From the Director of Pymble Institute

Being a lifelong learner in the generative AI sense

It is a pleasure to connect with you through the latest edition of the Pymble Institute’s newsletter. The PI team hope you enjoy the insights into our projects. From the start, I feel I should declare that this edition has not been written with the input of generative AI (so all quirks and errors remain my very own!) but I’m sure, like me, learning about generative AI is increasingly part of your world.

I’m not the most technological person but I have genuinely been enjoying the new concepts that large language models, emotional intelligence and generative AI are bringing to my keyboard.

I attended a fantastic Learning and Teaching Conference at the University of Sydney Business School recently where Professor Simon Buckingham Shum, from the University of Technology Sydney, delivered an outstanding keynote provocation – a reframing of the Gen AI shock waves running through education. Simon’s historical, philosophical and interdisciplinary journey into generative artificial intelligence in education called for educators to inspire students to take strong steps in the critical usage of AI tools so we can move raw technologies into educational technologies. It would be with this approach, Simon noted, that humans would shape the kinds of world they want to be part of. 

I’ve also been learning from Professor Matt Bower and Dr Jodie Torrington (Macquarie University) who are working with the AI Champions group at Pymble this year. Matt led conference participants at the Research Invested Schools Conference held last month to consider the questions we need to be asking of regarding AI in schools. Jodie spoke at the NSW Council of Deans of Education conference and explained how Macquarie University is supporting teachers through professional learning in AI. To assist schools and universities in researching these questions, Macquarie University is establishing the RAISE (Research on Artificial Intelligence in School Education) Network research project and Pymble is looking forward to being part of this initiative.

I was also delighted to be part of a Doctoral Writing Discussion group hosted by academics, Juliet Lum and Susan Mowbray, which went straight to the heart of the (academic) matter with Dr Bron Eager from the University of Tasmania presenting on the question: Should I use AI to write my PhD thesis? 

From these learning opportunities, I have held onto takeaways which I am now enjoying mulling over, including that this is the very worst phase of AI usage that we’ll ever live through. From this point onwards, bots will develop rapidly and with a better blend of language accuracy and emotional intelligence input. I am especially excited about using AI to look from perspectives and contexts that have not been my lived experience, and as Simon encouraged, using bots to unpack assumptions behind a question. Encouraging creative usage of AI in classroom learning activities has been inspired by Jodie’s examples (see Macquarie University Teachers Academy for course options) you might like. I also love the thought of getting into the ethics of why you would not want AI to write your thesis, your project, your essay… although you might like to explore what it can do to assist.

Pymble has identified areas we want to research in AI in education, including the development and use of student-created AI bots and the influence of both student and teacher-led AI initiatives. Hoping to gain a place in the highly regarded GARC (Global Action Research Collaborative) program (an initiative of the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools), Pymble’s Digital Learning Leader, Jake Turnbull, is ready to look into AI in the girls’ school context, ‘by emphasising active participation and innovation among students and educators … to shift students and teachers from being passive learners to active collaborators in the design process, enhancing their agency and creativity’. Action research will be a great way to investigate these topics due to the embedded classroom context and face-moving pace of AI in education development. Learn more about Jake’s take on AI through his role as Digital Learning Leader in his article in the current edition of Illuminate: Research and Innovation.

There is so much learning happening in the education space at the moment and so much to share amongst the research communities in our own spheres. We hope you enjoy the articles in this newsletter and they give you ideas and points of connection.

Dr Sarah Loch

Director – Pymble Institute

2024 Research Invested Schools National Conference

More than 70 delegates attended the two-day Research Invested Schools Network Conference held in Sydney in early August. The event was co-hosted by the Pymble Institute at Pymble Ladies College, the Barker Institute at Barker College and Scots Research Office at The Scots College.

The opening session, held at Pymble Ladies College, began with a warm welcome from our College Principal, Dr Kate Hadwen. With her rich experience as a Senior Research Fellow at the Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Kate challenged the RIS attendees to think about the ‘why’ we were in the research space and encouraged us to collaborate to leave a legacy for others.

Mr Philip Heath, Principal of Barker College, echoed this message by urging researchers to share knowledge and to be as ‘open access’ as possible. He recognised not all schools had the resources to have a school-based centre of educational research, like the Barker Institute led by Dr Matthew Hill, and those that did should be open to sharing their knowledge and resources.

