Bryan Dewsbury, a URI biology professor, recently gave a talk through the Office of the URI Foundation and Alumni Engagement. Photo from web.uri.edu.
Bryan Dewsbury, a biology professor at the University of Rhode Island, goes out of his way to get to know each one of his students every semester; the only problem is that his BIO 101: Principles of Biology I class typically has 150 students enrolled.
Despite the challenge presented by this high enrollment, Dewsbury works to ensure that he knows his students and his students know him.
Before the semester even begins, he sends students a handful of preliminary assignments, including a brief Q&A where students describe what professors do that annoys them, what professors do that they like, what career they want to pursue and one thing they’re really good at. From there, he interprets the feedback as a “semi-quantitative data set” and makes sure to apply his learnings as he teaches that specific group of students.
Dewsbury was featured in the first Faculty Office Hour event hosted by the Office of the URI Foundation and Alumni Engagement. The new event series features interesting and trailblazing faculty from various disciplines to host a one-hour seminar on their studies and innovations.
Not only is Dewsbury a professor of biology, but he is also a science education researcher. He focused much of his presentation on the three goals that he implements in the classroom: agency, respect for humanity and critical consciousness.
“I have to think of the characteristics and qualities that needs formative development, that needs practice, that needs to be exampled in that classroom,” Dewsbury said. “The content is what it is. If you put that stuff in context, they’ll pick it up and reinforce it over time. But what [students] will remember are the relationships they’ve cultivated.”
In social sciences, the concept of agency means the ability to make independent decisions without coercion, persuasion or influence, according to Dewsbury. In his classroom, Dewsbury has adopted the motto: “You don’t know something unless you can explain it to your roommate.” To ensure this is implemented, he avoids multiple-choice questions and instead utilizes open response and short answer questions to ensure his students fully understand the material.
His second goal, respect for humanity, works to ensure that students in the class understand anti-racism, human rights movements and active change. Despite teaching in a STEM field, Dewsbury emphasized the importance of discussing social justice in an academic context and implementing it through courses for systemic action.
His final goal, critical consciousness, focuses on the ways in which students engage in the world around them, with particular emphasis on inequity and the abuse of power. Dewsbury said that science often contributes to gross inequity, which is why this needs to be addressed in the field and in the classroom.
By implementing these goals in his classroom, Dewsbury hopes to be able to engage students and make systemic changes. This, he hopes, will lead universities throughout the country to implement changes, as he grows his students’ mindset and thought processes on pertinent issues.
“I could do without another Black Lives Matter statement, what I want to see is your tenure policies,” Dewsbury said. “What I want to see is your hiring policies. What I want to see is your budget items and what resources you are putting to address inequity in your campus. As an institution, you will communicate what you value by what you incentivize, by what you support.”
After his presentation, in true office-hours fashion, there was time for an audience Q&A, where moderator and URI philosophy professor Cheryl Foster engaged with Dewsbury to present the audience’s questions. He addressed topics ranging from how URI is addressing systemic issues and working for change to how he oversees group work and ensures equity within such projects and how he engages with unconventional students within his classes.
The event was attended by alumni, current students, faculty and staff, hosted through a Zoom virtual platform.
Karen LaPointe, the director of strategic innovations for alumni engagement, is excited about the new series, hoping it evokes nostalgia through its familiar format.
“Remember when you were in school and you stopped by your professor’s office with a research question?” LaPointe said. “Or maybe for some extra help on a concept you missed in class? Or maybe just to say hello, and talk about your shared love of World Cup soccer? Well, today we [got] to stop by Professor Bryan Dewsbury’s office.”
The next Faculty Office Hour is scheduled for April 21 with professor Kunal Mankodiya of the College of Engineering.