Kattie Tyson

Date: November 5, 2015

Time: 9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Location: Woodward Hall, UNC Charlotte
Class: Biology 1110-002
Observation Field Notes
Guiding Questions:
1. What is the goal of this community?
2. What special terms are used in the community?
3. Who is the expert? How do you know that person is the expert? How do they treat
the novices?
4. How are members considered insiders?
5. What texts are valued in the community?
6. How does the community communicate?
Jottings and Description:

I walked in Biology 1110-002 around 9:20 AM today (Thursday morning) and

it sounded very quiet, like it usually does. I believe this was because of how
early it was.
It smelled like a mixture of coffee and a newish room.
I mostly heard squeaks of chairs as everyone was entering and getting seated.
There are no assigned seats, but many sit in the same spot every class.
You could tell many students just woke up by their yawns. You could also
hear many people sniffling (probably due to the rain all week).
The temperature was almost perfect.
The room has many rows of seats, enough to just barely fit our class of 170
students. It has one single podium and a large projector screen at the very
front, facing the seats.
As I looked around, I saw many little, white clickers and notebooks on desks.
Professor Wells walked in around 9:25 AM and the room became even more
silent (identification of authority). Squeaking and readjusting of posture could
be heard.
Professor Wells began class by apologizing for cancelling the last class and
notified us of the schedule change.
Wells explained that today we would be learning how DNA changes into
proteins.
Basically, DNA gives instructions on how to make proteins, Professor Wells
stated to simplify the process we were about to go over.
Note: Professor Wells, like in the previous quote, often puts things into
simpler terms for us students, especially at the beginning of class.

Kattie Tyson
Date: November 5, 2015
Time: 9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Location: Woodward Hall, UNC Charlotte
Class: Biology 1110-002
Wells pulled up the projector screen from her podium computer and began
stating terms and describing them from the power point. A genome is all of
the DNA in an organism. Wells
After naming a few important terms, Professor Wells jumps right into the
process of describing gene expression.
Wells asked the class, Would a cell need to express every gene it has? She
stated almost immediately after, No, I dont see the need for that.
Wells described the process of transcription and then showed a video that she
said would help better describe it. Everyone quietly watched as they tried to
grasp the concept. After the video, Professor Wells asked if the class had any
questions. A student raised his hand. Wells stated, Yes, as she pointed to the
student. The student asked, So, the big blue blob in the video is the RNA
polymerase enzyme? Wells replied, Yes, exactly!
Professor Wells continued on to explain the process of translation and shows a
short video to better describe it as well. Wells stops the video in the middle
and states, Im stopping right here because this is important. She walks over
to the projector screen and points at the mRNA codon. Wells asks, Does
everyone see that the mRNA here has the codon, and the tRNA here has the
anti-codon? Many students nod and she continues the video.
Note: Professor Wells goes to board several times to point out intricate details
or important things to remember.
Wells asked again if anyone had any questions. One student asked, So the
codon has the 20 amino acids? Wells stated, Actually the codon has three
nucleotides that match an anti-codon on tRNA, which contains one amino
acid. Does that make sense? The student had a eureka moment and gave a
nod.
Near the end of the lesson, Professor Wells had us all take out a handout that
she emailed for us to print out. She told us to practice the problem on it and
discuss it with partners.
As everyone did their problems, I did mine and asked my partner, So you
replace the T with a U during the RNA process right? My partner stated back,
Yes!
As soon as the clock hit 10:45, everyone quickly packed their things and
began walking out of the room. Professor Wells reminded us to take the
practice quiz on Moodle and come prepared to study chapter 8 on cancer next
Tuesday.
Analysis:
I came to many conclusions throughout my observations, especially regarding my
guiding questions. First, I identified the goal of this community. In general, the
goal of this community is to understand the basic concepts of biology and be able
to apply the material to real life situations. In the syllabus, Professor Wells states,