On the second day of the gathering, Dr Ian Lambert, Principal of The Scots College, explained the bold intent behind their research centre: to radically reinvent education. Dr Rob Loe, Director of Research and Learning Innovation, announced that the Scots Research Office would be renamed the Caledonian Institute to reflect the school’s Scottish history. Its new home will be in the new library and thus embedded in student life.

Keynote Speakers:

Professor Nick Hopwood, at the UTS School of International Studies & Education addressed the group on an important question for many research-invested schools: School-university partnerships: How to partner for transformation. Nick’s presentation and experience across a large number of school and university research projects kicked off a vigorous discussion on the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of school-university partnerships in research.

Professor Matt Bower, Professor of Learning Technologies at Macquarie University, led the group to explore latest developments in AI and asked how schools and educators should be thinking about pedagogy and curriculum in this evolving framework. The discussion at each table created a collaborative set of topics and issues which are common across so many educational sectors.

Professor Tyler J. VanderWeele, from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, asked the group to consider the outcomes of human flourishing, as it impacts all aspects of a person’s life, including happiness and life satisfaction, physical and mental health, meaning and purpose. The group considered Tyler’s question about the role schools play in the flourishing of children and young adults.

A diverse range of workshops also presented research at the two day conference:

Research Translation: How a Masters of Research Thesis, ‘Wellbeing of Children of Skilled Migrants to Australia’, leads to professional learning for staff. Victoria Adamovich, (Pymble Ladies College)

Research Skill and Mindsets: How an action research skills program can lead change in Junior School girls’ wellbeing programs: ‘Connecting with our feelings- Using collaboration to strengthen social and emotional skill development in Year 3 girls’ Kate Giles, (Pymble Ladies College)

Academic Research: How to use professional experiences to inspire a PhD in teacher wellbeing, ‘Compassion fatigue and sharing the emotional load’, and ways of translating academic research for colleagues in your own school and beyond. Mariel Lombard, (Pymble Ladies College)

Research Collaboration: How to work in partnership, within and beyond the school, to research a new initiative: ‘Assessing the impact of the the Vision Valley outdoor education program’ Vanessa Petersen, Tom Riley, Victoria Adamovich (Pymble Ladies College)

Research Skill and Mindsets: How to use academic literature reviews to support strategic initiatives. Dr Josh McDermott and Dr Sarah Loch (Pymble Ladies College)

Research and Growth: How to build intergenerational research relationships: the Inspiring Women in Science and Health program. Dr Louise McCuaig, (Matthew Flinders Anglican College) and Kristy Forrest, (St Catherine’s, Melbourne)

Integrating Lived Experience with Research in Education: How schools can integrate lived experience with research-based evidence to transform educational approaches, enhance outcomes and improve efficacy across the board. Amy Gill, (Youth Off The Streets)

Empowering Secondary Education through Applied Research: The Churchie Research Centre’s Learner’s Toolkit – Transforming 40+ Schools and 5000+ Students.  The story of how the best Science of Learning is being deployed to help secondary schools and their students master the art of study at a pivotal time in their lives Vicky Leighton, (Anglican Church Grammar School, Brisbane)

Pedagogical alignment: the Holy Grail: Peter Twining, (University of Newcastle/Belief2Practice)

Embedding system wide implementation across Brisbane Catholic Education Honor Mackley and Nathan Richards, (Brisbane Catholic Education)

Research Conversations Conference series : A biannual online event that bridges the gap between educational research and classroom practice Prue Sommer, (St Andrew’s Cathedral School, Sydney)

Being Better Together! : How research-driven, evidenced-based classroom practices within the Shore Teacher Expertise Program (STEP) are driving change and creating a culture of collaboration and academic excellence among teaching staff. Matt Bentley and Doug Broadbent, (Sydney, Church of England Grammar School)

Special thanks to Emma Coupland (Pymble) and Susan Layton (Barker) whose behind the scenes work ensured the success of the conference.

The 2025 Conference will be held in Melbourne!

My wish for you in science and health research

Inspiring Women in Science and Health – My wish for the future is….

