OUR REGION'S FUTURE. - Virginia Western Community College

INNOVATIVE TEACHING,
INNOVATIVE LEARNING
When you visit the third fl oor of
Anderson Hall, you can see many
students busily walking about to
their next class, studying for their
chemistry test, or just taking a break before their
next anatomy course. But if you happen to pass
the biology lab with Amy Fenster busily walking
around to groups of engaged and interested
students, then you have stumbled onto just
one of the many examples of how innovative
teaching methods empower students to succeed
here at Virginia Western.
Having been at Virginia Western Community
College for over four years, Amy Fenster has
brought her love of biology and microbiology to
her students. Having received her undergraduate
degree from James Madison University and
her graduate degree in microbiology and
immunology from Virginia Commonwealth
University, Amy knew that becoming a college
professor was something that she wanted to
do. “I really, really love science,” states Fenster,
so teaching science seemed like a perfect fi t. “I
remembered how important it was for me to
be turned on to science early by my mentor in
college, and I wanted to have that same eff ect
on students,” notes Fenster. “Students can get
turned off to science early if it is not presented
to them correctly, and I want to make sure that
does not happen.”
Her passion for teaching and learning
is evident in her teaching methods as well.
Having received several Virginia Western
Community College Educational Foundation
Innovation Grants, which provide funding
for academic enrichment, innovative projects,
novel approaches, and creative activities that
are typically not funded through traditional
sources, Amy introduced an innovative
approach to teaching in her microbiology class
by giving her students an unknown organism
at the beginning of the semester which they
would in turn study and identify throughout
the semester. Th is method of teaching has
proved so popular that Amy has recently had a
manuscript describing this method accepted for
publication. Amy has also used funds from the
Educational Foundation to hold a “Holler for
your Health” presentation on campus, which
focused on toxins in our own environment and
how they can aff ect us through our consumption
of food and through other various methods as
well. In addition to teaching general biology,
she also teaches microbiology and immunology
at Virginia Western and is an adjunct at Hollins
University. “Th e class I teach at Hollins is not
diff erent from what I teach at Virginia Western,
we off er a cutting-edge and aff ordable education
right here in Roanoke,” states Fenster.
“She just lights up in class and it spills over
into her teaching and it makes us want to come
to class, and to learn,” states Kelli Loftus, one
of Amy’s Biology 101 students. “Can you not
see the enthusiasm? We get that every day!”
Not only are her students well prepared for the
classroom, but they are also well prepared for
life. “I teach my students it’s ok to be smart and
to excel, and also emphasize independence and
personal responsibility,” states Fenster. Innovative
teaching that not only leads to engaged and
successful students in the classroom, but in life
as well – now that’s an education.
Virginia Western Educational Foundation Alumni & Friends News • Volume 2 • Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2009 • 13