Andrew Binks

Excellence in Teaching Spotlight by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Virginia Tech

The Excellence in Teaching Spotlight, presented by the center to approximately nine Virginia Tech faculty members each academic year, recognizes a faculty member's effective, engaged, and dynamic approaches and achievements as an educator.

Among the goals of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning are advancing experiential learning at Virginia Tech and improving student learning through research-based instructional practices and student-centered design. In the classroom, Binks takes a flexible, student-centered approach by continuously adapting course content to better prepare his students for their future roles as physicians. He explains, “My general approach is to harness the power of active learning. By providing focused preparation materials that cover the basic concepts prior to class, I use my precious class time for learners to apply those basics in a clinically based format. If they struggle to apply those basic concepts or transfer them across different clinical scenarios, I know that’s the material I need to focus on that day. In other words, I use class as an informal, formative assessment to adapt my teaching on-the-fly to spend valuable facetime with the learners on what they don't know, and not on what they’ve already mastered. Presenting content in a clinical context not only engages medical students by demonstrating the relevance to their future careers, but it also keeps me on track. If I cannot place a basic science concept into a clinical scenario, then I can question whether it should be included at that point, or even at all. Working closely with some excellent physicians has helped me hone my content selection and delivery.” 

Binks identified team-teaching as his preferred instructional strategy, emphasizing its value in fostering collaboration across disciplines: “I love team-teaching and being in the classroom with like-minded faculty from other scientific disciplines. As a physiologist, being in a teaching team with a biochemist, pathologist and pharmacologist who are all in the class addressing the same clinical case or problem is tremendous fun! It breaks down the disciplinary silos and makes the best of our collective expertise (no one wants a physiologist addressing a student’s biochemistry question, particularly the biochemist!). It also allows us to show the integrated nature of medicine and how the separation of disciplines doesn’t really exist in the patient.”

Binks then elaborated on a couple of tools designed to enhance the effectiveness of the team-teaching approach: “The use of concept maps is a great pedagogical format for this team-teaching approach. It promotes content integration and allows learners to see the interconnectivity of all the disciplines within a single clinical case. Similarly, using ‘clinical puzzles’ to match clinical data with different patient scenarios has been popular with the learners and allows the faculty team to address multiple pathologies, demonstrate similarities and differences and foster a robust diagnostic approach. These and other methods are all based on adult learning and take a very active approach.”

Regarding the impact Binks had on his students, former student Joshua Perez highlighted several of Binks' notable strengths as an educator: “Dr. Binks is one of the best instructors at VTC. His expertise is unparalleled but closely matched by his ability to convey that information to students. He always makes himself available to help clarify topics and is incredibly warm and supportive. As a facilitator, he took a genuine interest in helping all of his students grow and succeed. I truly felt seen by his feedback and it was clear that he gave a lot of thought on how I could improve. With the rapid pace and short time spent with each other during our preclinical years it can often feel difficult to form connections with faculty, but I never felt that was the case with Dr. Binks. I know for certain I will be a better physician having spent time learning from him.”

Marina Levochkina, also a former student of Binks, described the profound influence Binks had on her: “Dr. Binks is the kind of teacher you can’t forget. His approachability makes the classroom a space where students feel encouraged to grow and challenge themselves. He has a remarkable ability to break down even the most complex topics. He makes them not only understandable, but fascinating, always pushing us to dig deeper and build a solid foundation of knowledge. His constant encouragement and genuine belief in his students make you feel confident and capable. Beyond the classroom, Dr. Binks’s compassion shines through. He’s always there to support his students, especially during tough personal times, showing genuine care for their well-being in and out of the classroom. Dr. Binks is the kind of teacher and mentor who makes you want to follow in his footsteps.”

Overall, Binks is a dedicated professor who is deeply committed not only to the development of his students but also to the growth of his colleagues and to the Virginia Carilion School of Medicine as a whole. Assistant Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, Emily Holt Forest, shared the following about Binks: “Andrew is always willing to help…with anything. He steps up to explore new curricular ideas (concept maps and illness scripts, revamping curricular structure), he steps in when there’s a gap in faculty availability, he is willing to help to identify new learning resources (and spend the time to iteratively engage in the time-consuming process to identify the best option), and he is willing to represent VTCSOM for extracurricular/community programs with his “free time”. These are just a few examples. Andrew’s willingness to support VTC knows no limits. And… Andrew is a wonderful colleague. He is willing to listen. He offers ideas with an openness for counterpoints and without stepping on the ideas of others. He supports colleagues and encourages them to engage in opportunities for growth. I am thankful to have Andrew as a colleague and I don’t think his awesomeness is recognized enough!”

Binks provided the following advice for new college teachers: “Find a teaching mentor that you trust to help you out of your comfort zone in the classroom. Someone to run ideas by, be excited by your successes and constructive about your failures. I've evolved my teaching only because of the help and support of some wonderful, patient and talented educators whose shoulders I've been able to stand on. So, a big thank you to Dr. Renee LeClair (colleague at VTCSOM), Dr. Kathy Thompson (University of New England) and Dr. Richard Schwartzstein (Harvard Medical School). Then when its time, pay if forward and help the next generation of educators.”