceptualisations, methodologies, and practices. Consequently, standardisation and simplification are neither feasible nor desirable. Instead, knowledge tools that help researchers and practitioners understand the field and make informed choices are needed.