Projects: Applied Research

The Applied Research Project is a component of the 2004 Policy and Research Program.

The 2004 Applied Research Project, Engaging industry in flexible learning, aimed to identify and communicate successful flexible learning solutions to improve the quality and increase the take-up of structured training in Australian workplaces. Industry is taken to mean both enterprise and industry sectors. The 2004 Applied Research project produced five research papers which covered the ways in which flexible learning (including e-learning) could be used to foster the development of high performance workplaces, including the needs of mature, rural and remote learners (including Indigenous), and to provide dynamic models of enterprise and registered training organisations (RTOs) partnerships.

The Australian Flexible Learning Framework's (Framework) Research Program (2000-2003) conducted an integrated four-year research and dissemination program on pedagogical, technical and managerial aspects of flexible learning in vocational education and training (VET) with specific reference to e-learning.

Find out about and download the five research papers

The Policy and Research Program has also produced a CD-ROM to disseminate the findings of the five Applied Research Projects it managed in 2003, two projects managed by NCVER for the Framework, and one managed by the Professional Development Program. A CD-ROM will be produced in 2005 to disseminate the 2004 applied research.

This initiative continued to place a priority on legal, policy and regulatory barriers to the widespread uptake of e-learning in industry, VET and Adult Community Education (ACE). The research projects commissioned took an applied research approach to identifying effective strategies to address the issues.

The outcomes provided a valuable resource to underpin the advocacy roles in the context of each jurisdiction, informed policy makers of the impact of policy and systemic barriers to e-learning implementation and provided practical strategies for consideration.

The 2004 Applied Research Projects were commissioned in the following priority areas:

• strategies to increase training using a flexible learning approach in growth industries/ sectors
• strategies to foster flexible learning in the development of high performance workplaces
• strategies to support casual and part-time workers (male and female)
• strategies to support the needs of older and displaced workers
• strategies to address other equity groups, including youth, Indigenous, rural and remote

The projects undertaken plan to produce the following outcomes:

• a report that will be made available to the Flexible Learning Advisory Group (FLAG) and which may be disseminated more widely
• clarity around the nature of and rationale for any required adaptations to existing policy
• practical strategies and suggested processes to enable progression within each industry, including if relevant, across jurisdictions
• a synthesis of the views of key stakeholders in each State and Territory that have been considered in the process
• implications and imperatives for change
• recommended strategies for further advancing resolution of policy issues

More about the 5 Applied Research Projects for 2004.

View applied research:
2004 Research
2003 Research
2002 Research
2001 Research
2000 Research
1998 Research

Kate Fannon
Project Manager

Telephone: (08) 8303 2616
Fax: (08) 8303 2667
E email: katefann@tafe.sa.edu.au