Research Opportunities for Independent Schools

Working with researchers can be a powerful way to access relevant, context-specific, up to date evidence about a variety of educational topics of importance to your school. This can range from pedagogical frameworks and approaches to opportunities to meaningfully engage with industry. It can also provide opportunities for tailored educator professional learning.

The Evidence Institute assists external researchers when they seek to engage independent schools in their projects, as well as supporting independent schools that are interested in engaging with external research.

On this page, you will find:

The Evidence Institute


Current research opportunities


Guidelines for collaboration


Ethics considerations


Current Research Opportunities


Teachers Engagement with and Understanding of Assessment Data to Inform Teaching and Learning

Teachers’ experiences during the
COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on Identity

Youth Mental Health Screening in Schools

Growing Up Digital Australia

Youth Enterprise Learning Lab (YELL): Blue Sky Survey


Using Mobile Apps to Engage Students in Learning Science

Resourcefulness & resilience in regional NSW schools during a global crisis

Coding Animated Narratives as Contemporary Multimodal Authorship in Schools

Creativity in Adolescents

Current research opportunities are listed below.

**Please note that approval from the Principal or Head of School is required for all research conducted in independent schools. Research initiatives listed here are not formally endorsed by AISNSW. 

Teachers Engagement with and Understanding of Assessment Data to Inform Teaching and Learning

Project: Teachers Engagement with and Understanding of Assessment Data to Inform Teaching and Learning

University: The University of Sydney

Contact: Professor Jim Tognolini I jim.tognolini@sydney.edu.au I +61 2 8627 5202 or Mrs Rayanne Shakra (PhD Student) I rsha6505@uni.sydney.edu.au

Ethics Approval: University of Sydney HREC 2021/649

This research aims to explore how Year Four teachers use both assessment data and non-academic data to solve teaching and learning problems they may face daily in their classrooms. The team hope to gain insights into how these different types of data are utilised in the classroom to enhance every student’s learning, including a focus on the pedagogical strategies and specialised teaching methods being used to help students in their learning journey.

This study aims to answer the following research questions:

  • What types of data do teachers use to gauge the level of their students’ understanding? 
  • How do teachers describe their levels of expertise regarding data-use knowledge and skills? 
  • To what extent do teachers engage in data-driven decision-making practices? 
  • How do teachers use the data from their local assessments to inform their practice and enhance their students learning opportunities? 


What does participation involve?

The research adopts a mixed methods approach involving a survey, semi-structured interviews and review of classroom artefacts. If you are interested in participation, you can opt to only complete the 5-10 minute survey, or both the survey and the 20 minutes interview. Pseudonyms will be used when findings are reported. Artefacts will be used to enrich the interviews and demonstrate how student assessment data is incorporated into your planning.

Participation is completely voluntary and participants can withdraw at any time. An information sheet is provided under Associated Resources with further information.


What happens next?

If you wish to participate, please contact Professor Jim Tognolini (jim.tognolini@sydney.edu.au) and Mrs Rayanne Shakra (rsha6505@uni.sydney.edu.au). This will also provide an opportunity to clarify any final questions.

Associated documents

Teachers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on Identity

Project: Teachers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on Identity

University: University of New England

Contact: Dr Elisabeth Betlem I ebetlem2@une.edu.au I 02 6773 3975

Ethics Approval: HE20-151

This research aims to explore teachers’ experiences of having to abandon the traditional classroom for home-based teaching during COVID-19s period of rapid and unprecedented change.

The research team would like to invite teachers from independent schools to participate in this research. Participation would involve construction of a short PhotoVoice digital narrative – a visual/verbal story created through video of photographs, and accompanied by a verbal/written story about the images. It is anticipated that construction of the digital narrative would take around 30 minutes and they would then be submitted to the research data collection portal. 

Stories will be analysed to reveal how this change impacted on teachers’ identity as teachers. This includes their understanding of teaching, what they did, how they related to others as well as conditions enabling or constraining them during the time of remote learning.

Please contact the researchers directly if you are interested in participating in this research.

This project is open for submissions until the end of the 2021 school year.

Associated documents

Youth Mental Health Screening in Schools

Project: Developing a sustainable system to deliver early intervention for emotional health through Australian schools
University: Macquarie University (Centre for Emotional Health) in partnership with the NSW Department of Education and Ministry of Health, The Association of Independent Schools of NSW, and Catholic Schools NSW, along with the NSW Mental Health Commission.
Funding: BUPA Health Foundation
Contact: Dr Rebecca Kuhnert I rebecca.kuhnert@mq.edu.au
Ethics Approval: 52021918824322

More than half of Australian young people with mental health disorders do not get treatment. This study aims to transform the management of mental (or emotional) health in young people by identifying youth who are struggling with emotional distress and getting them to appropriate help early. First, we will develop a valid screening tool to allow schools to identify young people with emotional health issues, who may otherwise “slip through the cracks”. Second, we will help schools to identify the best local pathways to care that are evidence-based and accessible.