The future of women’s leadership and influence in health and science careers is looking bright with girls and staff from three east coast schools coming together to participate in I-WiSH 2024. I-WiSH stands for Inspiring Women in Science and Health and the goal of the event is to allow girls to hear directly from PhD students and academics about their current research. Dr Louise McCuaig, the dynamic director of the Flinders Discovery Institute, the research centre at Matthew Flinders Anglican School, located at Buderim on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, has been running this unique event for a number of years in collaboration with two Science Heads of Department, Mrs Emmie Cossell and Mr John Fitzgerald. I-WiSH is well-positioned to make a unique impact on girls’ career directions in science and health research.

In this truly collaborative event, Pymble Ladies’ College and St Catherine’s, Toorak, Melbourne, each took a group of Year 10 students to represent our schools and to learn about I-WiSH from the staff and students of Flinders. The girls learnt about cutting edge research in areas as diverse as dark matter, mapping kelp forests, women’s reproductive health, urban cooling, pharmacy information literacy and the neuroscience of paediatric pain. Students selected a topic to explore more deeply and worked with the researcher to create a change strategy relating to the topic. The winning team developed a series of infographics to communicate key conversation starters relating to medicine prescriptions with doctors and patients. Their lead academic was PhD student, Megan Deldot, who is studying in the School of Pharmacy (University of Queensland) with Professor Lisa Nissen. Lisa is a Professor in Pharmacy Practice and one of Australia’s leading pharmacy and medicine policy developers. The group was fortunate to spend additional time with Professor Nissen during a visit to the University of Queensland campus on the third day of the event.

A highlight of I-WiSH was the words of wisdom the academics gifted the students. They offered advice for the girls’ future careers in science and health, including, ‘I wish you can find a space where you can create impact- whatever that space may be’, ‘Don’t stress- there are so many pathways to get to where you want to be’, and, ‘Once you graduate, give yourself a chance to learn and grow. There will always be plenty of time to undertake the research you love and are passionate about’.

Congratulations to the following students for being Pymble’s pioneer group to experience I-WiSH: Isabella, Tia, Emelia, Melody, Adison, Lena, Karzan, Wyntah, Lucy and Cindi. Thank you to the staff who accompanied the group: Dr Bunny, Ms Kitto, Mrs Shaw and Dr Loch.

The team at Matthew Flinders Anglican College are leading in their commitment in this field and we gratefully recognise the inspirational work of Dr Louise McCuaig, Ms Emmie Cossell, Principal Ms Michelle Carroll and Head of Science, Mr John Fitzgerald.

The Pymble Institute is very excited about running our own I-WiSH next year as a way of making research even more relevant for school students. The Pymble event aims to utilise our connections with First Nations women, including parents of First Nations students at the College, who are working in science and health, and pairing NAIDOC Week and National Science Week celebrations. Contact Sarah if you would like your girls (from all girls or co-educational schools in the Sydney area) would like to participate in our 2025 event.

Creating a research framework fit for a school

We have recently been exploring key questions as we develop a research framework designed to assist both students and staff in building their research skills. This significant project emphasises the fundamentals of the research process, ultimately helping us achieve our goal of instilling confidence and skills in the researchers – and would-be researchers – in our school community.

Research often involves navigating complex pathways, and many flow charts and guides – from the PhD level down – depict these steps in a linear fashion. However, when applied in practice, research can become ‘messy in the middle’ due to the diversity of inquiry types. To address this challenge, the Pymble Institute team has partnered with Conde Library, the College’s secondary school library, to create a streamlined process that guides student research more effectively.

Our framework encompasses essential skills, including information literacy (such as finding and evaluating sources, reading at an academic level, and appropriate referencing) and broader research skills (like qualitative and quantitative methods, ethical considerations, and writing for diverse audiences). We are also focused on defining what research is and how to teach its various skills to learners from Year 4 through to adults.

Part of our mission includes building a multilayered understanding of the researcher’s mindset. This is one grounded in curiosity, critical thinking, and a passion for exploration. We emphasise the importance of persistence when tackling complex challenges and finding authentic and influential ways of communicating findings. This approach prompts us to consider how research skills manifest differently across age groups, including, what research looks like for primary-aged children, adolescents, older students, and adults pursuing postgraduate studies, and what skills require longer time periods to understand and master?

The Pymble Research Framework will address several key areas: Getting Ready to Research, Working with Information, Making Sense of Information, Communicating, and Celebrating and Reflecting. We are excited to announce that our framework is ready for piloting with students, and we invite colleagues in the school research area to collaborate with us in sharing ideas, especially if developing these skills is part of your agenda.

For more information, please contact Spencer Toohey, Library Coordinator – Teaching and Learning, at stoohey@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au or Sarah Loch, Director – Pymble Institute, sloch@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au.

Transforming educational experiences in the USYD Business School

The University of Sydney Business School held their annual Learning and Teaching forum recently with the theme of grand designs to transform education. Dr Sarah Loch, Director – Pymble Institute, and Kerryl Howarth, Director of Professional Learning, were very pleased to be part of the event and to learn from the innovative approaches the USYD Business School is utilising. The sessions created a space for academics to showcase innovations in learning and teaching experiences, team teaching, equity, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, assessment and student experience.

The panel discussion, chaired by Professor Peter Bryant (Associate Dean – Education, University of Sydney Business School), included faculty academics, current students, an industry representative and Sarah, as a representative for the school sector. Following Peter’s excellent questioning, the panel discussed the future of learning and teaching based on changing expectations and diverse contexts. From the Pymble perspective, Sarah gave insights some of the expectations secondary students and their parents have for their secondary education and ways secondary schools are shifting to meet these needs. The panel discussion is available to be viewed here.

With research-based approaches and skill-sets highlighted at Pymble Ladies’ College, students are looking to their post-school, tertiary studies to take them even further into ways they can make a difference in a complex and fast-moving world. Sarah shared ideas around students’ interest in pairing future work in business with a commitment to social justice, and deploying their commitment to diversity in future learning opportunities.

Pymble staff affirmed it was a privilege to be part of this conference, details of which can be found on the University of Sydney Business School website. 

Slowing down to learn well: Junior School researchers

The Sokratis Research project is now in its second year as a year-long, passion-based research experience for Pymble students from Year 7 to 11. Last year, the Junior School version – Sokratis Junior – also commenced and is now in full swing as an opportunity for our younger students to extend their research skills.

Sokratis Junior is the brainchild of the Deputy Academic of the Junior School, Lara Bird, with specialist support from our Junior and Middle Years Inquiry Learning Leader, Sarah Colquhoun and Director of the Pymble Institute, Dr Sarah Loch. Organising a co-curricular, open-ended research program for Year 4 to 6 students presents challenges that do not arise in the same way for older students and adult researchers but, by making research visible, the Junior Sokratis team are seeing the benefits of stepping students more slowly through the early stages of the process.

The project’s theme is sustainability and all students are selecting topics and developing research questions relating to this domain. Students’ research questions include, ‘How can we remove plastic from the ocean?’; How can education be a way of reducing poverty?’; and ‘What would happen if we stopped recycling?’ The team agrees that students are gaining value from taking more gradual steps into their understanding the field and they are being very intentional about what they wish to ask. There is more confidence in students’ willingness to rewrite their research questions and less expectation for instantaneous results. The team have noticed students using synonyms, varied search terms and being more open to trying different ways of searching for information, rather than sticking with the first thing that comes to mind.

An important concern in creating inquiry and research opportunities for younger students is they may need to access internet sites which may be unhelpful and even inappropriate. In Sokratis Junior, we decided to maximise the use of books from the College library, with online material as supplementary. For children who have grown up with search engines at their finger tips, the skills of selecting and evaluating websites for their quality and relevance takes longer to develop, however students are now showing more interest in discerning whether a site really helps them with their question.

The process of note-making is another area in which the Sokratis Junior team is seeing changes. Using the curated resources, students are more confidently capturing the information related to their question, rather than the general topic and are gaining skills in both reading and assessing the value of the information. The back-and-forth process of brainstorming with the teachers is helping students develop their field of knowledge, introduce more key terms, confirm spelling and extend understanding. This all results in more critical thought and more confidence in the process of inquiry – a fundamental aspect of research.

Sokratis Junior culminates in a showcase where students create a display of artefacts, posters, models and hands-on activities to communicate their research to an audience of peers, teachers and parents.