Design-based pedagogy: a heuristic for developing math and science teachers' professional practice

Design-based pedagogy is both a heuristic and epistemology for re-positioning teachers as intellectual designers. Rather than implement pre-packaged curricula or textbooks, teachers engage in the beginning stages of lesson planning, implement instructional practices, and reflect on practice for advancing their own professional learning. Following a summer workshop where teachers learned to integrate LEGO robotics into their lessons, we applied an adaptation of Donald Schön's “professional practice” to analyze and articulate the value of teachers' professional work. Our research finds that when teachers design lessons from conception, they make needed adjustments to better educate traditionally marginalized students and advance their own professional knowledge.