Julie Brown

My scholarship is rooted in the science of broadening participation in STEM in secondary and higher education contexts. My research team and I work to advance equitable STEM learning environments by preparing culturally responsive science teachers, designing equitable STEM instructional tools, and facilitating undergraduate Teaching Assistant development in the Life Sciences. We examine how linguistically and culturally responsive instruction affects biology learning experiences for emergent bilingual students, and explore the ways in which secondary science teachers learn to enact cultural responsiveness for their students through their attitudes, classroom practices, and designed curricula. We also construct and evaluate undergraduate biology TA training programs using the Scientific Teaching framework. In this scholarship my team employs design-based research methods to devise, assess, and revise theoretically-grounded interventions that are responsive to specific, contextualized problems. As a design researcher, I have produced theoretical insights for promoting equitable science teaching and positive impacts for partnering communities.