ISDDE Conferences
A major part of ISDDE’s work is to organise an annual conference bringing together educational designers from around the world. Conference attendance is open to Fellows and Members of ISDDE, or by invitation.
Next Conference
#19 University of Galway, Ireland May 2025
Please join us in Galway, Ireland for the 19th ISDDE Conference.
Previous Conferences
#18 Conference in Boston USA October 2023
The 18th annual conference of the International Society for the Design and Development of Education (ISDDE) will be held October 16-19 in Boston, Massachusetts. This conference is an opportunity for educational designers of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology to share their work and learn from each other. This conference attracts designers from pre-K to post-secondary education from different countries from around the world!
The theme of this year’s conference is Designing for Equity and Social Justice: Creating New Futures. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in critical discussions around how the design of education, as found in curriculum materials, assessment, professional learning, and policy, can expand opportunities for students and can disrupt systemic injustice that perpetuate educational inequities.
We are building an exciting array of talks and activities. The program will include plenary addresses, contributed sessions (research presentations and workshops), and a poster session. In addition, full-conference participants will be able to take part in a working group and attend a celebratory dinner.
#17 Conference in Nottingham 2022
September 26-29, 2022 University of Nottingham, UK
Learning 2 Design, Design 4 Learning
ISDDE 2022 was held at the University of Nottingham Conference Centre on Sept 26, 2022 (evening) through Sept 29, 2022. The conference theme was Learning 2 Design: Design 4 Learning.
Find out more at https://sites.google.com/view/isdde2022/home.
#16 Virtual Conference – March 24, 2021
ISDDE (the International Society for Design and Development in Education) held their first online international day conference on Wednesday March 24th, 2021. This conference:- was hosted in three phases across 24 hours with contributions from Far East, Europe/Africa and Americas time zones;
- included the announcement of the prestigious ISDDE Prize for excellence in design for education in mathematics, science or technology;
- included plenaries, interviews, panels and discussions;
- and focused on design in mathematics and science of curricula, resources, assessment, professional learning, teaching and learning with technology.
#15 Pittsburgh, PA USA 2019
September 16th-19th 2019, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Design for the Future
The conference theme, Design for the Future, highlighted the new emerging challenges in STEM educational design, connecting to Pittsburgh’s long-standing focus on technology and education.
Continuing traditions set by previous conferences, the meeting was intimate and highly participatory by design. Attendees, top educational STEM designers from throughout the world, enjoyed inspirational plenary talks, presentations/poster showcases focused on new educational designs or special challenges to educational design, small group work sessions on pressing problems of practice, and many meals and informal conversations over food and drink. This was not your usual conference in format or focus. The conference took place at the University of Pittsburgh in the emerging phoenix of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
#14 Galway 2018
28 th – 31 st May 2018 at the National University of Ireland, Galway
Culture and Educational Design
The 14th Annual Conference of the International Society for Design and Development in Education was held May 28th-31st, 2018, at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
The conference theme, Culture and Educational Design, highlighted the importance of context in principled and participatory, educational design, and the significant influence of culture, the historic, natural and social environs on learning, teaching and assessment.
Continuing the tradition set by previous conferences, the meeting was intimate and highly participatory. Attendees enjoyed plenary talks by leading educational designers, paper and poster presentations, small group work sessions on pressing problems of practice, and many meals and informal conversations over food and drink. The conference took place on the beautiful campus of the National University of Ireland, Galway.
#13 Berkeley 2017
Broader Participation in Design
The 13th annual conference of the International Society for Design and Development in Education, hosted by The Lawrence Hall of Science, was held from November 6-9, 2017, at the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. The conference theme,Broader Participation in Design, was chosen to highlight the twin goals of creating educational designs that allow for broad participation, and also broadening participation within the community of educational designers. The conference took place on the beautiful University of California, Berkeley campus, at both the Faculty Club and The Lawrence Hall of Science.
#12 Utrecht 2016
Infrastructuring the Design Continuum
The ISDDE’16 conference took place from September 19-22, 2016 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. It was hosted by the Netherlands National Institute of Curriculum Development (SLO). The conference drew upon the intellectual, experiential, collaborative, and aesthetic opportunities for inspiration afforded by this location and the region.
The theme, Infrastructuring the Design Continuum, refers to designer efforts to develop and implement the human and material resources required for supporting education in and across various system levels.
#11 Boulder 2015
Educative Design
The ISDDE’15 conference took place from September 22-25, 2015 in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Situated in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the University of Colorado Boulder provided an uplifting natural landscape for presentations, showcase events, and working groups focused on design and development in education. The Boulder community is known for innovation in engineering, technology, science and the arts, and several of these local features were reflected in program options. The conference theme, Educative Design, was selected to convey the educational opportunities in both the process and results of our designs.
#10 Cambridge 2014
Design in Practice
The 2014 conference took place on 29th September – 2nd October at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK. The conference was hosted by NRICH and chaired by Lynne McClure. For more details, please visit the conference website.
#9 Berkeley 2013
Inspiring Design
The conference took place from October 7-10, 2013 in Berkeley, California, USA and was hosted by the Lawrence Hall of Science. The conference was chaired by Jaqueline Barber.
#8 Utrecht 2012
Unpacking Design Processes
The Eighth International ISDDE conference took place at the Faculty Club, University of Utrecht, Netherlands on September 11th-13th 2012. The conference was chaired by Peter Boon and co-chaired by Frans van Galen.
#7 Boston 2011
Design and Development: Transforming STEM Learning
The Seventh International ISDDE conference took place at the Boston Museum of Science on September 12th-15th 2011. The conference chair was Chris Schunn and the co-chair was Frank Davis.
#6 Oxford 2010
Designing and Experiencing Products and Processes
The sixth annual ISDDE conference was attended by 48 delegates representing a wide range of educational design expertise from the UK, USA, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, France, Norway and Israel.
#5a Cairns 2009
Principles for Design
The 5th Annual Conference of the International Society for Design and Development in Education took place on Monday 28 September 2009 – Thursday 1st October, 2009 at the Cairns Colonial Club Resort in Queensland, Australia.
#5b 2009 UK Regional Meeting
ISDDE UK May 2009 was intended for all designers, researchers and curriculum leaders who feel affinity with the goals of the society. This meeting brought together outstanding designers, design project leaders and curriculum innovators, together with agencies which commission or support such work. The meeting took place on Tuesday 26th – Wendnesday 27th May, 2009 at the Nuffield Foundation in Bedford Square, London.
Summary reports on some of the presentations are available.
#4 Egmond aan Zee 2008
Egmond aan Zee 2008
Linking design research to professional educational design
June 29 — July 2, Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands
Hosted by the Freudenthal Institute for Science and Mathematics Education.
This conference brought together outstanding designers and design project leaders from a number of countries around the world, including the US, the UK, Australia, Japan and the Netherlands, together with a few people from the agencies which commission or support such work.
#3 Berkeley 2007
Principles of Design
The 2007 Conference was hosted in Berkeley, California by the Lawrence Hall of Science, and chaired by Elizabeth Stage.
#2 Oxford 2006
Improving Educational Design
The first two ISDDE conferences took place at Baliol College, Oxford, organised by the Shell Centre for Mathematical Education and chaired by Hugh Burkhardt.
#1 Oxford 2005
Improving Educational Design
The first two ISDDE conferences took place at Baliol College, Oxford, organised by the Shell Centre for Mathematical Education and chaired by Hugh Burkhardt.