A very enthusiastic and creative group of third-year School of Life and Environmental Sciences students completed work placement for their professional practice unit by hosting a display in the new state-of-the-art Physiology Lab at Deakin University's Melbourne Burwood Campus for Open Day.
The brief for the placement was to teach the public amazing facts about the human body through body painting. The placement was supervised by Associate Professor Jan West.
‘The students – Jess White, Jess Kludass, Jacqui Dorrity, Joey Yam and Abiha Hussain – created designs of organ systems on t-shirts, thanks to the talents of Jacqui. On Open Day they wore the t-shirts and used body painting to continue the organ system designs from the shirts onto their bodies,’ Associate Professor West explained.
‘Three of the system designs were also printed onto life-size boards so people could have their photograph taken with a body system – an activity that proved very popular with visitors, with even our Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander joining in the fun!
‘As part of their placement the students presented at course talks for science, painted bones and muscles on the hands of many prospective students and engaged in some very informative conversations about courses and life at Deakin. They showed great initiative and teamwork skills to deliver a really impressive display at the Burwood Open Day.’
For team member Jacqui Dorrity, the experience was worth the hard work.
‘Creating the display for the 2016 Open Day was a fantastic experience,’ Ms Dorrity commented.
‘It showed how science and art can be combined to make something that is both informative and fun. It involved a lot of work behind the scenes, with each shirt taking between ten and twenty hours to paint, but the effort paid off through all of the positive responses we had to our display. It was great to be able to share my experiences at Deakin with prospective students and their families.’
Fellow student Joey Yam agreed.
‘We successfully attracted and interacted with visitors of all ages and had good feedback,’ Ms Yam noted.
‘It was fun and inspiring to talk with the public about interesting physiological facts and my learning experiences. I believe this memorable and valuable experience helps my future career.’