Kattie Tyson
Date: November 5, 2015
Time: 9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Location: Woodward Hall, UNC Charlotte
Class: Biology 1110-002
My personal goal is to help you understand foundations in biology so that you
can relate to current events in biology and make informed and intelligent
decisions concerning your health That being said, I think the main goal of the
community is for everyone to understand the material and to be able to apply it. I
observed this as the much of the class engaged in asking questions and showing
up to be able to understand the material. While obtaining the material just to pass
exams is a common goal, the teachers purpose must also be considered.
During my observation, I recorded a number of words/phrases specific to the class
or the days lecture including: codon, anti-codon, chromosomes, DNA, nucleus,
mRNA, tRNA, rRNA, gene expression, learnsmart, allele, protein synthesis, and
amino acids. The list could go on forever, but these were a few I jotted down.
There werent many words used that had a specific meaning to just the class that
are also used in a different form elsewhere. The lexis used in my biology class
would be very confusing to an outsider, so to answer my research question, yes
there are specific terms used in this class like the ones I listed above.
The expert in my biology class is Professor Wells, the teacher. You could tell she
is the expert because when she walked in the room, everyone became silent. She
also stood separate from the class behind a podium. When I noted this in my
observation, I noticed that many times the leader of a group will be singled out or
standing differently from everyone else, which leads us to believe they have some
type of authority or special skill. She spoke confidently of the material and
answered any questions that anyone had. She treated the novices (students) as she
were the teacher and they were the student. She explained the lesson on how DNA
turns into a protein and stopped many times to make sure everyone understood.
Though she is the teacher, she still joked with everyone and made the lesson fun.
Throughout the class period, Professor Wells mentioned Learn Smart several
times. Learn Smart is an online textbook the class has. To be in the program, you
have to buy and access code and sign up with an account. This is where all the
prerequisites for chapters and homework is completed. Without Learn Smart, you
would not be able to process the material and would not be considered in the
class. You are also considered a member if you come to class regularly and
answer clicker questions because more than likely that will keep you in the loop.
So to be considered an insider, coming to class and having a Learn Smart account
are considered crucial.
There arent many physical texts I the class besides your own notes, but there are
a few online texts that are highly valued. As I previously described, Learn Smart
is an online textbook that is highly valued by the entire class. Handouts are also
valued, although you often have to print them yourself, many students use them to
practice. Online quizzes are also valued because Professor Wells takes questions
from them and puts them directly on the exams.

Kattie Tyson
Date: November 5, 2015
Time: 9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Location: Woodward Hall, UNC Charlotte
Class: Biology 1110-002
Various tools are used in order for the class to communicate. Learn Smart is one
tool of communication because it shows Professor Wells that the students did the
prerequisites/homework. Moodle is also used. Professor Wells will post important
information, grades, and what is due on Moodle. Email is another way Biology
1110-002 communicates. Not only can students email Professor Wells, but
students can also email each other.
By looking over my observation notes, you can tell that Professor Wells is the
expert. I make this conclusion not by looking at her position in the room, but her
capacity of knowledge on the subjects we discuss. She is very educated upon the
subject of biology and is able to answer any question related to the lecture. She
may not answer theoretical questions that the students make up as they become
curious, but you can tell by the dialogue she knows the important facts.
Through observation, I learned many aspects of my biology class as a discourse
community. I saw that there is a common goal in my class. I was able to watch my
teacher and the way my peers reacted to my teachers actions in order to explain
how she is the expert in this community. I also listened to the language that we
use and how it is considered specific to our class. By looking through the tools we
use such as Moodle, Learn Smart, and Gmail, I saw how one can communicate
and participate in this community. I also found the different online texts that we
value. Many of the observations that I made, such as these, will be helpful in
creating the presentation part of the project.
Reflection:
Doing this research just felt like writing about a regular day in my biology class.
It felt a little weird to write down quotes and important things as I was learning
the material, but it almost felt like I was just writing down my lecture notes. I
began my observation by almost excluding myself from my class for the day. I
felt like I was judging everyone and everything, looking at every little detail of
what happened. It also felt weird to think about the specific things in the class that
go unnoticed because I am so accustomed to them. For example, the way I
pointed out the smell, the clickers, or even the position of my teacher. I did not
realize that if I had been an outsider to the class, the lexis we used would make
me feel like an alien. I noticed this when I looked back over the dialogue I
recorded and saw all of the biological terms. Overall, the observation seemed to
be a success to me. I discovered many things that I didnt even notice before and
answered all of my guiding questions that will help to complete my research.

Kattie Tyson
Date: November 5, 2015
Time: 9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Location: Woodward Hall, UNC Charlotte
Class: Biology 1110-002