Impact Narratives
NIE’s Impact Narratives presents a series of research papers that are concise, evidence-informed accounts of how NIE researchers have evolved a pilot to prototype to subsequent iterations. This format distils up to a decade of research, practice, and implementation in a subject or specialised research into an accessible resource. It is a handy resource guide for educators, school leaders, policymakers, and researchers who are seeking to understand how educational innovations take root and deliver meaningful change. Each presents unique system-wide method or tool(s) that were integrated into Singapore schools to build on impactful insights. By drawing from interviews, project documentation, published reports, development journey, partnerships, early outcomes or reactions, an Impact Narrative paper presents an overview on the possibility of scalability, technique, in some cases, technology, and reflective practice approaches that have worked.
Why are Impact Narrative papers a useful format of resource?
An Impact Narrative provides a clear, structured account of how research translates into practice. Instead of technical reports or standalone data points, it synthesises insights across multiple projects, making it easier to:
- understand the problem the innovation addresses;
- trace how the solution was co-designed, trialled, refined, and scaled;
- see evidence of early outcomes;
- recognise the roles of partnerships and enablers of successful implementation;
- appreciate the long-term value for the education system.
It also gives stakeholders a holistic view of how educational technologies, based on a specialised focus, support professional learning, teacher reflection, and student engagement.
This format is valuable to a wide range of education stakeholders, including:
- School leaders – to understand how reflective teaching tools contribute to teacher growth and school-based professional learning.
- Teachers and educators – to see practical examples of how technology can enhance reflection, collaboration, and pedagogical improvement.
- Subject heads and master teachers – to support professional development design, mentoring practices, and subject-specific teaching improvement.
- Education researchers – to study the research-to-practice pipeline and investigate outcomes, adoption, and implementation fidelity.
- Policymakers, Ministry of Education officers and programme designers – to inform decisions on scaling and integrating innovations within national platforms in Singapore.
- EdTech developers and specialists – to understand user needs, context-sensitive design, and what drives effective uptake.
- Academics and scientists in learning sciences – to examine data-driven analytics and multimodal learning environments in action.
VOLUMES
Published: September 2025 How to cite this report: Tan, J. T., & Ow, R. F. L. (2025). Impact narrative: Researcher-Practitioner Co-Constructed Professional Development Model. Research-Practice-Policy Group, Office for Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. |
Published: March 2025 How to cite this report: Office for Research (2025). Impact narrative: Designing future-ready school libraries for reading engagement and student-centred learning. Research-Practice-Policy Group, Office for Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. |