National Project Fund - priority areas

NPF Priority Areas

To date the National Project Fund (NPF) has been an open contestable fund whereby applicants are accepted in broadly defined areas. Now the NPF is fully established with a significant body of work funded and underway, we are in a position to specify highly targeted priority areas in which to call for applications. Research and Implementation Projects, Māori Initiative Projects and Pacific Peoples’ Projects will each have specific targeted areas set on an annual basis by the Ako Aotearoa Board, the Māori Caucus and the Pacific Caucus respectively.

In developing the priority areas we conducted a mapping exercise to identify the spread of projects we are supporting across disciplines, topics and sectors. We drew from our discussions with a broad range of stakeholders and our experiences to date. We considered the recent and current contestable funding available across the tertiary sector. The priority areas reflect both the strategic priorities identified in the Ako Aotearoa Strategic Plan 2010-2013 as well as the nationally identified priorities for tertiary education in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

The objective of setting these priority areas is to identify specific gaps in current knowledge where projects are needed and hence funding should be targeted. Our intention is for the priority areas to identify the focus of work needed rather than identify specific disciplines or sectors where this work might be conducted. We will not be identifying specific methodological approaches to be adopted in any priority area. It is our expectation that project teams will identify and justify the sample selection, context and methodological approaches for their proposed projects.

Where we consider it important to identify specific sectors, disciplines or approaches to projects, we will either commission work or select through a RFP process. In all cases however, the overarching objective is to fund use-inspired projects that have the potential to drive change in tertiary teaching and learning.

Research and Implementation Projects Priority Areas 2010

• Evidence based enhancement of teaching and learning at an organisational level.

Projects that are designed to identify models of practice that enhance the teaching and learning capability of organisations. For example, projects might be directed to building educational leadership within tertiary organisations for the benefit of learners.
Note: an “organisation” in this context might be a teaching department, college/faculty, or equivalent unit offering a portfolio of programmes.

• Exploring the Experiences of Tertiary Teachers

Projects that explore what it means to be a tertiary teacher in the 21st century in Aotearoa-New Zealand and how this understanding might best drive improvement of teaching and learning. Projects might be from the perspective of the individual or from the perspective of tertiary teaching as a profession.

• Hearing and acting on the learner voice.

Projects that actively seek to support and enhance learner contributions to decision making, about the provision of tertiary teaching. In particular we would be looking for projects that enhance learner engagement. We would expect proposals in this area to actively involve learners as part of the project team.

• Measuring and enhancing the value that organisations add to different groups of learners.

Projects that systematically identify measurement techniques to measure the value added by organisations for learners of diverse backgrounds. For example, a project might assess the return on investment of interventions to enhance learner outcomes or might investigate ways of targeting limited resources to achieve the most effective outcomes for different groups of learners.

• Vocational education: measuring and enhancing employment outcomes.

Projects that research and/or implement ways of collecting and using information about employment outcomes to inform the enhancement of teaching and learning practice. For example, projects in this area might focus on a programme portfolio in a specific disciplinary area and might be from a range of organisations.

Māori Initiative Projects Priority Areas 2010

• Kaupapa Māori approaches to tertiary education - a cross sector framework to enhance the outcomes of Maori learners

Preference will be given to projects that build on the work of Hei Tauira e.g. successful practice in a pan-iwi context and/or pathways from kaupapa Māori learning environments in the compulsory sector through to tertiary education.

• Measuring the impact of tertiary education on Māori learners, their whanau and communities

Projects that identify measures that can be used to examine the value-add of successful tertiary education and can inform future improvement of practice

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