Valuing Practice as Research
NTROs & Competency-Based Learning at HCT
The Evaluation Gap
In applied fields, our most impactful work, a film, a design campaign, a technological innovation,often isn't captured in traditional journal articles. This creates a fundamental challenge: how do we value and recognise work that drives real-world impact but doesn't fit conventional academic metrics?
Traditional Scholarship
Journal articles, conference papers, and theoretical research dominate promotion criteria, yet may have limited practical application in industry contexts.
Applied Impact
Films, campaigns, designs, and technological solutions create tangible change but struggle for recognition within traditional academic frameworks.
When Does Practice Become Research?
Research is fundamentally the process of creating new knowledge. When practice involves systematic investigation, critical reflection, and the generation of new insights, it transcends mere execution and becomes research itself.
01
Identify the Question
What creative or technical challenge requires investigation? What knowledge gap exists?
02
Iterative Investigation
Systematic exploration through practice, testing approaches, documenting discoveries.
03
Embodied Knowledge
New understanding manifested in the creative or technical output itself.
04
Articulated Process
Clear documentation of methodology, decisions, and insights gained through practice.
Example: A basic musical progression is practice. But investigating "How do I reinterpret this using Carribean Reggae scales?" through iterative creative exploration becomes research. The output is the NTRO; the process created new knowledge embodied in sound.
The NTRO Framework
Non-Traditional Research Outputs (NTROs) provide a formal system for evaluating practice-based work within academic contexts. This globally recognised framework offers a rigorous methodology for assessing creative and applied outputs alongside traditional scholarship.
Films & Media
Documentaries, creative productions, multimedia installations
Design Work
Campaigns, branding systems, user experience innovations
Technical Solutions
Applications, platforms, technological innovations
Industry Reports
Strategic analyses, policy recommendations, sector studies
Global Standards & Recognition
The NTRO framework isn't an experimental approach—it's an established international standard used by leading research assessment systems worldwide. This alignment ensures HCT's practice-based and applied research receives recognition equivalent to traditional scholarship.
UK Research Excellence Framework (REF)
The UK's national system for assessing research quality explicitly includes and values practice-based outputs across creative and applied disciplines, treating them as equivalent to traditional publications.
Australia's Excellence in Research (ERA)
Australia's comprehensive research evaluation system has successfully integrated NTROs for over a decade, providing robust assessment criteria for creative and applied work.
International Precedent
Leading institutions globally—from the Royal College of Art to MIT Media Lab—recognise practice-based research as fundamental to innovation and knowledge creation.
The Equivalency Matrix
At the heart of the NTRO framework lies a rigorous assessment methodology that evaluates practice-based work against three core criteria. This matrix translates creative and applied outputs into metrics comparable with traditional research, mapping them to Scopus Q1/Q2 equivalents.
Originality
Does the work demonstrate novel approaches, creative innovation, or new methodologies? Does it advance practice in meaningful ways?
Significance
What is the reach and influence of the work? Does it affect industry practice, policy, or cultural understanding? Who benefits?
Rigour
Is the methodology systematic and well-documented? Does the work demonstrate technical excellence and critical reflection?
This assessment framework makes practice-based research legible for promotion and performance committees, providing clear criteria for evaluating work that might otherwise be overlooked or undervalued in traditional academic structures.
Faculty Advantage
The NTRO framework directly addresses a critical challenge facing HCT faculty: how to gain recognition for industry expertise and applied work within academic promotion and performance structures. By validating practice-based research, we create pathways for faculty to advance their careers whilst maintaining strong industry connections.
Recognition of Expertise
Industry experience and applied projects gain formal academic recognition, validating the unique strengths faculty bring from professional practice.
Promotion Pathways
Clear criteria enable faculty to demonstrate research impact through their creative and applied work, supporting advancement without requiring traditional publication records.
Industry Connections
Faculty can maintain active industry engagement knowing this work contributes to their academic standing rather than competing with it.
Enhanced Challenge-Based Learning
The NTRO framework creates a powerful synergy with HCT's Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) model. When faculty practice-based research receives formal recognition, it directly enriches the learning environment, ensuring students engage with cutting-edge, industry-relevant expertise.
Recognised Practice
Faculty conduct rigorous, evaluated practice-based research
Enriched Teaching
Current industry insights and methodologies flow into curriculum
Student Advantage
Learners gain real-world mentorship from recognised experts
Students don't just learn theory, they work alongside faculty whose practice-based research is actively shaping their industries. This creates authentic learning experiences where challenges are real, mentorship is expert, and outcomes have genuine impact.
The NTRO framework ensures that the practitioners teaching our students are also recognised researchers, bringing the highest calibre of applied expertise into every competency-based project.
Recognising the Research We Already Do
This isn't about doing more research
The NTRO framework doesn't ask HCT faculty to add new responsibilities or shift away from their strengths. Instead, it provides a mechanism to better recognise and value the impactful research already happening across our applied programmes.
0
Additional Workload
No new research requirements—just better recognition of existing practice
100%
Mission Alignment
Evaluation criteria that match HCT's applied focus and CBL commitment
2
Dual Benefits
Faculty advancement and enhanced student learning from one framework
By aligning our evaluation systems with our institutional values, we create an environment where faculty can thrive doing what they do best: bringing cutting-edge industry practice into transformative learning experiences for students.
The Way Forward
Implementing the NTRO framework at HCT represents a strategic opportunity to align our evaluation systems with our mission, strengthen our Competency-Based Learning model, and provide clear pathways for faculty advancement through practice-based research.
Immediate Next Step
Form a working group to pilot the NTRO framework across selected programmes, developing HCT-specific assessment criteria and documentation processes.
Pilot Phase Goals
Test the equivalency matrix with diverse outputs, refine evaluation procedures, and gather evidence of impact on both faculty advancement and student learning.
Institutional Integration
Develop policies, training, and support systems to embed NTRO evaluation within promotion criteria and research strategy across HCT.
The NTRO framework offers HCT a pathway to recognise excellence where it already exists—in the innovative, impactful practice-based work our faculty create every day. By valuing this work appropriately, we strengthen both our academic standing and our commitment to transformative, industry-connected education.