Students Help Contribute to Original Research Conducted by CTTL

The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning is a little more than five years old and its growth has been breathtaking. But despite the fact that it has become internationally recognized and honored for its work around Mind, Brain, and Education Science, at its heart, the CTTL is still seeking to serve St. Andrew’s students first.
With that in mind, the Finn Family Student Research Fellows program was launched in 2013. These 15 students aren’t just beneficiaries of the original research the CTTL is conducting, they are researchers as well.
 
“Not every school has program like this that allows you to give back to your community in such a fundamental way,” said Hope Harrison ’17. “Being part of designing a research study and sharing it with the school is a great opportunity for everyone.”
 
The Finn Family Student Research Fellows Program began the year St. Andrew’s joined Research Schools International (RSI), a network of schools that work with individual faculty members from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education to “inspire research-based innovation in education.”
 
Glenn Whitman, Director of the CTTL, came up with the idea for the fellowship, which he envisioned as an opportunity for students to share their perspective with researchers and conduct research themselves that would ultimately benefit them in the classroom.
 
“It’s real exposure for them to not just see research in action but also to be part of research in action,” said Ian Kelleher, the CTTL’s Head of Research. “It’s way beyond their years of schooling, working on a rigorous research study and all that entails.”
 
St. Andrew’s was the first school in the network to introduce a student fellowship. Peer schools have since followed suit.
 
Student fellows tackle a new research question in Mind, Brain, and Education Science every year. Last year students helped debunk “neuromyths,” or misconceptions about how the brain works.
 
This year fellows are investigating the real benefits of homework to learning, a topic they proposed after meeting with researchers at RSI earlier this year.
 
“Homework brings you a lot of emotions when you do it. Most of those emotions are negative,” said Jenna Schissler ‘17. “I want to try to find ways to minimize those negative experiences.”
 
Kelleher said there are few studies on homework because it is a difficult topic to research, but the fellows’ enthusiasm motivated the CTTL to take it on.
 
“We will tackle probably the biggest question on students’ minds, but we’re doing it in this systemic, informed way,” Kelleher said. “Their passion made it really clear to us that, even though it’s hard, this is the topic we have to study.”
 
Danan Mbozi ’18 said he appreciates how the school has introduced the CTTL’s research into teaching, noting that he has seen changes in how students are able to complete final exams - some classes offer alternatives to a traditional test, such as creating a podcast or writing an essay.
 
“I like the fact that we’re taking research that we’re doing and implementing it into the school’s teaching so everyone can benefit,” Mbozi said. “We’re also helping teachers from other schools, so we can start spreading the research that we’re doing.”
 
Fellows agree they now have a greater appreciation for St. Andrew’s approach to teaching - one of the goals Whitman and Kelleher had hoped to achieve.
 
“Being a part of CTTL has made me more aware of what my teachers do and how St. Andrew’s is special,” Schissler said.
 
“The CTTL really has shown me that everyone has a different way they learn—no two brains are the same,” Harrison said. “It really is a process and you can work on your brain and change it to make yourself improve in the areas you want to.”

Finn Family Student Research Fellows
Maggie Atwood
Wesley Cheung
Madison Gamma
Nick Gelos
Emily Gottschalk Minners
Hope Harrison
Will Lucas
Danan Mbozi
Katherine Newcomb
Callie Radecki
Gordon Reeves
Joy Reeves
Lucy Schwartz
Jenna Schissler
Eric Xue

 
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St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is a private, coeducational college preparatory day school for students in preschool (Age 2) through grade 12, located in Potomac, Maryland.