Alyssa Van Dreumel

Dr Alyssa Van Dreumel completed her post-graduate studies through the School of Medicine, Deakin University, and in partnership with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Australian Animal Health Facility. Her research has focussed on development of reagents for use in immunological diagnostic assays for both endemic and exotic pathogens. Throughout her post-graduate studies Dr Van Dreumel has undertaken several positions in which she has gained experience in the delivery of tertiary education and was subsequently recruited as an Associate Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Deakin University, Waurn Ponds campus, in July 2017. Her role included teaching several core units for the Biomedical Science course offered through the School of Life and Environmental Science. As a biomedical scientist Dr Van Dreumel is interested in application-based research to develop improved diagnostics for infectious disease detection and is also keen to engage in educational research to improve teaching and learning within higher education to deliver authentic learning experiences for students.

Current role: International Program Coordinator for WESTA College in the School of Molecular Sciences, the University of Western Australia.

This position was specially created and there has not been one like it before. The role is to manager and oversee the WESTA program for this School in Australia. The main focus is on teaching at WESTA College, at Southwest University, Chongqing, China for several units in the UWA Biotechnology Major. As UWA academics we are responsible for delivery of lecture content, and supporting our Chinese co-teachers preparation of assessment (mainly examinations).

The role is also responsible for liasing with the Australia Education Management Group to schedule the delivery of teaching by UWA academic staff each semester, and host a Professional Development Program for Chinese co-teachers and attend Committee meetings between all invested parties annually.

The WESTA College program is a 2+2 articulation program. Students complete two years at Southwest University in the Biotechnology Major in China, and then ideally articulate to UWA for a further two (2) years completing their undergraduate degrees in the UWA Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Major.

Application-based research to develop diagnostic reagents (isolation of native or production of recombinant proteins or antigens, and production of antibodies), and establishing and validating diagnostic assays, for either domestic and exotic viruses of Australia, with relevance to animal or human health.

Also keen engage in educational research to improve teaching and learning within higher education to ensure delivery of authentic learning experiences for students. Specifically, flipped-classroom and active learning approaches, developing accessible materials utilising digital materials and designing models for best practice.

**Looking to undertake small research projects in partnership with other researchers and/or co-supervision of post-graduate students.

My philosophy of teaching is learner-centred and emphasises the importance of the learner’s active participation in their own learning. I believe every student is unique and brings with them a diverse range of experiences, interests and abilities which will inform their learning. In this context my role as the teacher is one of providing an environment where the students can contribute, interact and experiment while building their own knowledge from materials provided by the teacher, by other students, or located by themselves. A necessary element in this learning environment is that the students feel at ease and comfortable to ask questions or volunteer relevant information. I believe learning can occur through discussion and clarification of concepts, and sometime having the wrong answer facilitates this. I aim to provide students with an environment in which they have the opportunity to develop cooperative learning relationships with each other and also with the teacher, hence the believe strongly in importance of being an approachable teacher in academia.

Although assessment a necessary and important part of teaching I believe the main benefit of all assessment should be useful and informative feedback to improve student learning. I make every effort to supply students with opportunities to review their knowledge and gauge their understanding. I also seek and revere feedback on my teaching so as continue to develop my own skills. Feedback from my past students has aided to spot areas of improvement and is currently been used to benefit my current students. I endeavour to be continually learning and pursuing new knowledge through education or biological research and to expand my teaching experience to continue to develop in my capacity to deliver teaching excellence.

I believe in inspiring and guiding the next generation of scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, inventors and teachers. I want to convey my passion for science in general but also specialities in molecular biology and physiology. I aim to maximize its perceived usefulness by giving concrete examples of how theoretical concepts apply to real world scenarios or problems and present the most current knowledge to students.  I pursue an academic career to support students and contribute to biological science education at all levels, both undergraduate and post-graduate. 

Associate Lecturer in Biomedical Science, Deakin University, Australia

Units taught:

SLE115 - Essentials in Bioscience

SLE206 - Cell Biology

SLE211 - Principles of Physiology

SLE221 - Systems Physiology

SLE346 - Molecular Basis of Disease

Duties:

Campus Coordinator (Waurn Ponds campus), lecturer, practical laboratory demonstrator, tutor.