Research projects: Building knowledge about teaching and learning.

These research projects are to be designed to explicitly build on the TLRI aims: to build cumulative knowledge about teaching and learning; and to build research capability. They are to build knowledge by clearly drawing on existing evidence to take the particular field forward and by taking account of learning from completed TLRI projects and other relevant New Zealand-based research initiatives.

Funding for Type I projects has two categories; 

The research projects are to have a very clear research design with specific questions that come from an exploration grounded in the literature. They are to be led or co-led by an experienced principal investigator and be designed in a way that explicitly offers opportunities for emerging researchers to develop their skills (so that in time they might develop the expertise required of a principal investigator). Researcher–practitioner partnerships are to be integral to the design of the project. The partnership, however, is to guide the research question(s) but not drive the project. To this end there is to be a focus on the individuals in the team using their collective expertise rather than on explicitly developing the research skills of the practitioner members of the project team. It is, however, pivotal that all team members have the opportunity to learn. In this collaboration, practitioners might take the role of advisory board, data gatherers, informants, etc. and not necessarily be integral to all aspects of the thinking inside the partnership. It is, of course, necessary that the researchers have clear and consistent regard for practice and practitioners and that the practitioners have clear and consistent regard for research and researchers.