I think the class was quite hard in terms of the amount of the team work required, but Professor Gibbens was quite helpful in answering my questions. I don't have any problem as described by other reviewers. I even got some points back for one exam after talking to him about my reasons. He seemed pretty reasonable to me.

Very mixed feelings amongst different students toward Dr. Gibbens. Finished Foundations I with him last spring, taking II with him currently. I have always found him to be a good instructor, very willing to help students and definitely passionate about the subject. Not an easy class, but put in the hours and you can get an A.

Brian writes very hard exams and is a difficult grader. However, if you are having trouble, see him during office hours. He will give you good tips for answering exam questions and tell you helpful ways to study for LRQs.

After taking Foundations 1 I really didn't want to take Gibbens for Foundations 2. However, I'm glad I did. There are no online tests which were terrible and his tests became a lot clearer. He provided practice tests which are very similar to the actual test. He is very energetic and clearly loves what he teaches. He doesn't hesitate to help also.

Professor Gibbens expected high quality work on class projects and gave difficult tests almost entirely based on his PowerPoint lecture material. Book reading should be supplemental to his lecture slides. He's funny and easy to approach, and is passionate and knowledgeable about Biology. Lecture can get boring, but pay attention.

Professor Gibbens is a fantastic lecturer! He is clearly excited about what he is teaching and I think I learned more because of that. He loves biology puns so look forward to those! He has high expectations but never expects you to read his mind. Ask him questions! He will answer with more than you ever needed to know! Tip: Review his powerpoints!

Dr. Gibbens is a great teacher, one of the better biology profs I have had. His exams are very difficult and I would HIGHLY recommend going over his powerpoint notes when studying for exams. Reading and taking notes from the textbook is a MUST. Do not expect to get a good grade by slacking.

Dr. Gibbens is a great professor who is always willing to make the time to help his students! He clearly enjoys teaching and is really passionate about biology. Yes, his exams can be hard, but if you pay attention in class, he does mention what material will be on the tests.

This class is extremely interactive. If you are not an independent learner, you better learn to be. If you get into the course, it's really fun. Brian is very passionate, but can be condescending. He definitely knows what he's talking about and provides many personal experiences to enhance learning.

Brian is such a nice guy and he lectures with passion and excitement. His lecture powers points are filled with wonderful notes and pictures! He gives the classroom a happy atmosphere and he makes me smile. He is much better than Peter.

Dr. Gibbens is really nice, provides fantastic feedback (I have become a much better biologist), and is always willing to help out students. Students often describe him as condescending and I have not found that to be the case. I have enjoyed my time in class with him and would pick him again if I had the choice.

Super nice guy. Plays music before class. Energetic. Passionate about biology. Cares about students and their understanding of the material. Throws in occasional current events/discoveries/news about biology. Able to effectively communicate his knowledge to students. Can get off topic, but still does a good job of lecturing.

Dr. Gibbens is great. He is very passionate about biology and definitely ties to help you learn the material well. He really does set you up for success so just study everything he teaches you and you'll be fine.

The most helpful, can go to him w questions w/o feeling dumb. Passionate about teaching, breaks down topics well, powerpoints are informative (& funny), if you download student version there's "speaker notes" that give more info. Fair grader, can go talk to him about stuff if you have grading qs. Second sem taking him, would recommend.

Professor Gibbens is a great teacher, and he really cares about how you do in the class. He is very passionate about teaching and biology in general. His tests are very difficult, he throws in a lot of nit picky details

Brian gets a bad rep from being somewhat over-enthusiastic now and then, but he is overall a great professor who cares very much about his students and is VERY willing to work with them to help them understand what they did right and what they did wrong. The structure of foundations sucks, but Brian's portion is very straightforward.

He is okay but the final is hard.

Gibbens is knowledgeable and it always willing to help with the GMO project. He always answered questions, but sometimes made them more complicated in the process. His weeks of the class are definitely the harder ones but he's really great at explaining and always willing to help if needed. Overall, he's a pretty good choice for foundations.

Brian was a great guy. Lots of small points and group projects. Very caring and helpful, tests were a little tricky, mixed in with reproducing diagrams straight from previous tests/powerpoints. I'll let you in on a little secret, he has FAT stackaroos of candy in his office, go visit him.

