Ako Aotearoa announces National Project Fund awards

Ako Aotearoa – the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence – has announced a commitment of more than $1.3 million to support projects that “strategically improve” tertiary teaching and learning.  Nine new projects will receive funding from the first round of the centre’s National Project Fund, spread over the fund’s three streams – research and implementation projects, Māori initiative projects and collaboration projects.  Five projects are in the first stream, three in the second and one in the third stream have been funded.

One of the research and implementation projects is “best practice in supervisor feedback to thesis writers in New Zealand universities” which will receive funding of $95,000.  The project will be led by Professor John Bitchener (AUT). A further project in that stream is “engaging learners effectively in science, technology and engineering, the pathway from secondary to university education” which receives $97,000.  The project will be led by Professor Tim Parkinson from Massey University.

As well as universities, the nine projects involve Adult Community Education, Industry Training Organisations, Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics and Wānanga, with several featuring cross-organisational and cross-sector collaborations.