Workforce Development Applied Research Fund (WDARF) Grant

The project aims to develop an Impact Evaluation (IE) protocol to quantify Singapore’s return on investment (ROI) on the Skills Framework and other upskilling initiatives. It considers (1) employers’ recognition of the need for skills, (2) their willingness to pay for skills, (3) how they pay for skills, and in turn, how this impacts (4) productivity, (5) employee engagement, and (6) retention. The proposed IE serves two key purposes. The first is accountability, to ensure that the Skills Framework actually leads to outcomes. The second is learning, to offer an evidence base to improve the effectiveness of the Skills Framework in fostering outcomes of interest.

This project proposes to create an AI teaching assistant using a Chatbot, to assist tutors in providing individualized learning experiences and pathways for their adult learners. The Chatbot will have access to learning analytics information of learners to provide highly customizable content for learners with various needs. For example, for the academically slow progressing CET learners, the Chatbot identifies the domains that require more help and directs them to more relevant and specific resources. The instantaneous and efficient communication allows the learner to be proactive in asking questions, seeking clarifications and assistance on the fly, without the fear of being judged for the quantity or content of their inquiries. The Chatbot can also contain assessment or assignment information to help learners to prioritize their time.

This project brings together two fields of research that rarely work together – social psychology and a socio-cultural perspective, both within the field of adult learning. In a small way, this project provides a means to make visible the assumptions, theoretical stances, and units of analysis embodied in the logic of various epistemological, ontological approaches that are otherwise assumed and, thus, silent. The project will move beyond multi-disciplinary research towards a transdisciplinary approach in the field of the science of adult learning, in Singapore and around the world.

The objective of this study is to advance the digital skills and competencies of own-account workers in Singapore through benchmarking a set of job-ready digital skills and mapping a framework for digital skills development. The project seeks to unlock the benefits of digitalisation for a segment of Singaporean workers who tend to be digitally low-skilled so that they too can participate meaningfully in the digital economy. Findings from the study will support the policymaking work of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), the SG Digital Office (SDO) and the National Jobs Council.

The project is aimed at measuring changes in career circumstances and attitudes over time (12 months), as well as qualitative interviews which glean deeper insights on Singaporean workers' personal experiences.