Abstract This exploratory study provides a deeper look into the aspects of students’ experience
from design-based learning (DBL) activities for fifth grade students. Using designbased
research (DBR), this study was conducted on a series of science learning activities
leveraging mobile phones with relevant applications and sensors. We observed 3 different
DBL workshops to understand potential learning effects and develop a curriculum to be
reiterated as part of the DBR. The students who participated in this study were (1) provided
with resources for their own experiment design, (2) encouraged to engage in problem solving
by collective reasoning and solution designs, and (3) scaffolded in documenting, evaluating,
and reporting scientific phenomena embedded in a thematic integrative education setting.
This exploratory research model may be appropriate in addressing the issues of making
science learning more approachable, interesting, enjoyable, and contextual while determining
the efficacy of the pedagogy, resources, and conditions needed for the continuous
curriculum enhancement process. Key findings suggest that emergence, evolution, and
permeation could be promoted in the DBL environment as a pedagogical perspective