Brown, Julie
Associate Professor
School of Teaching and Learning
College of Education
University of Florida
2-290, Norman Hall
P.O. Box 117048
Gainesville, FL 32611
Phone Number: (352) 273-4218
Fax Number: (352) 392-9193
jbrown@coe.ufl.edu
Research Biography
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 secondary science teachers learn to enact cultural responsiveness for the students they serve 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.
My Team’s Projects
Project RIEL: Responsive Instruction for Emergent Bilingual Learners in Biology Classrooms
Project CREST: Culturally Responsive, Equitable Science Teachers
Project CRAFT: Culturally Responsive, Affective-Focused Teaching of Science and Mathematics
Degrees
Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Science Education), 2014
University of Florida
M.Ed. in Science Education, 2006
University of Florida
B.S. in Animal and Veterinary Science, 2003
University of Rhode Island
Key Professional Appointments
Associate Professor, Science Education, University of Florida, 2018 – Present
Associate Professor, STEM Education, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2018
Assistant Professor, STEM Education, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2014 – 2018
Activities and Honors
University of Minnesota
Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle, “Rising Star Faculty Award”, 2015
University of Florida
Outstanding Graduate Research Award, 2014
External Sources
National Association for Research in Science Teaching
Jhumki Basu Scholar, 2013
Grants
External Sources
Principal Investigator (2021 – 2024) Culturally Responsive, Affective-Focused Teaching of Science and Mathematics. National Science Foundation – DRK12 program (DRL 2101277) $1,448,590.00
Principal Investigator (2020 – 2023) Responsive Instruction for Emergent Bilingual Learners in Biology Classrooms. National Science Foundation – DRK12 program (DRL 2010153) $1,120,163.00
Co-Principal Investigator (2017 – 2020) Building Excellence with Scientific Teaching (BEST): Transforming the College of Biological Sciences with a Scientific Teaching Certification Series. National Science Foundation – IUSE program (DUE 1712033) $291,481
Internal Sources
Co-Principal Investigator (2020-2021) Cultivating equity in STEM classrooms at UF: A multidisciplinary collaboration to create a training course in inclusive, antiracist teaching practices for Learning Assistants (LAs) in STEM courses. University of Florida, Office of Research $60,000
Principal Investigator (2019 – 2021) Project CREST: Developing Culturally Responsive and Equitable Science Teachers. University of Florida, School of Teaching and Learning Shewey Foundation Endowment Fund. Amount: $40,000
Co-Principal Investigator (2019 – 2020) Project RISE: Developing a Responsive Model of Biology Instruction for Newcomer ELLs. University of Florida, College of Education College Research Incentive Fund (CRIF). Amount: $38,705
Selected Publications
Barron, H. A., Brown, J. C., & Cotner, S. (2021). The culturally responsive science teaching practices of undergraduate biology teaching assistants. Journal of Research in Science Teaching https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21711
Stepp, Z. A. & Brown, J. C. (2021). The (lack of) relationship between secondary science teachers’ self-efficacy for culturally responsive instruction and their observed practices. International Journal of Science Education. doi: 10.1080/09500693.2021.1919335
Patrick, L. E., Barron, H. A., Brown, J. C., & Cotner, S. (2021). Building Excellence in Scientific Teaching: How Important Is the Evidence for Evidence-Based Teaching when Training STEM TAs?. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 22(1). 1-10 doi: 10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2473
Barron, H. A., Patrick, L. E., Brown, J. C., & Cotner, S. H. (in press). What’s troubling you? Examining how teaching assistants talk about pedagogical concerns.Journal of Teaching & Learning Inquiry
Brown, J. C. & Livstrom, I. C. (2020). Secondary science teachers’ pedagogical design capacities for multicultural curriculum design. Journal of Science Teacher Education.DOI: 10.1080/1046560X.2020.1756588
Thompson, S.K., Brown, J.C., Cotner S., Zhao, F., Andicoechea, J., & Roehrig, G.H. (2020). Design features of an effective and theoretically ground training program for undergraduate teaching assistants in the Life Sciences. International Journal of Designs for Learning. 11(1), 59-74.
Oesterle J., Upadhyay B., Brown J.C., Vernon M. (2019) Citizen Science: A Path to Democratic and Sociopolitically Conscious Science In: Trifonas P. (eds) Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education: Springer https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01426-1_28-1
Brown, J.C., Ring-Whalen, E.A.G, Roehrig, G.H., & Ellis, J. (2018). Advancing culturally responsive science education in secondary classrooms through an induction course. International Journal of Designs for Learning, 9(1).
Titu, P.G, Ring-Whalen, E.A.G, Brown, J.C., & Roehrig, G.H. (2018). Exploring changes in science teachers’ attitudes toward culturally diverse students during an equity-focused course. Journal of Science Teacher Education.
Crippen, K.J. & Brown, J.C. (2018). SAGE Encyclopedia: Design-Based Research. In B. Frey (Ed.) SAGE encyclopedia of educational research, measurement, and evaluation
Mensah, F.M., Brown, J.C., Titu, P.G, Rozowa, P.G, Sivaraj, R.G, & Hedari, R. (2018). Preservice and inservice teachers’ ideas of multiculturalism: Explorations across two science methods courses in two different contexts. Journal of Science Teacher Education, DOI: 10.1080/1046560X.2018.1425820
G Graduate student author