Four foundational developments framework for DLPs-as-research-infrastructure¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article organizes the history of DLP-based research infrastructure into four building blocks: "data repositories, data collection services, research design interfaces, and research communities." Each advance carries its own constraint — repositories limit researchers to questions the available data can address; collection services must operate unobtrusively; RDIs constrain the types of contrasts and study scope; communities require researchers to develop deep knowledge to use a DLP well. SEERNet is framed as the first effort to fund many independent DLPs to engineer tools addressing all four problems together.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• The four capabilities must work interdependently: data access, unobtrusive collection, deployable experimental contrasts, and a community able to use them

Constraints¶

• Researchers can only ask and answer questions the available data can reasonably address
• Data collection must be relatively unobtrusive in routine educational settings
• RDIs constrain the types of contrasts and scope of possible studies

Target Learners¶

• K-12 and higher education students using digital learning platforms

Target Learning Objectives¶

• Improving the scalability, equity, and rigor of research on learning in authentic contexts

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• SEERNet's framework of Digital Learning Platforms as research infrastructure for education research
• Two-category taxonomy of requirements for DLPs as research infrastructure: expected technical work versus emerging organizational and community work

Examples¶

• DataShop educational data repository and analysis platform
• MOOC Replication Framework (MORF)
• SEERNet hub of five digital learning platforms enabling large-scale education research
• Secure enclaves for privacy-protecting researcher access to student-level data
• Teacher-as-researcher experimental design via Terracotta in Canvas
• Invest in social structures and cross-disciplinary standards to strengthen the DLP research community
• Grow a peer review community that understands the affordances and limits of DLP-based research

Key Sources¶

• Schellinger, A., & Roschelle, J. (2024, January). Looking Back to Move Forward. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/203