Associated documents

What are the benefits for my school community?

  • Access to free and easy-to-deliver emotional health screening for students from Year 4 to Year 11, that will identify students who score high on symptoms of emotional distress and who may otherwise “slip through the cracks”
  • Recommendations tailored to your school and community on local, evidence-based referral services, provided by expert researchers and clinicians
  • Increased knowledge for your school mental health staff in methods of screening and identification of emotionally distressed youth
  • Development of guides and templates for your school to use for ongoing screening and referral, if your school would like to continue screening after the study

Participation will involve the sharing of information, participation in screening, provision of feedback. Skills development will be provided, along with detailed findings and supports. More information can be found in the linked Information Sheet.

When will the study take place?

  • Schools will be randomly allocated to either be screened in March 2021 or March 2022
  • The research team will provide feedback about any students who showed up on the survey with symptoms of emotional distress as quickly as possible and you will then be responsible for providing that feedback to the student and/or their parent/guardian.

I’m interested – what are the next steps?

  • To register your interest or for further information, please email the project coordinator, Dr Rebecca Kuhnert: rebecca.kuhnert@mq.edu.au

Growing Up Digital Australia

Project: Growing Up Digital Australia

University: Gonski Institute of Education - University of NSW

Contact: Dr Amy Graham I amy.graham@unsw.edu.au

Ethics Approval: HC190349

The Evidence Institute is proud to partner with the Gonski Institute for Education (UNSW) in their ground-breaking research project Growing Up Digital Australia.  This research project is designed to change the status quo and understand how the widespread use of technology is impacting Australian children. Growing Up Digital Australia builds on the research methodology that has been developed by Harvard Medical School and the University of Alberta. In this Australian study, we seek to answer questions around how digital technologies are being used, the benefits and distractions they pose to students and whether they are bridging the divide of equity, or widening it.

To find out more about this project visit the Growing Up Digital Australia website.

Associated websites

Associated reports and infographics

Phase 1

Phase 2

Youth Enterprise Learning Lab (YELL): Blue Sky Survey

Project: Youth Enterprise Learning Lab (YELL): Blue Sky Survey

University: Queensland University of Technology and Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Contact: Prof Martin Obschonka I martin.obschonka@qut.edu.au I  07 3138 5319 |
Dr James Davis | jp.davis@qut.edu.au | 07 3138 8883

Ethics Approval: QUT Ethics Approval Number 200000649

The purpose of this research project is to explore teachers’ perspectives about the best ways to teach enterprise and entrepreneurial education in Australian schools, and to understand challenges and current practices.

You are invited to participate in this research project because you are an Australian teacher who may be teaching enterprise education or some aspects of enterprise education in the form of 21st Century skills or the Australian Curriculum’s General Capabilities.

What does participation involve?

Participation will involve completing a short online survey including Likert scale type questions (Not needed – Essential) and short responses that will take approximately 20 minutes of your time.

Questions will include:

a. In your personal view, what learning outcomes should we be focused on within enterprise education to give all Australian youth the best education possible:
- Growth Mindset (Not Needed <<<->>> Essential)
- Self-awareness & Reflection (Not Needed <<<->>> Essential)

b. What categories best describe your school (multiple answers possible)
- Early childhood
- Primary
- Secondary

c. What would you say are the main challenges for enterprise education in Australian schools?

Your participation in this research project is entirely voluntary. If you agree to participate you do not have to complete any question(s) you are uncomfortable answering. All comments and responses are anonymous i.e. it will not be possible to identify you at any stage of the research, because personal identifying information is not sought in any of the responses. 

Using Mobile Apps to Engage Students in Learning Science

Project: Exploring the role of mobile apps in improving student understanding and enjoyment of science

University: UNSW Sydney

Contact: Dr Michael Kasumovic | 0401 090 071 

Ethics Approval: HC190489

This research will explore whether custom made mobile apps can improve their enjoyment of learning science and help students better understand scientific topics. This research is in partnership with an Australian education company – Arludo – created by Associate Professor Michael Kasumovic.

Arludo creates mobile apps that are gamified experiments – as students use the apps to explore scientific concepts, they are collecting scientific data that are automatically displayed as figures. This way, teachers can spend more time helping students understand data. We are exploring whether this improves students’ critical and analytical thinking. 