Brian was a great guy. Lots of small points and group projects. Very caring and helpful, tests were a little tricky, mixed in with reproducing diagrams straight from previous tests/powerpoints. I'll let you in on a little secret, he has FAT stackaroos of candy in his office, go visit him

Dr. Gibbens was much more lenient in the second semester of foundations compared to the first. He made his tests much easier by explaining what would be on them and including questions from the practice test on the real tests. You can tell he really enjoys his job and is quite humorous. He is pretty picky on the long term projects but overall great

Gibbens is a very caring professor. In the second semester of foundations, tests were easier. Pay attention during lecture and study his powerpoints. Quizzes are based off of the assigned readings, tests are from lectures and quizzes. His expectations for quizzes and exams are clear of what you need to know, but you have to work for a good grade.

Dr. Gibbens is very passionate about teaching, and he is easy to approach for questions, to which he gives thorough responses. He responds to emails immediately which is super helpful, especially after moving online. His material is difficult, but pretty straight forward. Studying the in-class activity and notes will help with his test questions.

Dr. Gibbens is one of the most caring professors I have ever had. He truly wants all of his students to succeed, and he is always making jokes and always smiling. He truly has a passion for teaching, and this makes his class so much more enjoyable. It is a little difficult, but that is the nature of the class. There is a decent amount of work.

I love Dr. GIbbens! He grades tough but he wants you to do well. He always responds quickly to emails and makes class fun. The material isn't easy but he makes it extremely clear what he expects you to know for the exams. Weekly quizzes are super easy. This was my 2nd semester w/ him and you can't go wrong with him as your Foundations professor!

By far my favorite professor last semester. He was funny and was really engaging. He was also pretty lenient on grading tests, but really strict on grading the group project. Although there were pretty clear guidelines and he was always willing to give feedback.

Professor Gibbens was a great teacher to have, especially for an online Biology course. He was kind and wanted students to learn. He posted weekly mini-lectures that weren't required but covered all the important takeaways from the book. Exams were easy, and he allowed retakes for both. If you have any common sense, you can easily pass this class.

Awesome bio professor, is very passionate about the evolutionary concepts. the class is difficult but as long as you're interested in the material you'll be motivated enough to study adequately. he is willing to set up appointments outside of class and office hours. make sure to do the readings and take good notes.

He is good at explaining. Biology is also taught as a joint class with two professors. In general, I preferred his lectures a lot more and he was helpful with the final project. The tests are difficult though, but that could have been the other professors influence.

Professor Gibbens is super passionate about biology and really cares about his students! His assignments are not bad at all and the in-class tests are way better than the take-home tests I've heard about in other Foundations of Biology courses. He makes biology very approachable and fun!

He tries very hard to make the class interesting and engaging. There is a lot of work in the class but, I feel most of it has purpose engaging students into Biology. He is very respectful of students with disabilities and will work with students outside of class.

I enjoy Gibbens as a person but I know that lots of people struggled in his section of the class. He covers dense stuff, so if you aren't already familiar with it you'll have your work cut out for you. A lot of brute memorization is required so make sure you study for tests and quizzes. Also, like Foundations 1 this class is super group-focused.

I think Brian is a good guy overall, but his grading is very nitpicky and the class is very heavily centered around group work. I think its more how the class is designed than it is his doing, but its very difficult to get an A in the course unless you do well on both exams and the GMO Project. That said the averages for both exams were 68% and 54%

You can definitely tell Brain knows what he's talking about and he has a true passion for Biology by the way he talks about it. You can tell he's well experienced although can be a little difficult to reach as far as office hours goes.

Very enthusiastic

If you have the opportunity to take foundation with Professor Gibbens, I think you should take it. He has been by far my favorite foundations professor so far. He is gives very interactive and easy to follow lectures, that prepare you well for exams and quizzes.

If you have the chance to take foundation with professor gibbens you should take it. He gives very interactive and easy to follow lectures. I thought they prepare you very well for all exams and quizzes without needing too much extra time outside class to understand material. You can tell he loves to teach.

He is an amazing lecturer and tests were very fair. Highly recommend!

DO ALL EXTRA CREDIT ~2.5% grade boost. Gibbens is a great lecturer & very interactive. Group project worth 25% of grade (peer eval important). Hope you have a good group otherwise it'll be awful sem. Weekly Monday quizzes mid lecture, some questions are common sense but still do readings. Exams aren't bad. Taught with Furniss, hes better professor.

Gibbens was a great professor and offered a lot of help inside and outside of the class. The class had three exams and a group project. They offered a lot of in-class activities, as well as study guides, that can help prepare you for the exams. I would recommend Gibbens if you had to take him as a professor.