KEEN to test the educational impacts of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom, the Trinity Anglican School/TAS Kewarra Beach primary campus is participating in a pioneering research study conducted by the University of Queensland (UQ).
With the full support of TAS’ Head of Primary, Mary Kershaw, Prep teacher Bronwyn Sarles jumped at the chance to be part of UQ’s research study testing the breadth and efficacy of OpenAI’s natural language processing tool, ChatGPT.
TAS Kewarra Beach Head of Primary Mary Kershaw said the school strives to be at the forefront of educational advancement and believes their involvement in the study will support the integration of ChatGPT into teaching practices in age-appropriate ways.
“Our teaching cohort are all on board to learn about ChatGPT and start trialling it in their teaching and learning programs,” Mrs Kershaw said.
According to Mrs Kershaw, the study, which commenced in August and is expected to finish this month, aims to develop, formalise, and evaluate a classification of useful AI prompts for the Australian Curriculum using ChatGPT.
TAS Kewarra Beach Prep teacher Bronwyn Sarles said that during her career she has had to navigate the introduction of various technologies and is ready for the next wave.
“I became interested in AI technology last Christmas thanks to an introduction by my nephew,” she said.
“I was so impressed by what he showed me. I started teaching before the World Wide Web when the most technology we had was an overhead projector and a television that had to be wheeled into the classroom.
Being part of this project will give me another skill set I would never have even dreamt of when I started teaching.
TAS Kewarra Beach prep teacher Bronwyn Sarles
“To participate at a research level and think this could assist other teachers in schools across Queensland is very exciting.”
In volunteering to share their teaching experiences using ChatGPT with UQ researchers, TAS’ Kewarra Beach campus teachers were privy to the latest information, and it is anticipated findings will be delivered by the end of 2023.
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