Drive-to-Design: A Pedagogical Framework for Teaching Research Design in Higher Education

Research methods education remains challenging in higher education because students are often required to integrate abstract and interdependent concepts, including research problems, questions, theoretical frameworks, designs, methods and evidence. This paper addresses this pedagogical challenge by introducing the Drive-to-Design (D2D) Framework, a conceptual approach that reconceptualises research design as a journey rather than a sequence of disconnected methodological steps. Drawing on scholarship on research methods education, analogy-based learning and student-centred pedagogy, the framework maps core research components onto a motor-vehicle journey. Four interconnected phases- Planning the Journey, Building the Vehicle, Driving the Study, and Monitoring and Adjusting the Route- provide a coherent structure through which learners can connect research concepts, methodological decisions, and research practice. The framework further assigns functional roles to vehicle components, including the destination (research aim), route map (theoretical or conceptual framework), GPS (research questions), engine (research design), fuel (data), tyres (data-collection tools), terrain (sampling and context), brakes (ethics), dashboard (data analysis), indicators (findings), and rearview mirror (reflection and limitations). Two cross-disciplinary applications illustrate how the framework can be used in higher-education research-methods teaching. The paper argues that D2D contributes a transferable pedagogical lens for making the relationships among research-design components more visible, navigable, and discussable across disciplinary contexts. The framework is proposed as a scholarly teaching innovation requiring further classroom-based evaluation to examine its effects on student understanding, engagement and research competence.