I have been doing some Design Base Research (DBR) in an International School near Zürich on a grade 7 Unit on Magnetism.  We have developed a unit on magnetism that uses the strategy of asking students to make predictions and explain them, then observe and then we try to resolve the cognitive conflict often produced though small group and whole class discussions. I blogged about his earlier

These are some of my thoughts about the advantages and limitations of this type of collaborative practice orientated research.