The purpose of this research is to identify individual needs and the range of outcomes that accrue from participation in non-accredited community Adult Language Literacy and Numeracy programs across a variety of client groups. From this it is intended to develop and appraise a portfolio of 'best practice' tools from which coordinators and teachers and tutors can select those that are most appropriate for monitoring student progress in their particular situations across that range of outcomes.
The following research questions will be considered during this project:
1. What are the main LLN learner groups and their needs in non-accredited programs?
2. What are the main outcomes from non-accredited LLN programs, and what is the role of personal agency and goals in achieving these outcomes for individual learners?
3. How might these outcomes best be 'measured' in order to indicate the extent of progress that students are making, in terms of reporting against: (i) existing frameworks; (ii) personal needs and interests of participants; and (iii) a comparison between (i) and (ii)?
4. To what extent might such indicators of progress be appropriate for incorporating into a national reporting process?
An action research approach will be applied in this project that involves four main phases.
Phase 1: Appraising of current research, through the further interrogation of the data collected by Dymock in the 2006 study of non-accredited community ALLN in Australia, particularly in relation to client groups, perceived learner needs, and outcomes; a review of the literature on assessment practices in non-accredited adult and community education and LLN in other developed countries and in Australia with the aim of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of practices applied elsewhere; and a review of the literature on personal agency and learner identity to identify those aspects most relevant to ALLN learning.
Phase 2: Collecting the data. Semi-structured interviews and discussions with coordinators, teachers and students and collection of relevant resources at six metropolitan, provincial and regional sites in three states comprise this phase. Selection of the sites will be based on responses in the 2006 Dymock study to questions on needs, outcomes and assessment. Interviews will be coded and along with documents collected from each site at the time of the interviews, as well as from other relevant sources identified during the site selection process, will comprise a tentative portfolio of documents to monitor the progress of ALLN learners.
Phase 3: Collaborative development of portfolio. In this stage of the Action Research process, the Principal Researchers will work with the coordinators at the six sites to develop the 'tentative portfolio' into a 'working portfolio' that will become the basis for Phase 4. Since each site will have different characteristics, the Principal Researchers will also collaboratively establish a protocol for the application of the portfolio at the sites in Phase 4. Collaborative development will include the face-to-face interactions with coordinators in Phase 2, and then phone and email contact, including teleconferencing, in order to verify a portfolio of possible tools to indicate progress across a variety of LLN outcomes, constitutes a key focus of this phase. Having identified reporting measures and tools within Phase 2, in this phase the findings are synthesized into a portfolio of possible tools. These will be verified by participants engaged in the metropolitan, provincial and rural sites.
Phase 4: Testing the portfolio. This phase comprises the appraisal of application of the selected 'indicators of progress' by LLN practitioners for different client groups, across the six sites. Coordinators, teachers and participants will rate the efficacy of the tools against dimensions associated with personal and institutional imperatives. This phase will include a one-day forum at a central location between the researchers and the LLN coordinators from the six sites. This forum will be used to evaluate the outcomes of the application of the 'indicators of progress'.
The Adult and Vocational area within the School of Vocational, Technology and Arts Education, Griffith University has a demonstrated capacity for quality research and its conduct in a prompt manner, particularly through the Centre for Learning Research. The University has extensive research infrastructure to support the effective enactment of this research. This includes library sources, access to computing, data processing and research support facilities. There are also University resources that will be used to support the administration of the research project from within the University.
