Bryan Innovation Lab Week 2024

This summer, a group of faculty gathered for Steward’s annual Bryan Innovation Lab Week. Faculty spent three days engaged in workshops, brainstorming sessions, and presentations centered on dialogue, this year’s schoolwide theme. For the past several years, the Steward community has enjoyed a yearly across-the-campus theme; this year’s is an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to explore the many ways that effective communication and civil discourse can enrich our school community. 

The Bryan Innovation Lab team (Brad Kovach, dean; Megan Young, program specialist; Suzanne Casey, Lower School innovation specialist; Barbara Filler, Upper School Bryan Lab liaison; and Claire Bailey, Middle School Bryan Lab liaison) planned the week. 

“One of the main goals for the week was having faculty collaborate on cross-divisional, cross-curricular, or experiential activities and projects they can do with their students,” said Mr. Kovach. 

Mr. Kovach kicked off the week with “The Dialogue of Artificial Intelligence.” In conjunction with Steward’s Strategic Plan, the school is committed to taking a proactive approach to intentionally integrating technology (including AI) to enhance student learning. 

“Chatbots use custom system prompts designed to best accomplish their specific purposes,” he said. “By peeking behind the curtain at some of those prompts, we can learn how to effectively dialogue with AI to get the most out of the tools we use.” 

Sharing one of her experiences with AI, Upper School Social Studies Teacher Jalyn Wheatley recalled a lesson in which her students were reading a novel and used an image generator chatbot to imagine what the novel’s characters might physically look like. “[In this instance] AI was biased,” said Ms. Wheatley. “Everyone looked ‘good’ … [with AI] there was no accounting for the characters’ stories or descriptions.” 

Upper School Technology Facilitator Erin Springfield presented some of her favorite AI tools and a framework for how AI can be incorporated into lessons. She also shared that she had used an AI poem generator to illustrate to students that their poems displayed more empathy than those created by AI. Several participants noted that AI could be used to boost research writing and generate open-ended questions for students to ponder during faculty-facilitated classroom circles.

Dr. Ranjini JohnBull, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, presented “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy + NeuroEducation Practices = Equitable Classroom Environments.” Dr. JohnBull shared that even small modifications to teachers’ practices through culturally relevant neuroeducation strategies can create a warm and equitable learning environment and boost students’ cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes.

Amma Gatty is the founder of Culture Encounters, a Richmond non-profit whose mission is to spark cultural curiosity. The group discussed the differences between cultural curiosity and cultural intelligence; ways to become more culturally curious; and how to model activities in the classroom that promote cultural exchange. Unpacking a suitcase filled with items from her native Ghana, Ms. Gatty invited participants to take turns pulling something from the suitcase and trying to guess what the item was. She then gave background context on each item and how it connected to her culture.

Mr. Kovach noted, “The biggest takeaway from Ms. Gatty’s talk was that relationship building and caring are essential to facilitating cultural curiosity.”

Ms. Young’s presentation focused on how teachers can use the Bryan Innovation Lab to foster student-led learning. 

“For example, students who are studying ecosystems might come to the Bryan Lab’s habitat to explore, be curious, and generate questions for independent research,” she said. “Allowing students more autonomy in their schoolwork encourages ownership over their learning. This kind of independence can help Spartans of all ages develop the passions and skills that prepare them for the world ahead.” 

Mr. Kovach said, “Bryan Innovation Lab Week is an opportunity for faculty to learn about innovative teaching practices, get to know the people and the resources that the Bryan Lab offers, and work on their curricula,” said Mr. Kovach. “We’re already looking forward to next summer’s Bryan Innovation Lab Week!

View the Steward Snaps from Bryan Innovation Week.