On Episode 585 of Teaching in Higher Ed, I welcome Bryan Dewsbury, Associate Professor of Biology at Florida International University, back to the podcast. Bryan joins me to explore what it means to teach in ways that are socially just across academic disciplines. Drawing on his extensive experience as both a classroom teacher and a faculty developer, Bryan shares how trust-building, transparency, and deep mentorship are foundational to fostering equity and agency in STEM education.

Our conversation ranges from the value of reflective assignments like NPR’s “This I Believe” essays to reimagining assessment and rigor as a form of respect for students’ diverse backgrounds and aspirations. Bryan discusses practical classroom strategies, such as frequent formative feedback, wise interventions, and big, beautiful questions that spark curiosity and connection. Together, we examine the shifting landscape of teaching in the age of AI, the challenges of differentiated instruction, and the importance of modeling transparency and vulnerability as educators. Bryan’s insights invite us to rethink traditional classroom hierarchies and embrace teaching practices grounded in human dignity, belonging, and hope.

Resources from the episode:

• Toward a Humanist and Agentic Paradigm of Inclusive Teaching—Lessons from the United States Civil Rights Era for College Pedagogy, by Bryan M. Dewsbury
• This I Believe – Essay Guidelines
• The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching
• Michael Palmer on “Big Beautiful Questions”
• David Yeager on “Wise Feedback”
• Eli Review
• Collaboration with Sarah Cavanagh on Assessment, Feedback, and Grading
• We Are Lady Parts
• Abbot Elementary
• Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, by Yuval Noah Harari

Episode topics:

• Building Trust in the Classroom for Equity
• Inclusive Teaching Rooted in Human Dignity
• Challenging Traditional Assessment Models
• Reimagining Rigor as Respect
• Navigating AI and Generative Tools in STEM Education
• Transparency and Modeling in Teaching Practices
• Wise Feedback and Student Agency
• Differentiated Instruction and Socially Just Approaches
• The Role of Big, Beautiful Questions in Science Education
• Balancing Individualized and Collective Educational Experiences

Discussion questions:

1. Trust in the Classroom: Bryan emphasizes the importance of building trust with students from the very first day. What practical strategies do you use (or would you like to try) to establish and maintain trust with students? How might trust influence learning outcomes and equity?
2. Transparency in Teaching: The episode touches on the value of being transparent with students about learning objectives, assignments, and feedback. In what ways can instructors make their intentions and expectations more transparent, especially in STEM disciplines?
3. Role of Reflection: Bryan continues to use the "This I Believe" essay in his courses to prompt student reflection. How do reflective assignments like this contribute to student learning, particularly in fields that may not traditionally prioritize reflection?
4. AI in the Classroom: Bryan discusses his approach to generative AI tools, choosing to engage openly with students about them rather than policing their use. How should faculty address the reality of AI in education without creating an adversarial environment?
5. Wise Feedback: The concept of “wise feedback” was raised, focusing on clarity, high expectations, and actionable, supportive guidance. How might “wise feedback” differ from traditional forms of critique, and what do you see as its benefits and challenges?
6. Assessment Models: Bryan critiques traditional assessment models (e.g., midterm and final) and adopts more frequent, varied assessments. What are the strengths and limitations of both traditional and continuous assessment approaches in your discipline?
7. Inclusive Rigor: The episode highlights the idea of reimagining rigor as a form of respect rather than as gatekeeping. How can educators design challenging courses that are also inclusive and supportive of all learners?

Related Episodes

Interested in equity-minded teaching and social justice pedagogy in higher education? The following episodes pair well with this conversation with Bryan Dewsbury:

• Episode 471 - Equity and Social Justice in STEM Education, with Tatiane Russo-Tait
• Episode 425 - Inclusive Teaching, with Viji Sathy and Kelly Hogan
• Episode 394 - What Inclusive Instructors Do, with Tracie Addy
• Episode 383 - Implicit Bias in Our Teaching, with Jennifer Imazeki
• Episode 347 - Online Culture, with Courtney Plotts

Recommended

Check out my 2025 Top Tools for Learning Post. It turned out much longer than I was expecting, but I had a lot I wanted to say about these resources that power a lot of my personal knowledge mastery (PKM).

Another recommended post is Robert Talbert’s Fixing the Missing Piece of the Clarify Process. What I like about his work is that he aligns with approaches and tools that I often use, yet he also is able to identify where they either fall short, or where he has come up with something that works particularly well for him. In this piece, he reminds us:

Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should.

Using the GTD (Getting Things Done) framework, we’re supposed to ask ourselves if something is actionable and then to determine where in our GTD system it belongs. Instead, Robert suggests three questions to ask ourselves. Then, if the answer to any of them is no, we can decide to say no, negotiate, delegate, or even just do it, anyway.

Quotable Words

More from Robert Talbert in his excellent post describing his unified theory of academic email:

There needs to be some kind of stop sign, or a filter, between the point where you decide whether an item is actionable, and the point where you start putting that action in the right place. Because based on your higher horizons, the right move on an actionable item might be not to act.

Next Week’s Episode

On the upcoming episode of Teaching in Higher Ed, Seth Offenbach joins me to rethink student attendance policies for deeper engagement and learning.

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My book: The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide, provides approaches to help you turn your intentions into action. I also write an advice column for EdSurge: Toward Better Teaching: Office Hours With Bonni Stachowiak

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Disclosures

Affiliate income disclosure: Books that are recommended on the podcast link to the Teaching in Higher Ed bookstore on Bookshop.org. All affiliate income gets donated to the LibroMobile Arts Cooperative (LMAC), established in 2016 by Sara Rafael Garcia.”

Notice: Portions of these weekly updates are produced using CastMagic.io, which uses AI to produce a draft of the transcript, identify key quotes, highlight themes, etc.