Proceedings of the 8th International Academic Conference on Education
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Innovative Practice in Research Proposal Development: The 21st Century Initiative for Management Sciences in The Higher Education Sector
Robert Walter Dumisani Zondo
ABSTRACT:
The context of higher education is changing. This is due to several factors transforming this sector. It is therefore important for the sector to continuously learn new ways of conducting business and introduce innovative methods in its post- graduate research-based teaching. Thus, the future of academia in Higher Education lies in the continuous search for innovative methods of evaluating students’ research proposal. This view underpins the significance of Research Proposal Evaluation Tool (REPRET). REPRET is a computer-based innovative tool that assists emerging research supervisors (or promoters) in the management sciences in evaluating students’ research proposals effectively. It has built-in functions that provide technical and methodological guides regarding students’ proposals. It assists students in improving the quality of their research proposals, the efficiency of research proposal development, as well as throughput. It is a Microsoft Excel-based tool managed by the research supervisor (or promoter), covers various sections of the research proposal and is compatible with quantitative, qualitative and mixed paradigms. The contribution of REPRET as an innovative tool relies on higher education’s ability to adapt to new processes. REPRET represents a revolutionary innovative philosophy in education. It helps the higher educational sector, particularly the management sciences, to achieve competitive advantage and higher performance.
keywords: higher education sector; management sciences, innovation; research proposal evaluation tool (REPRET); throughput