AUT professors awarded $240K for research

AUT professors awarded $240K for research   
 

Two AUT University professors have been awarded $240K to lead New Zealand academic research.

The National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence Ako Aotearoa announced its $1.3 million National Project Fund 2008 recipients in early February.

Professor Tania Ka’ai from Te Ara Poutama was awarded $145K to lead research project: Te Kāwai Kūmara, A Pilot for the Synchronous Delivery of a Common Postgraduate Programme in te reo Māori Across Multiple Sites.

She will undertake research with fellow Te Ara Poutama academic, Professor John Moorfield, Te Ripowai Higgins from the Victoria University of Wellington and Te Ātaarangi National Trust, Dr Tīmoti Kāretu and Dr Wharehuia Milroy from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Dr Katerina Mataira from Te Ātaarangi National Trust, Hana O’Regan from Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology and esteemed Kaumātua Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru.

Professor John Bitchener from the Faculty of Applied Humanities gained $95K to lead research project: Best Practice in Supervisor Feedback to Thesis Writers in New Zealand Universities.

Professor Bitchener will undertake the research alongside AUT University PhD scholar Heather Meyer, due to complete in June 2009, and University of Auckland academics Dr Helen Basturkmen and Dr Martin East.

For more information about the AUT University academics, please go to:

Professor Tania Ka’ai: www.autuni.ac.nz/te-ara-poutama/our-people/Tania-Ka-ai  
Professor John Moorfield: www.autuni.ac.nz/te-ara-poutama/our-people/John-Moorfield
Professor John Bitchener: www.autuni.ac.nz/languages/our-people/john-bitchener & www.aut.ac.nz/schools/languages/staff/john_bitchener.htm
 
For further information about the National Project Fund 2008, please read the MEDIA RELEASE below, issued by Massey University, February 2, 2009:

Ako Aotearoa announces first national project fund recipients

This February, Ako Aotearoa, The National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, announced its commitment of over $1.3 million dollars (including GST) to support projects that strategically improve tertiary teaching and learning.

Nine major projects join the three Doctoral Scholarship proposals announced last November to receive funding under the Centre’s National Project Fund, which was in operation for the first time last year.

The nine projects are spread over three streams of the fund, with five Research and Implementation, three Māori Initiative Projects, and one Collaboration Project being selected from the substantial pool of submitted proposals.

Spanning the diversity of the tertiary sector, the projects will involve Adult Community Education (ACE), Industry Training Organisations (ITOs), Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs), Wānanga, and Universities. A number of the projects also involve cross-organisational and cross-sector collaborations.

Dr Peter Coolbear, Ako Aotearoa National Director is delighted with the outcome of the funds first round.

“The projects are first rate and have every potential to successfully meet the aims and goals of the fund,” he says. “They are either implementation projects designed to have direct impact on improving teaching and learning, or important pieces of use-inspired research.  

“The selection panels have done an excellent and careful job of identifying projects that not only best align with the vision of Ako Aotearoa, but also have the capacity to build on existing knowledge, have the potential to lead to benefit to learners, have extremely capable teams, and offer overall value-for-money.”

The key goal of the fund is to enhance educational outcomes for learners, but in pursuit of this we are also looking to promote collaboration across and within different parts of the tertiary education sector, contribute to the development of a more coherent knowledge base of effective tertiary teaching and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand and build research capability and capacity.

Notes for editors:

National Project Fund 2008 Recipients (Figures are inclusive of GST)

Research and Implementation Projects - Total = $547k:

Assessing Hauora Māori in Medical Students in Clinical Settings - $140k: Dr Rhys Jones (Contact Project Leader), University of Auckland

Best Practice in Supervisor Feedback to Thesis Writers in New Zealand Universities -$95k: Professor John Bitchener (Contact Project Leader), AUT University

Dedicated Education Unit: Enhancing Clinical Teaching and Learning - $105k: Dr Willem Fourie, Manukau Institute of Technology (Contact Project Leader)

Engaging Learners Effectively in Science, Technology and Engineering: The Pathway from Secondary to University Education - $97k: Professor Tim Parkinson (Contact Project Leader), Massey University
 
ITO Workplace Assessment Structures - $110k: Nicholas Huntington (Contact Project Leader), Industry Training Federation

Māori Initiative Projects - Total = $419k:

Exploring Community and Whanau-Based Learning Strategies to Promote the Safe Practice and Use of Taranaki Reo and Tikanga away from Learning Environments - $149k: Deleraine Puhara (Contact Project Leader), Te Kupenga Mātauranga o Taranaki
 
Te Kāwai Kūmara – A Pilot for the Synchronous Delivery of a Common Postgraduate Programme in te reo Māori Across Multiple Sites - $145k: Professor Tania Ka’ai (Contact Project Leader) and Professor John Moorfield, AUT University
 
Tātou Tāou/Success for All: Improving Māori Student Success in Health Professional Degree-Level Programmes - $125k: Dr Elana Curtis (Contact Project Leader), University of Auckland
 
Collaboration Project - Total = $27k:

Te Hononga Mātauranga - $27k: Dr Te Kani Kingi (Contact Project Leader), Massey University.

ENDS
 

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