Celebrating 20 years of the VCE Biology Program with Associate Professor Dawn Gleeson
This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the VCE Biology Program, a special program that enables year 12 students to complete practical laboratory activities on campus (and this year online) at the University of Melbourne to support VCE Biology curriculum outcomes.
We talk to Associate Professor Dawn Gleeson, architect of the program and multiple award winning biology educator, about what inspires her about teaching and why she developed the program.
Dawn completed a BSc majoring in Genetics and Zoology and a Dip Ed at the University of Melbourne, and later, a Masters at Monash University.
How did your career develop and what inspires you about teaching?
I cannot remember a time when I did not want to be a teacher. This passion was reinforced by an inspiring year 7 Science teacher and my year 11 and 12 Biology teacher. I wanted to inspire students like they inspired me. My career as a biology educator started as a year 11 and 12 Biology teacher at a High School in Melbourne’s North West where I taught for 6 years. During a gap from teaching when I raised 3 children, I kept in touch with the VCE Biology scene by setting examination questions and marking VCE papers. Later I became the Chair of the VCE Biology examination panel, a position that taught me so much about assessment.
My career has been fortuitous by being in the right place at the right time. When my children were all at school, I was asked to do some sessional demonstrating at the Melbourne State College (later Melbourne College of Advanced Education and then the Institute of Education). I began lecturing in Genetics to the future teachers of Biology, a job which I absolutely loved. The staff at the Institute were an amazing team and there was so much cross fertilisation between disciplines. The four-year degree included an integrated school experience and the students who graduated were so well prepared for their role in schools.
In 1993, when the Institute was incorporated into the University of Melbourne, I was assigned to the Department of Genetics. Here began a new adventure within a research focussed group where initially I really felt like ‘a fish out of water’! My salvation was an amazing mentor in John McKenzie who had faith in my ability to teach and organise so after four years, during which I taught the remaining students in the Bachelor of Education, John suggested I become the coordinator of first year Biology in 1997. It epitomised the perfect job for me, as I welcomed students in their first year at University and I knew exactly what they had been taught as well as their experiences in schools in particular with Biology. I soon also took over the genetics lectures and estimate that I have lectured to approximately 40 000 students. I became very involved in the Transition Program that commenced at the University in response to surveys of students indicating that they felt unsupported in first year. The University had appointed a Transition Officer who was responsible for transition programs within the University and we ran an extensive program in Science called Science 101. The transition program including Science 101 won a National Group Teaching Award.
In 1999, It was suggested that I apply for an individual National Teaching Award, and I was awarded runner up. The feedback to the University at the time was that applicants from University of Melbourne did not have a record of University recognition of their teaching, and so the University’s Science Faculty Teaching Award, the David White award and others were born. I was lucky to receive the inaugural Faculty of Science and David White awards. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the creation of the David White award and it was wonderful to see my colleague Jen Martin from BioSciences win the award for 2020. When I applied again in 2003 for the National Teaching Award I was successful, and the first person at the University of Melbourne to win one.
Below image shows Dawn being presented with the National Teaching award by Brendan Nelson (then Minister for Education) in Canberra, 2003.
What inspired you to design and teach the VCE Biology Program, a program that we are celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year?
The VCE Biology Program commenced in 2000 after the VCE Biology curriculum changed significantly and schools were asked to perform experiments to achieve an Outcome which required equipment that many schools did not have. So a survey at the Biology Teachers’ Conference was conducted and it indicated that teachers would welcome us providing assistance to run laboratory activities associated with the revised syllabus. So it started and has continued for twenty years thanks to an amazing team of teaching, technical and administrative staff firstly in the Department of Genetics and more recently the School of BioSciences.
Below image shows a workshop from the year 2000, the first year of the VCE Biology Program.
Approximately 60 000 students have visited our laboratories at the University to complete the activities, along with their teachers. We have had schools form all areas of Victoria from Mildura to Timboon to Mallacoota and Edenhope. I am thrilled to see so many regional schools involved. This is particularly special to me because I attended two regional High Schools until year 11 after which my family moved to Melbourne and I attended a large private girl’s school.
The delivery of these workshops has involved so many people. There are the demonstrators that have included nearly 8000 honours, postgraduate students and academic staff teaching in the labs, the technical staff that would have poured over 10 000 agarose gels for one of the program activities and sorted millions of flies for another. We have kept pace with the changing VCE Biology syllabus and made changes in 2016 to accommodate the new Outcomes.
In 2020, due to the impacts of Covid-19c, the program is being run online via a platform built by two talented staff Isabelle Lohrey and Nick Craig. We are providing access to any school free of charge and sending out notes to support the activities. So far over 70 schools from all over Victoria and 3000 students are using the program. We have had many grateful emails from VCE Biology teachers who are facing such challenging times.
What has been important throughout your career that might be useful for others?
Being passionate and positive about what you do – it is infectious. You often have to move out of your comfort zone to keep pace, in my case, with the changes in education. Technology has changed the way we teach and students learn, so you need constant review of what you do in the light of what is available. When I started, I worked with floppy discs and an Apple IIe!
Having a mentor is a wonderful asset. I was lucky enough to have a number in my career and am flattered when younger staff come to me as a mentor.
You also need to find a balance with your work life and your private life. I have combined a study of music, playing sport and travel to provide that balance. Most recently my work has been balanced with travel to amazing places like Myanmar, Cuba, South America and Sri Lanka.
Below images are from Dawn's travels. The first shows a group of school students from a primary school in a small village north of Mandalay in Myanmar where she visited and contributed to the purchase of writing materials and school books. The second is from south of Tangalle in Sri Lanka where Dawn was invited to join a group of young school students who were planting trees to revegetate an area.
Find Out More
Associate Professor Dawn Gleeson: Find an Expert
Mentoring at the University of Melbourne: