A Transformative Experience: Cynthia Wynne's Learner-Centered Approach to Biology at New River Community College

Nearly every semester, New River Community College's course request system crashes minutes after it opens, and it isn't due to lackluster site maintenance. Students are scrambling to sign up for a coveted seat in Dr. Cynthia Wynne's section of Biology 101/102 and the accompanying lab hours. Over the years, Dr. Wynne has built up quite the positive reputation among potential, current, and former students alike. But what could possibly be so appealing about a freshman-level Biology course that causes students to flock to Dr. Wynne's course so eagerly and competitively?

The answer is simple: Dr. Wynne is an absolutely incredible teacher. She is capable of taking a potentially alienating, math-ridden (math strikes fear into the hearts of liberal arts enthusiasts like myself) subject like Biology and presenting it in a manner that makes it immediately relevant to her students. She avoids conventional lecturing and opts for hands-on, problem-based learning grounded in real-life application.

The following section is comprised of a brief interview I conducted with Dr. Wynne. I approached her with a desire to understand what made her one of my favorite teachers despite the fact that I encountered her within the boundaries of a discipline I made a great effort to avoid. Also, with her permission, I have included pictures demonstrating a few ways that she transforms a subject that, at the introductory level, usually requires rote memorization and fact regurgitation into an interesting, relevant, and rewarding learning experience.

Dr. Cynthia Wynne and company passing out exams

Q: How long do you typically spend lecturing during a standard class? How do you make your lectures interactive and interesting?

A: I like it when students participate, and ask questions, so I often try to teach the material by answering student questions.  I find that students actually will ask enough questions, and ask the "right" questions, so that I can cover most of the material just by answering the questions.  I think of these moments as "teachable moments."  When students ask questions, that is when the answers will be relevant to them.  So instead of saying, "we will get to that soon," I just go ahead and address it then.

Just another day in Dr. Wynne's lab

Q: Do you use any problem-based learning methods in Biology 101/102 or lab?

A: [I assign] the Independent Research Project in lab, in which students design their own project to carry out based on their hypothesis.

A 2012 Trip to Claytor Lake- 15 students accompanied Dr. Wynne to Claytor Lake to save, count, and identify stranded mussels.

Q: In your opinion, what are you best qualities as a teacher?

A: My best quality as a teacher is that I really love my students! I love Biology, too, which doesn't hurt, but I love my students more than the subject!

Dr. Wynne's DNA Fingerprinting Lab- students take their own DNA samples and analyze them.

Q: Do you have any unique hands-on approaches to teaching any challenging concepts?

A: I do use hands-on approaches, but I don't think they are very unique.  I pretty much use the approaches that other teachers use.  I try to give as much positive feedback as possible, which might by a little unique.  For example, sometimes I ask a yes or no question, and when a student answers wrong, I will say "you are close," instead of you are wrong.  That always gets a good laugh.  In lab, when students are wrestling with a challenging problem, I am usually more hands off than hands on.  I will watch, and encourage, but I try not to step in and do the work for the student.  I will support them as much as I can, but (even though it would often be easier and faster for me to just do it) I let the student figure it out by themselves if they can.  If they can't, I give hints and tips until they can.

One of Dr. Wynne's students trying sauteed mealworms in class

Q: Do you think you run a learner-oriented classroom? If so, what makes your classroom a learner-oriented classroom?

A: I do have a learner-oriented classroom in the sense that I do let students choose, to some extent, what they learn and when they learn it.  Since I have a limited time to cover any given chapter, the parts that get covered are the parts that students ask questions about.  I kind of let students lead the learning in that way.  If we don't have time to cover everything in the chapter, I don't worry too much.  I figure if they need that information in the future, they can Google it.

Students holding a tarantula in Dr. Wynne's lab

Thus, Dr. Wynne's success as a professor is multifaceted. Rather than committing an hour and a half three days a week to "sage on the stage" lecturing, she encourages students to maintain agency over their learning process by providing a comfortable classroom environment and encouraging them to ask questions. Her students engage in problem-based learning where possible; Dr. Wynne's Independent Research Lab encourages students to choose their own topics for exploration, identify and evaluate the knowledge they already have and the knowledge they need, and use critical methods and research to come to a sound conclusion. In this project, her students are not only learning about their chosen topics through methods they select, but they are learning to critically analyze their own knowledge in a given subject and how to improve it.

Perhaps the most compelling element of Dr. Wynne's pedagogical approach is her ability to create memorable, rather, unforgettable educational adventures. In my experience, no teacher provided this amount or style of hands-on, active learning experiences after her sections of Biology. Dr. Wynne does not rely on a rigid attendance policy to ensure active, engaged participation from her students. Instead, she ensures that each class session promises fascinating, unique methods of learning, questioning, and internalizing topics that could otherwise be written off as flashcard material.

Dr. Wynne's sincere passion for her subject and for teaching, combined with genuine love and concern for her students, frames her pedagogical approach and cultivates successful learning and enthusiastic engagement within her students. Problem-based instructional methods and a student-oriented classroom merge seamlessly with her fervor for her educating students within her discipline.

Csíkszentmihályi's Theory of Flow: Fostering Good Writing Habits in College Freshmen

Many college composition instructors tend to repeat the same mantra: "writing is a process, not a product."

It's in every first-year graduate teaching assistant's syllabus. It's undoubtedly a chapter title or at least a witty subtitle in most composition textbooks released within the past decade. This emphasis on process over product is more than justified; dedicating time to an invention phase (brainstorming, freewriting, listing, etc...), preparing multiple drafts, partaking in multiple peer review sessions, and allowing time to revise are all important skills college composition instructors should work to instill in their students. Investing fully in each of these steps of the writing process enables students to produce quality academic writing and ensures that they are expressing their ideas in effective, organized, and understandable ways.

We spend so much time on practicing various invention and revision strategies that the process of writing tends to look something like a lengthy cycle of brainstorming, drafting, revising, more brainstorming, more revising, more drafting, more revising, and finally... a finished product.

The problem is...sometimes our students aren't even prepared to engage in the invention phrase. Some build up a lot of anxiety and choose to procrastinate on their assignments, especially major papers or assignments in unfamiliar genres of writing. They often feel like they're wasting time by brainstorming ideas and organizing possible sub-topics because they view writing as a finished product rather than a series of steps that culminate in a finished product. Many of my students have admitted that they did not have time to read back through their final drafts and look for grammatical, mechanical, or syntactical mistakes. But all of this can be avoided by recognizing the legitimate first step in the recursive process of writing: the literal set-up for success. Students must take time to experiment with different locations, times, and rituals (their set-up) in terms of writing so that they can consciously foster ideal writing habits. If these habits are maintained, students increase their likelihood of reaching what Csíkszentmihályi refers to as flow--essentially, full immersion in the activity of writing during which they can have an autotelic experience, or an experience in which the student is writing because the act of writing is intrinsically rewarding rather than to achieve an external, point-driven goal.

During the first week of class, I invite my students to discuss their writing habits in terms of location, time, and rituals. I ask them not only to share their optimal writing times and descriptions of their preferred writing locations/settings, but also to explain why they think these particular settings and times work for them so well. At this point, I introduce the idea of being "in the zone" and ask them to discuss what they think that phrase means or provide examples of times they were "in the zone." Then, I have them specify any pre-writing rituals they perform, like sharpening pencils or cleaning the space they're about to settle into and write. I typically assign a short reading about writing habits and then assign a blog post with a prompt, something along the lines of: What are your preferred locations/settings, times, and rituals for successful (uninterrupted "in the zone" writing? Have you tried altering any of these? Do you make a schedule for major writing assignments? If you have procrastination issues, what causes you to procrastinate? If you do not have procrastination issues, what inspires you to get started early on assignments? (blog posts with loads of questions yield thorough answers). In class the following day, we discuss our writing habits as a group. I typically show slightly amusing pictures of my personal writing set-up (a table stacked high with books, a hookah, a cat, a dog, several mugs of Earl Grey tea, and loads of scratch paper and pens) and explain how they put me into a state of flow.

In a 1996 interview with John Geirland of Wired magazine, Csíkszentmihályi explains that flow is

being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost.

 This is exactly the state of mind/being that freshman composition students need to achieve in order to foster ideal writing habits, apply critical thinking skills throughout their writing process, and produce work that truly and accurately represents their own ideas. Csíkszentmihályi explains in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience that the state of flow culminates in intrinsic motivation, or self-desire to learn about and analyze new things. This is a period of knowledge absorption, deep and uninterrupted engagement with an activity or topic, a unique sense of fulfillment, curiosity, persistence, and conscious/unconscious development of a given skill(s). This state of mind/being would likely inspire freshman writers to write meaningful papers rather than worry solely about grades and points earned. It would also combat the pesky problem of writer's block-- continuous, uninterrupted writing allows students to skip over the problematic sections and keep thinking through the next section of their paper.



Csíkszentmihályi makes an important point in his 1997 text entitled Finding Flow. He delineates a necessary balance between the challenge of the task and the skill of the performer. In terms of composition, this refers to the challenge of the writing prompt and the various composition skills of the student. The prompt must not be too simple; likewise, it must not be too complex or hard. The skill level and challenge level must correlate and push the limits of the student abilities without becoming frustrating. In order to cultivate flow among our students, our assignments must promote equilibrium between difficulty and the evolving writing skills of our students.

The following section simply serves as a collected list of different methods of setting up a work station to instill within a writer the ability to reach a state of flow:

• Set up a timeline for any major writing projects. Begin by writing down the date the paper was assigned and the date the final copy of the paper is due. Identify the time frame in which you are expected to complete this assignment. Then, determine what steps you need to take in order to successfully complete the assignment (brainstorming, picking a topic, researching, drafting, proofreading, etc..). Finally, propose a realistic schedule that keeps due dates for other classes and activities in mind. Remember that adjusting a writing schedule is normal. Keep track of the dates you actually achieve each of these goals.
• Pick a location that is conducive to writing uninterrupted for long periods of time. I recommend somewhere quiet and devoid of friends or distractions. Pick a location that is well-lit and comfortable--somewhere you can sit for several hours at a time. 
• Try to pick locations and times that are conducive to establishing a habitual approach to writing. In other words, pick locations and times that allow you write in a regular fashion.
• Consider writing at a desk rather than on a couch or in bed. Sitting up straight and having a flat surface to work on keeps you awake, focused, and organized.
• Turn off your cell phone and disable chat functions on your laptop or tablet.
• Set realistic goals for each writing session. In other words, don't sit down and plan to finish an entire paper at once. Allow separate time to engage in the invention phase(s), try several organizational methods, and execute numerous drafting and revising stages. Allow time for numerous short writing sessions rather than one or two long sessions.
• Allow yourself to take reasonable breaks when you achieve your goals. Also, if you notice yourself experiencing writer's block, consider taking a short break (or moving on to a different section of your paper). Charlotte Frost suggests using the pomodoro technique which involves using a timer to dedicate twenty minutes to diligent work and five minutes to miniature breaks.
• Identify any rituals you go through to set-up for a successful "in the zone" writing session and perform them consciously (give them power!): sharpening pencils, writing only on a certain kind of paper or with a certain kind of pen, drinking a favorite non-alcoholic beverage, smoking hookah while writing, devising a color-coding technique for annotation, etc...
• Establish a routine and stick with it. If you notice problems getting "in the zone" during your writing routine, critically analyze what you think is the cause of this issue and change one component of your routine at a time until you are satisfied with your routine again.
• Keep a bottle of water and a light snack nearby. Bananas are a great snack, especially when you're anxious or feeling deprived of energy.
• Do your best to make writing a daily occurrence. As the old adage goes, "nulla dies sine linea." Consider taking fifteen minutes to write a journal entry, even if you are simply recounting what you did that day and nothing else. Writing every day aids writing anxiety and curbs writer's block by making writing an activity rather than an artifact or product.
• Likewise, do your best to make reading a daily occurrence. Whether it's a brief article in the Collegiate Times, an AmA on Reddit, or a chapter of War and Peace, just sit down and read.
• Limit the time you spend sitting down at a computer on the days that you plan to get "in the zone" and write. Charlotte Frost argues that good writers should make an effort to "use another tool or location for online life (a tablet, a smartphone) and keep [their] desk[s] as ‘pure’ as possible."
• Consider choosing a writing partner from class to meet with regularly. You can read sentences out loud to each other, see if chosen methods of organization makes sense, help and encourage each other if either of you gets stuck, and suggest alternate ways of exploring a given topic.

Some resources for fostering good writing habits and about  Csíkszentmihályi's theory of flow:

TED Talk-- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the Secret to Happiness [18:55]
Pamela Fagan Hutchin's "15 Habits of Good Writers"
Charlotte Frost's "Forming Good Writing Habits"
Dunn, Dana S. "Writing About Psychology." Readings for Writing at Virginia Tech. Boston: Pearson,
      2014. 18-20. Print.

No Problem: PBL in Freshman Composition through Multigenre Rhetorical Analysis

When people ask me about my profession and I respond that I am an English teacher, they typically assume that I "teach students how to write." But what exactly does that mean?  How does one teach writing? How can an instructor stand at the front of a classroom and spew forth valuable knowledge about the act of writing and useful methods for approaching composition?

The answer is simple- it is not possible to effectively teach students how to write through conventional, "sage on the stage" lecture. Hours of Power Points and droning disquisition serve only to hinder the development and refinement of compositional techniques. Do you think you are capable of sitting through an hour and half oration about thesis statements, paragraph structure, or proper comma usage without falling asleep or checking Facebook? Despite my avid interest in the subject and passion for writing, I know I couldn't make it through a single class structured like this.

Problem-based instructional methods are key to my discipline. This pedagogical style in particular promotes student agency throughout the learning process by requiring active engagement in the subject matter while allowing space for creative, subjective responses in both written work and class/group discussion. Problem-based instruction is perhaps the only surefire path toward either instilling an earnest desire to write within students who claim to "hate English classes" and "hate writing," or reigniting this passion within students who, due to prior "sage on the stage" classroom experiences, have lost the flame necessary to enthusiastically engage in critical analysis through composition.

In the first week of class, I assign a long term rhetorical analysis paper/group project. For those that are unfamiliar with the idea of rhetorical analysis, it involves deconstructing a given text/advertisement/speech, identifying key aspects (exigence, purpose, intended audience, constraints, ethos/pathos/logos appeals), and critically analyzing how these aspects function together as a whole to achieve a certain goal.

 First, I list possible categories for analysis on the board, provide short examples of texts/advertisements/speeches from each category, and allow them a few minutes to decide which topic most interests them. Categories I have listed in the past include: political campaign advertisements, product advertisements, or ideological advertisements/texts (commercials or texts that attempt to persuade an audience to think about a certain ethical/moral/cultural issue). I then separate the students into groups based on their initial sense of the category they are most interested in. It is important to note that I allow them to change groups up to one week after their initial in-class group conference. The assignment is structured with the following requirements:

• As a group, come to a consensus on a particular topic that interests you within your selected category.
• Select at least 3 examples of advertisements, texts, or speeches within your category to rhetorically analyze. Strive to provide an analysis of all three genres across various forms of media. For example, the political advertisements group could potentially select a brief campaign commercial, a campaign flyer or blog entry, and a recorded speech.
• Individual group members should rhetorically analyze each of the three examples separately, justify their claims/analysis with evidence from the example, then compare their answers and justifications with the group. Come to some form of consensus about each piece in terms of its exigence, purpose, intended audience (and secondary/tertiary audiences where appropriate), constraints, and rhetorical appeals (ethos/pathos/logos). Some examples may require visual analysis (commercials, posters, flyers, etc...). 
• Identify the problematic aspects within each example. In other words, identify how the authors/speakers are using/abusing rhetoric through various manipulative rhetorical appeals and playing toward an intended audience to achieve a certain purpose. 
• Analyze whether they are intentionally excluding pertinent information and/or counterarguments and justify your claims with evidence. 
• Analyze whether they are delivering their message in a dishonest or manipulative manner and explain why/why not with evidence.
• Critically discuss these problems in terms of how distorted messages in advertisements/texts/speeches promote confusion and conflict and prevent understanding and compromise among a larger population.
• Suggest specific and realistic solutions to the problematic elements within each selected advertisement/text/speech and justify how this solution could promote accurate understanding among the intended audience and a larger population.

This assignment is scaffolded in that smaller assignments throughout the semester play into its successful completion. For example, group members must provide their individual rhetorical analysis of each example on blog posts early in the semester. Each group member must leave constructive criticism and feedback in the form of a thorough comment. This requires individual accountability within the group and provides me with written proof that each group member is submitting valuable input to the discussion. Halfway through the semester, the group must submit a progress report to me in the form of an MLA format memo. Though the template is provided, they must work together to ensure that it is properly edited and executed. Finally, the group must present their project at the end of the semester in a professional presentation using either Prezi or Power Point. Their presentation is rated by their fellow class members using an anonymous survey I construct. After the presentation, the group hands in the formal, MLA style write-up of their collective rhetorical analysis and findings. Group members are later given access to a separate survey in which they anonymously provide me with feedback on accountability and work distribution within the group.

Though this assignment has undergone ample revisions throughout my three semesters of teaching English 1105 and 1106, I find it rewarding for numerous reasons:

• It preserves student agency and promotes curiosity in that they pick their topics, genres, and specific examples and offer their own analysis of said examples. They have control over how they work and how the group manages their time. They are able to change groups if they so choose.
• It allows for critique and revision by requiring feedback from fellow group members on the forum posts and from me in response to the progress report.
• It fosters critical listening skills in the students who are acting as the audience during a given presentation.

• It is multi-genre. Essentially, it works across genres not only in terms of the pieces the groups are analyzing, but in terms of the overall assignment criteria (forum posts, memo, presentation with visuals, and collaborative paper).
• It cultivates numerous 21st century competencies including: critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, individual accountability, use of technology, effective presentation skills, and document production.
• It requires extended, in-depth inquiry about a topic that affects them on a daily basis, rhetorical means of persuasion that exist in nearly every advertisement, text, speech act, etc...Ideally, this assignment encourages students to be conscious and critical of rhetorical means of persuasion and their effects.
• It promotes self reflection in that students must identify what they already know and what they need to know and how to gain this knowledge.
• I encourage students to present this project beyond the comfortable boundaries of the classroom at undergraduate research conferences, encouraging the transfer of knowledge and skills out of my classroom and into academe.

PBL and Group Work: Strategies for Success

Most assignments structured around problem-based learning methods hinge on successful group work strategies. In my experience, the notion of group projects is typically met with backlash similar to that mentioned in Dan Sherman's famous case study. Essentially, there is much eye-rolling, harumphing, and general distaste among students who seem to feel as though they are being forced into an uncomfortable situation that requires collaboration, interdependence, individual accountability, the avoidance of procrastination, and active ownership of their own learning experience. Teachers engaging in this pedagogical method need to recognize that these preconceptions, combined with the likelihood that the majority of the classes their students have taken thus far have centered on rote memorization and knowledge regurgitation via standardized testing, coalesce in the minds of their students and foster negative feelings of insecurity and doubt.

Fortunately, there exists a wealth of behind-the-scenes,instructional, and assessment methods that can counteract these preexisting problems and potentially transform the "painful" process of group work into a gratifying and rewarding learning experience.

Part One: Behind-The-Scenes Strategies

• Confront negative preconceptions about group work. Provide discussion prompts centered on the importance of collaboration skills both within and outside of academic settings. Encourage students to share positive and negative experiences they've had with group work and prompt them to suggest methods of avoiding adverse group interactions. Emphasize the positive aspects and rationalize your choice of making this project a group effort.
• Foster a sense of interdependence among group members by constructing a complex assignment prompt with requirements that necessitate collaboration and a collective effort towards a unified goal. The assignment should compel group members to depend on the diverse set of skills and knowledge possessed by each of their peers.
• Maintain structure and provide ample direction. Assist students with planning and staying on track by requiring written project proposals, schedules, and progress reports. Establish provisional due dates for each of these assignments. Encourage groups to come to you for advice on problems with collaboration, understanding the assignment prompt, and successfully executing requirements.
• Integrate brief, reflective, in-class writing assignments that enable students to assess the overall process and progress of their group project in terms of teamwork skills, conflict management, and time management. This will ideally bolster the initial idea that collaboration via group work is valuable.
• Construct groups in a manner that will heighten their chances of successful and rewarding interaction among group members. Ensure that the size of the group allows for realistic collaboration; remember that each of your student's has a schedule they must work around in order to attend meetings. Also, keep in mind that as group size increases, so does the occurrence of "free riders" (group members that contribute very little or nothing to the project). Create diverse groups of students from different cultural, linguistic, and social backgrounds. Keep the personalities of individual group members in mind. For example, avoid assembling a group comprised of one shy student and four talkative students.
• Be flexible and allow for timely adjustments in group membership if necessary. Anticipate problems and challenges groups may face and act as a mediator.

Part Two: Instructional Strategies

• Foster collaboration by allotting some class time time after the conception of the group for ice-breaker activities.
• Encourage group members to assign specific roles and have them delineate exactly what is expected out of each role. Also, encourage them to divvy up the workload early so that expectations of each member are absolutely clear. If the project is not complex enough to require this level of stratification, encourage them to, at the very least, elect a communication leader to keep everyone informed of meeting dates, times, and locations and aware of their individual duties.
• Emphasize the importance of making the most of meetings by meeting in a location conducive to productive, uninterrupted discussion and setting an agenda.
• Remind them to work with each other's strengths and weaknesses. Reiterate the fact that each group member brings a unique perspective, skill set, and body of knowledge to the table.
• Stress the importance of working toward a unified, cohesive final product, whether it be a presentation or a collaborative paper.
• Most PBL group work requires a final presentation. Direct students to resources on campus that can improve the quality of their presentation, like the Comm Lab at Virginia Tech.

Part Three: Various Assessment Methods

• Assess individual and group work. Consider basing the overall project grade on a combination of the quality of the final product and your understanding of individual effort. When the group is finished presenting and/or submitting their project, require each student to write a brief paragraph specifying roughly what each group member contributed and what they contributed. Instruct them to conclude with an overall reflection of what they learned about collaboration and what they will do differently in subsequent group projects.
• Assess process as well as product. Analyze their progress reports and the aforementioned in-class reflections closely. Include these assignments in the final group project grade.
• Require classmates to assess group presentations. Provide a handout or a survey in which the students functioning as the audience for the final presentation can assess the group based on presentation skills, effectiveness of visual aids, and clarity. This emphasizes the importance of audience awareness in the group presenting and promotes critical listening and observing skills in the audience members. It also provides audience members with an opportunity to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the presentation and consciously mimic or avoid certain aspects of it.

 Works Consulted

•    "Using Group Projects Effectively - Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation - Carnegie Mellon University."N.p., n.d. Web. 
•  Dredger, Katie, and Sean Conaway. "Presentations." Writing at Virginia Tech: Written, Spoken, and Visual Composition. By Sheila Lorraine Carter-Tod. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2013. 352-53. Print.