Growing Tall Poppies

Over the past few decades, high-school students have been turning away from the sciences. This is due to a range of reasons, from students thinking it’s boring to it not being a prerequisite for a university course. But perhaps the most compelling reason is the disconnect between current advances in science and what is actually taught in the classroom.

Hoping to stem the tide of disinterest, Dr Barone-Nugent, a physics teacher at the all-girls Santa Maria College established the Growing Tall Poppies program, in which students are actively engaged with interesting and relevant examples of real-world scientific research.

Supported by the Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science, Growing Tall Poppies sees students spend a week immersed in an intensive project where they participate in field trips to a top-class research facility. During this time they are able to talk to researchers and use instruments in order to answer a research question.

An important aspect of these projects is enabling students to discover the relationship between real-life problems and what goes on inside research labs. “We’re creating an environment where students can see that it’s worthwhile pursuing a career in the physical sciences,” Dr Barone-Nugent says. “They need to see why science is integral to society’s needs.”

In previous years, the program has been confined to running several week-long projects throughout semester but Dr Barone-Nugent hopes to expand the program to include the opportunity for students to converse with the researchers both before and after the field trip.

VeRSI is enabling this through the creation of an online forum. The forum, which uses the free and open-source bulletin board software phpBB, has been precisely tailored to the needs of the program. Not only does it allow students to discuss the project with each other and their mentors but it allows remote students who cannot participate on the field trip to be included.

Furthermore, the forum acts as an archive of all the programs which have been run, allowing alumni to remain involved in current projects and prospective students to see what has been done in the past.

Growing Tall Poppies gives students the opportunity to flourish in a unique learning environment and encourages them to think of research careers as a real possibility.

“I think this is changing people’s thinking,” says Dr Barone-Nugent. “It’s about growing tall poppies – individuals who can rise above the mainstream and make a difference.”

Above, Dr Barone-Nugent with participants in the Growing Tall Poppies program after receiving the Schools First State Impact Award. 

For more information, please contact King Chiu