Senior biology majors occupy a liminal space—no longer simply students, yet not fully professionals. In this transitional stage, they continue to strengthen disciplinary knowledge and laboratory skills while also needing to develop metacognitive and noncognitive capacities essential for success beyond the classroom (Jang, 2016; McGunagle & Zizka, 2020). Although curricular mapping highlights disciplinary competencies, intentional development of metacognitive and noncognitive skills often remain overlooked. To address this gap, a biology professor and co-researcher “twisted” her pedagogy in a senior-level macrofungi lecture-lab course in Fall 2024. The shift emphasized learner self-directedness in learning, collaboration, and professional identity development, while de-centering exclusively focusing on content mastery. This presentation shares findings from a qualitative case study that investigated three key pedagogical twists: reimagining the instructor’s role as facilitator, positioning students as co-facilitators, and reframing the course purpose toward fostering learner agency, collaborative problem-solving, and professional identity formation. Emerging themes from the study highlight students’ reframed perspectives: Learning is not about grades; Responsibility for others matters when collaborating; and I’m being a biologist, for real! Data sources include six participant interviews, one focus group (n = 14), four class observations, instructor field notes, and co-researcher/instructor debriefings.

Authors:
Gwen Ruttencutter, Valdosta State University, United States
Emily G. Cantonwine, Valdosta State University, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr.Gwen Scott Ruttencutter is an Assistant Professor of Adult Learning and program coordinator of the Adult Learning & Development doctoral program at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, USA.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

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