Developing learning theory by refining conjectures embodied in educational designs

Designed learning environments embody conjectures about learning and instruction, and the empirical study of learning environments allows such conjectures to be refined over time. The construct of embodied conjecture is introduced as a way to demonstrate the theoretical nature of learning environment design and to frame methodological issues in studying such conjectures. An example of embodied conjecture and its history of empirical refinement are presented to provide a concrete example of how the effort to design instructional change can lead to a productive shift in view of the underlying learning issues at hand. This example is used to suggest some general features of embodied conjectures and to raise methodological issues for refining them.