Research Aims

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The Faculty of Education has a strong research culture driven by a commitment to innovation, enhancing educational professional practice and solving real-world issues. The Faculty has implemented cutting-edge innovations in research training, and has attained a critical mass of educational researchers that attract many competitive and contracted research grants. The Doctor of Education, Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Education (Research) courses offer a variety of research options allowing researchers to make an original contribution to their area of expertise.

The Faculty has been extremely successful in securing Australian Research Council (ARC) grants for major research projects as well as many forms of commercial research projects.

Since its inception in 2005, the Centre for Learning Innovation has enthusiastically pursued its goal of becoming a leader in collaborative research with the education professions and a recognised innovator in research education, both nationally and internationally.
A variety of research is conducted across the Faculty with clusters of researchers focussing on:

• Early Years
• Curriculum and Instruction and
• Mathematics Curriculum

Faculty research interests include knowledge in maths, science, engineering and technology; cognition and creativity; creative workforce; cultural transformations; development and disability; indigenous capacity building; literacy; and scholarship of teaching in higher education.

These research cultures are designed to offer opportunities for joint projects with other faculties and units within QUT, such as the Oodgeroo Unit and the Faculties of Science, Built Environment and Engineering, Creative Industries and Health.

The CLI is also a key partner in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cultural and Media Industries and leads a cross-university group focusing on developing the Creative Workforce.

Through its activities the Centre aims to:

• increase the Faculty's capacity to produce high quality research outputs within the focus areas
• develop selectivity and concentration in line with national policy shifts
• broaden the focus of social scientific research to include the full lifespan
• support staff involvement in grant application, publication and HDR student supervision activities
• increase attention to quality assurance, particularly as it pertains to research training and supervision
• provide a forum for sharing knowledge, skills and resources within the three focus areas at a local, state, national, and international level
• maintain and develop close links with school communities, education professions, and the general community
• expand contract research opportunities through partnerships with industry
• overcoming disadvantage and assisting underrepresented groups to develop their skills and capacities as knowledge workers
• optimise collaboration within and across research teams at the Faculty and University levels.