Students researching, Researching students

Researching students? Students as researchers and students being researched

The inaugural Pymble student research conference will take place on Tuesday 17 May, 5.00pm to 7.30pm, with an optional pizza picnic networking event at the conclusion. Student organisers, Lucy and Charlotte (Year 11), invite research-interested students from all schools to join the conference either on campus at Pymble Ladies’ College or online via a MS Teams livestream. The conference will be most suitable for Secondary students but all are welcome.

The conference aims to encourage students to participate in research. Learn about how research works at university and the difference you can make, as well as meeting other students and sharing ideas. We are excited to announce the list of speakers, including:

• Opening keynote speaker: Associate Professor Willa Huston, Acting Head of School – Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, UTS. A/Professor Huston’s research area is molecular microbiology
• Closing keynote speaker: Professor Amanda Keddie, Chair in Education, Faculty of Arts and Education, and leader of the Children, Young People and their Communities team within the REDI (Research for Educational Impact) Centre, Deakin University. Professor Keddie’s research area is social justice and schooling.
• Bachelor or Education (Honours) student: Ms Thomasina Buchner, student in the School of Education and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney and a dance teacher at Pymble. Ms Buchner is conducting research into teaching mathematics for young students (Year 1) through dance.
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Candidate, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney: Ms Erica Bell. Ms Bell is conducting research into the feeling of irritability in mental health for adolescents.
• Pymble Institute Director, Pymble Ladies’ College: Dr Sarah Loch. Dr Loch is the Director of the Pymble Institute and leads research and professional learning at the College. Her research area is young people’s engagement in research, as well as futures and career directions for adolescent girls.

As part of our students’ ongoing passion to understand the student perspective of research, we hope to undertake research with the students attending the conference. The research question is ‘How can schools support and enable a research culture for students?’ This involves understanding what motivates students to involve themselves in academia. This will hopefully enable us to be more informed as to what inspires students to be interested in the world of academia.

Save the date – 17 May 5.00pm to 8.00pm, and click here for registration.