2025

It’s a Wrap! Finishing My AI Dissertation and Looking Ahead to the Next Chapter

Phew! After months fuelled by code, curiosity, and far too much food, I’ve finally hit ‘submit’ on my Master of Science in Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence dissertation.

While the official results are still under wraps, I’m so excited to finally share the big question that has been at the heart of my work for the past year.

My Dissertation Question

My research explored: “Exploring AI-Driven Personalised Learning Pathways to Support Student Transition from Secondary to Tertiary Education: A Synthetic Data Approach Grounded in Cognitivism and Constructivism”

In simple terms? I wanted to explore using AI to create personalised, supportive roadmaps for students, helping them bridge the often-daunting gap between finishing secondary school and starting university. This project sits right at the crossroads of educational theory and advanced AI—precisely why I decided to pause my Master of Education (MEd) to immerse myself in computer science. The Synthetic approach was the easiest option within the available timeframe and public datasets, and it also ensures privacy for real individuals.

A Quick Look Back on the Journey

Putting my MEd on hold wasn’t an easy choice, but I knew I needed to understand the “how” behind the technology I was so passionate about. Grappling with neural networks and the realities of building AI systems has given me a toolkit I couldn’t have imagined. It was less of a detour and more of an essential part of the adventure.

• Getting My Hands Dirty with Code: It’s one thing to talk about AI in education; it’s another to actually build it. Learning to fine-tune large-scale models has let me peek inside the “black box” and understand what’s truly possible.
• Connecting the Dots: Weaving together AI, psychology, and education has been like learning a new language. It has sharpened my eye for spotting the hidden assumptions that specialists in any single field can sometimes overlook.
• Learning Patience, the Hard Way: Nothing teaches you resilience like trying to figure out why your code isn’t working at 2 a.m. It’s a skill no textbook can ever truly teach you!

Next Up: Finishing My Master of Education

With my MSc dissertation submitted, my next step is to resume my MEd, which I put on hold. This is where the two threads of my academic journey can come together. Provided I receive the green light from my institution and lecturers, I plan to integrate my AI dissertation work with my remaining MEd modules. The goal is to translate what I’ve learned into real-world pedagogical frameworks. I’m especially excited to:

• Turn AI theory into practical design principles that lecturers and course designers can actually use.
• Dig into the big ethical questions around bias, fairness, and transparency that numbers and metrics alone can never fully answer.

And Further Down the Road… a PhD?

Looking even further ahead, a PhD has always been on the roadmap—if the stars align with the right timing, funding, and project! My dream would be to take this work to the next level by:

• Studying the long-term impact of these AI tools on student success and equity, not just in one-off trials but over several semesters.
• Developing ways for educators and students to co-design AI tools, ensuring the technology always serves their real-world needs.
• Creating open-source toolkits so that other institutions—especially those with fewer resources—can build and adapt these ideas for their own students.

Bringing It All Together

Completing this dissertation is a significant milestone, but it feels more like a waypoint than a final destination. If this MSc has taught me anything, it’s that the lines between different fields are invitations to collaborate, not walls to keep us apart. Bridging this gap of siloed knowledge within tertiary education is becoming critical for the industry, and especially with the growth of AI systems permeating throughout all knowledge fields.

By blending the worlds of AI and pedagogy, I aim to contribute to the creation of learning environments where technology truly supports people’s flourishing.

A huge thank you to all the colleagues, mentors, friends and family who have encouraged (and occasionally endured!) my cross-disciplinary journey. I’m eager to share my full results with you all—and to begin addressing the next set of questions.

Stay tuned for more updates once the final result is in the rear-view mirror!