The DOT framework and the accompanying research methods cards are used in multiple HBO-IT educational programmes. Fontys (Tom Langhorst and Marcel Meesters), HAN (Ralph Niels) and Saxion (I) came together to think how we can further support our students, teachers and IT professionals in thinking about the research aspects of their project approaches. Like design patterns are available for best practices in software design, we also observe research patterns in the practice of determining what research to conduct for an IT project (research design).
In this project we uncovered a list of six common research patterns, and developed wikipages for them to support professionals(-in-training) in their use. These pages elaborate on why, how, and when to use them, what risks to be aware of, and examples from practice to make it really concrete. For an example, see the pattern Clarify focus and scope. A research pattern navigator provides a map from research questions to research patterns, making it easy to find a good approach.