In 2008, the University of Melbourne introduced the “Melbourne Model” which is based on six broad undergraduate programs followed by a professional graduate degree, research higher degree or entry directly into employment. Each of the new degrees emphasises “both academic breadth as well as disciplinary depth to ensure that a graduate will have the capacity to negotiate their way successfully in a world where knowledge boundaries are shifting and reforming to create new frontiers and challenges almost daily”.

One of the six “new generation degrees” is the Bachelor of Science and the Science (Biology) case study (pdf 1.03MB) discusses the Biology program that sits within the “new generation” Bachelor of Science. There is also a second stream of Biology which sits within the “new generation” Bachelor of Biomedicine. The discussion in the case study focuses mainly on the “main stream” Biology within the Bachelor of Science although there are overlapping ideas between the two.

The case study’s author, Associate Professor Dawn Gleeson, is the Director of First Year Studies in Biology, one of five Directors in first year Science at the University of Melbourne (with Directors in Chemistry, Physics, Maths & Stats, and Earth Sciences). The Director’s role is to coordinate the 5 Biology subjects at first year (approximately 1500 students per semester).

More information is available from the Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne.