Hands on experience for international high school students
A group of excited high school students from Wesley Methodist School in Malaysia paid the Biomedical Learning and Teaching Building (BLTB) a visit last week, as part of their International Student Experience Day tour of Monash. The morning’s visit offered the students a chance to explore biomedical science at Monash and find out what it would be like to study here once they finish secondary school.
The students were welcomed by the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute’s (BDI) Director of Education, Associate Professor Elizabeth Davis, and the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences International Recruitment team. They then handed over to Dr Sharon Flecknoe, outreach co-ordinator for the Monash BDI, and Dr Jane Bourke, an academic from the Department of Pharmacology, who ran an activity exploring lung disease and respiration.
Dr Flecknoe and Dr Bourke introduced some of the key concepts students usually learn in their first year of biomedical science, and to their delight, the high school students were highly engaged and could answer almost all questions put to them by the academics.
“I was blown away by the level of understanding in the room,” Dr Flecknoe said.
After the short lesson that covered the anatomy and physiology of lungs, the students were invited to participate in a hands on activity to test their lung capacity. The students took to the task enthusiastically, encouraging each other to beat their results. The students then compared their ‘normal’ lung capacity to simulated conditions of restricted and obstructed lung capacity, testing what it would be like to have asthma or a lung disease.
“This activity was a great way for the students to increase their understanding of lung function, and to appreciate how the research we are doing here at the Monash BDI could improve asthma treatment,” Dr Bourke said.
“It was great to host this group of students in our new Biomedicine Learning & Teaching Building and have them not only experience world-leading facilities but also have them meet some of our committed educators,” Associate Professor Davis said.
“I hope to see some of them in our courses when they graduate from high school,” she said.
Study tours such as this are not uncommon; prospective students visit universities across Australia to see whether they might like to enrol to study here as an international student. The group from Wesley Methodist School also visited RMIT, La Trobe and the University of Melbourne as part of their trip, however they allocated a whole day specifically for Monash.
About the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
Committed to making the discoveries that will relieve the future burden of disease, the newly established Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University brings together more than 120 internationally-renowned research teams. Our researchers are supported by world-class technology and infrastructure, and partner with industry, clinicians and researchers internationally to enhance lives through discovery.