Rate My Professor Vicky Barnett

Dr Vicky Barnett is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Molecular and Life Sciences within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Curtin University, where she serves as a teaching-focused academic in the Chemistry discipline since 2014. Prior to her appointment at Curtin, she gained extensive teaching experience over 15 years across more than 10 institutions in Australia, including high schools, colleges, and universities, working with students from diverse backgrounds and needs. In December 2024, she was appointed Course Lead for the Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Science. Barnett teaches large first-year units such as Introduction to Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, with enrolments exceeding 150 students. She redesigned the final exam for Introduction to Chemistry, a bridging unit for students without prior ATAR Chemistry, into an online, invigilated format using Respondus Lockdown Browser. This inclusive design features a two-week sitting window, large question pools for unique papers, a handwritten workings submission, and embedded Curtin Access Plan accommodations, eliminating individual scheduling needs and achieving zero deferred assessments in the semester implemented.

Barnett's contributions to inclusive education have earned her significant recognition, including a Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellowship in 2018 and the Wilf Ewers Award in 2025 for advancing the chemistry profession. Motivated by a 2021 incident denying a student with disability access to her laboratory, she chairs the Laboratory Accessibility Working Group (LAWG) at Curtin and initiated a national Community of Practice involving academics, technicians, professional staff, student services, properties teams, and students to promote universal design in STEM laboratory teaching. She has delivered ADCET webinars on laboratory accessibility, participated in prison science outreach programs, and contributed to RACI WA branch activities. Her publications include 'Flexible Laboratory Learning Opportunities To Make Chemistry More Accessible For Students' (2022), 'Creating flexible laboratory learning opportunities to help make chemistry accessible to all' (2022), and 'Inhibition of photo-induced colour reversion of TMP and peroxide-bleached TMP by mercaptans' (2002). These efforts enhance accessibility and retention in chemistry education.