Over the past decade, AISNSW, through the Education Research Council, has extended invitations for School Based Research Projects applications. A range of successful schools have been granted funding and support as a result.

Queenwood, located on Sydney's lower North Shore, is one of the final three schools to undertake research through this program. The school delivers NESA and IB curricula to approximately 900 students.

A pilot group of about 180 students in Years 9 and 10 are explicitly taught learning strategies for self-regulation in weekly 20-minute Smart Study lessons. Lessons are largely delivered as lectures, to ensure consistency of delivery, with Tutors following up each term in one-to-one meetings with individual students.

The curriculum comprises eight outcomes adapted from a study conducted by Effney et al. (2013)*:

  • self-evaluating
  • organising and planning
  • goal-setting and motivation
  • seeking information
  • rehearsing and memorising
  • seeking social assistance
  • transforming
  • environmental structuring.

The Smart Study research project seeks to understand the relationship between teacher-facilitated structure and student autonomy, particularly in connection to academic confidence. Specifically, it investigates how a structured study skills program can foster student independence and influence academic wellbeing.


The Research Team and Critical Friends

Queenwood’s core research team consists of Emma Macey (Director, Strategic Innovation & Year 10 Coordinator), Rebecca Birch (Director of Research and Practice), Suzanne Kerr (Director of Wellbeing), Lara Harvey (Head of PDHPE & Study Skills Coordinator), and Carla Younan (Senior English Teacher & Year 9 Coordinator). The larger team also includes Emma Bergin (Head of History, Instructional Leader & Year 9 Tutor), Gail Story (Head of Specialised Programs), Cathie Wotherspoon (Head of Libraries), and Jade Gibson (Head of Drama & Year 12 Tutor).

Associate Professor Paul Evans from the University of New South Wales School of Education is supporting the research team in measuring changes in student motivation and self-perception during program delivery.

The research team also works closely with Churchie (Anglican Church Grammar School, Brisbane). Churchie has been delivering a study skills program, A Learner’s Toolkit, since 2018.

Queenwood are supported by The Evidence Institute and Senior Research Specialist, Dr Shani Hartley, and attend research related professional learning at AISNSW regularly during the two year project period.


Progress to Date

Preliminary findings indicate positive shifts in autonomy support and enhanced self-regulation and planning skills. A notable correlation has emerged between student-perceived autonomy support and teacher-provided structure. The data underscores the role of a structured approach in facilitating independent learning, validating the importance of explicit instruction in study skills.

Staff members are updated regularly to ensure they are not only well-informed about the Smart Study curriculum but are also equipped to integrate the strategies and tools into their own teaching practice. In future, the plan is to integrate these strategies into the homework schedule for specific subjects to embed student understanding of when best to deploy the study tools they possess. An unforeseen outcome is the uptake of retrieval strategies in the classrooms of teachers with no association with the Smart Study project. This has mainly been through the introduction of ‘Do Nows’, which see students retrieving previously learned content at the beginning of each lesson.

A student advisory committee reports to the research team and their peers each term. Feedback has included a request to have more online access to Smart Study, and that the strategies are used more explicitly in class. The student committee also developed a Smart Study trivia to help the cohort revise. At the conclusion of the project, the student advisors are hoping there will be opportunities for them to present to other schools.

Parents have appreciated evidence-informed recommendations for how they can best support their daughters in effective study, which are reiterated in occasional ‘Spotlight articles’ in the weekly newsletter (e.g. Spotlight on Smart Study) and the school’s biannual magazine.

The research team have attended a series of conferences presenting progress on this project and discussing the nature and efficacy of wellbeing programs in schools. These presentations include: the online Teach Meet and the Matter of Translation conference hosted by Churchie in 2023; Sharing Best Practice Illawarra; and the AISNSW Research in Schools Showcase. In addition, thought leadership pieces have been disseminated via social media channels and the Sydney Morning Hearld. A media and communications plan will be developed for 2024 to ensure research findings are shared within and beyond the sector.

The full Interim Report can be accessed online. The final report and findings of the research project will be available when Queenwood present at the 2024 Education Research Symposium at ACU North Sydney, 24-25 October.


Reference

* Effney, G., Carroll, A., & Bahr, N. (2013). Self-Regulated Learning: Key strategies and their sources in a sample of adolescent males. Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 13, 58–74.