HOW CATER WORKS
A practical overview of how CATER will support researchers, build shared infrastructure, and enable collaborative activity across technology education research.
From concept to activity
CATER is organised around four connected activity areas: infrastructure, translation, accelerator, and training. Together, these areas describe how the centre will facilitate researchers, support existing groups, and create shared conditions for stronger, more collaborative technology education research.
Infrastructure
CATER will support the development and circulation of shared resources that researchers can adapt, reuse, critique, and build upon.
Activities
- Open tools and digital resources
- Validated scales and instruments
- Research protocols and templates
- Shared datasets and exemplars
- Methods articles and infrastructure publications
Researcher engagement
- Contribute tools, measures, or protocols
- Pilot resources in local contexts
- Collaborate on validation and refinement
- Share methodological decisions and lessons learned
- Adapt resources for new populations or settings
Potential outputs
- Reusable instruments
- Open methods resources
- Shared protocols
- Improved construct clarity
- Stronger cumulative research foundations
Translation
CATER will help make research more visible, accessible, and useful for the wider technology education community.
Activities
- Research summaries
- Practice-facing resources
- Policy-facing outputs
- Public webinars and dissemination events
- Cross-sector dialogue
Researcher engagement
- Share findings in accessible formats
- Contribute teacher-facing or policy-facing materials
- Participate in dissemination events
- Connect research with curriculum and teacher education communities
- Identify where research can inform practice
Potential outputs
- Greater visibility for technology education research
- Improved research uptake
- Better communication beyond academia
- Stronger links between evidence, practice, and policy
- Resources for teachers, teacher educators, and decision makers
Accelerator
CATER will create conditions that make larger, more connected, and more ambitious forms of collaboration possible.
Activities
- Working groups
- Multi-site studies
- Big-team science
- Collaborative grant development
- Partner matching across institutions
- Shared study planning and coordination
Researcher engagement
- Join thematic working groups
- Co-develop grant ideas
- Contribute to shared studies
- Build collaborations across countries and institutions
- Use CATER as a platform for scaling research ideas
Potential outputs
- Collaborative studies
- Grant applications
- International partnerships
- Shared research agendas
- Larger and more credible field-level projects
Training
CATER will support methodological capability and professional development across career stages.
Activities
- Online seminars
- Methods workshops
- Research clinics
- Doctoral and early-career support
- Annual online CATER unconference
- Training resources and textbook development
Researcher engagement
- Attend and contribute to seminars
- Join research clinics or workshops
- Share expertise through training sessions
- Participate in unconference discussions
- Use resources in teaching, supervision, and project development
Potential outputs
- Greater methodological confidence
- Better use of tools and methods
- Cross-institutional mentoring
- Training resources for the field
- Broader participation in research development
A Shared Structure for Stronger Research
CATER will develop through collaboration with researchers, educators, and partners who want to build shared infrastructure, support methodological capability, and create opportunities for larger collective work in technology education research.
Contact the Director