NTU sets up new $30-million centre for research on tertiary education

Nanyang Technological University is setting up a new $30-million centre for research on learning practices in Singapore's tertiary education sector.

The Centre for Research and Development in Learning, or Cradle for short, will seek to develop new ways of learning and assessing students, especially in an increasingly technologically-rich environment.

In a statement released on Wednesday by the university, provost Freddy Boey said: "For the last two decades, the National Institute of Education at NTU has been leading Singapore's research in learning at the primary and secondary school levels. Through Cradle, NTU will move into research on higher education learning."

Cradle aims to start with about 10 projects, including research on e-learning at the university level. The centre will work with top universities like Stanford University in the United States.

Professor Lee Sing Kong, who is stepping down as NIE director in June after more than seven years at the helm, has also been appointed by the university as the vice-president for education strategies.

In the newly created position, Prof Lee will lead the development of NTU's strategies and innovations in curricula, teaching and assessment methods. This underlines NTU's intent in setting out its learning and teaching initiatives and their implementation university-wide, the university said in the statement.

Prof Lee said the new centre will play a role in building "a strong pool of local experts who can contribute to the development of Singapore's tertiary sector where not much research has been done on learning at the university level."

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