Dr. Michael Brown is an associate professor in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan Marsal Family School of Education. Brown conducts classroom-based research with the objective of expanding education access and opportunity. The questions that drive his work are (1) how do we create learning environments through pedagogy development and curriculum-making and (2) how do those environments shape communities of learners?
Brown is deeply invested in partnerships with education practitioners and researchers, bringing a wealth of knowledge on learning theories to the collective effort of designing learner experiences. Brown’s work takes a constructionist approach exploring how implementation of innovations in pedagogy, curricular pathways, and instructional technologies impact students’ learning and their persistence. Through social network analysis, he illustrates the complex interdependencies among learners, between learners and tools, and between instructors and students.
His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Future of Privacy Forum, and a Transformative Research Grant from the Spencer Foundation. Appearing in high impact journals (including Review of Higher Education and the Journal of Higher Education, Computers & Education, and the Internet and Higher Education), Brown has also served as an ASHE conference section co-chair. Brown is dedicated to public discourse and to wide dissemination, including blog posts, presentations at practitioner-focused conferences, and authoring with practitioners.
He has taught courses at the master’s and doctoral levels focused on research methods, learning and organizational theories, and cultural approaches to the study of higher education. He received the Excellence in Teaching Innovation Using Open Education Resources Award from the Iowa State University Student Government in 2020.
Brown holds a B.S. in business administration from New York University, an M.Ed. in college student counseling from Iowa State University, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan.
Courses
| Number | Course Name | Location | Days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDUC 695 | Research and Educational Practice
Provides an overview of research methods used in educational inquiry. Enables students to review a variety of research studies done in education, to become familiar with techniques used in their conduct, and to acquire facility in interpreting them. |