The mobile apps are free to download and the 8-week program comes with digital worksheets containing videos and questions that students answer online. These worksheets scaffold student learning and assess their understanding using  Bloom’s Taxonomy. Teachers will be able to see student answers in the teacher dashboard to more easily assess understanding and performance.

Associated resources

Resourcefulness and resilience in regional NSW schools during a global crisis

University: Curtin University, Charles Sturt University and Skillset Senior College.

Contact: Dr Sally Lamping I sally.lamping@curtin.edu.au I +61 8 9266 4623

Ethics Approval: Curtin University HREC Project Number 72555

SERAP Approval: Given by NSW Department of Education

This project will explore how teachers and administrators across regional schools in NSW responded to family and student needs, rapid shifts to online learning environments, and social distancing mandates during a global pandemic. It will also consider how resources in regional areas were delegated, accessed, and used during the crisis, with a focus on administrator and teacher support.

Associated resources

What does participation involve?

The project has two parts:

  • Teaching staff participation in an online anonymous Qualtrics survey.  The survey will take approximately 30 minutes to complete and will involve short answer and Likert responses. 
  • Principal participation in a follow up virtual Skype or WebEx interview. This interview will be conducted by members of the research team.  You will be provided with the interview questions prior to the interview, but there may be follow-up questions during the interview.  The interview will take approximately 30 minutes.

The research team will share the results of the survey with you and your staff and will ask for you to approve your interview transcript prior to sharing results with a wider audience. 

Participation is completely voluntary and participants can withdraw at any time.  An information sheet is provided on the right side of this webpage with more details about data storage and the research process.

What happens next?

If you wish to participate, please contact Sally Lamping to confirm your participation. This will also provide an opportunity to clarify any final questions. As Principal, you will then be asked to read and sign the information and consent form (found on the right side of this page). Signing the consent indicates that you agree for your school to participate in the research project.

Once you have confirmed participation, the researchers will send the survey link to the school’s nominated administrative support specialist to distribute to teaching staff, along with an information sheet. 

Coding Animated Narratives as Contemporary Multimodal Authorship in Schools

University: Led by Australian Catholic University in collaboration with Macquarie University

Contact: Professor Len Unsworth I len.unsworth@acu.edu.au I 0408 217 277

Ethics Approval: 2019-105H

The project aims to enhance the coding and computational thinking of year six and seven students. The project will link coding and computational thinking in the Digital Technologies Curriculum with Multimodal Authoring of Animations in the English Curriculum by creating animated micro-narratives using Scratch. The project has been operating in schools for one year and has Catholic Schools in Melbourne and Government Schools in Sydney participating.

The research team would like to invite at least one High School and Primary School in Sydney to participate in the project in 2022. The research team is looking for one year six class, along with their primary school teacher and one year seven class and their secondary English teacher and, if possible, the secondary Digital Technologies teacher of that class.

Participation in this research involves the teachers attending online Scratch coding tutorials, during term four in 2021, if possible. Support to teachers will be provided by a member of the research team. In term one of 2022, the research team will meet weekly to extend the teachers’ Scratch coding confidence and competence. The classroom program for teaching the students to code an animated micro-narrative will be developed by the school teachers with assistance from the research team, and delivered during term two and four in 2022.  

Please contact the researchers directly if you are interested in participating in this research.

This project is open for submissions until the end of the 2021 school year.

Creativity in Adolescents

University: The University of South Australia

Contact: Dr Tim Patston I Tim.Patston@unisa.edu.au

Ethics Approval: Protocol 0000035216 

As teachers know, students can be creative in all subjects, but measuring creativity can be a challenge. Researchers at The University of South Australia have developed a measure of student creativity in adolescents. This ten-minute online survey uses self-report measures and creative tasks in verbal creativity, divergent thinking and maths creativity to examine student creativity. Schools will receive a report analysing their student responses. We can then discuss teaching strategies to build students’ creative capacities in a range of subjects.

For further information please contact Dr Tim Patston at UniSA Education Futures Tim.Patston@unisa.edu.au

Associated resources

Guidelines for Collaboration

Key Hints for Independent Schools

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Key Hints for Researchers

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Ethics Considerations

Two key resources have been developed to assist researchers and schools in understanding ethics.


Unpacking Ethics

The Evidence Institute has brought together key pieces of information to help you understand the key ethical steps that should be followed when conducting research with people. This information can be found in our Unpacking Ethics publication.


Ethical Guidelines

This publication provides detailed information about research ethics. It covers a range of topics including professional integrity, research participants, consent, confidentiality and access to results and publications.