Faculty Directory

Nathaniel Brown

Associate Research Professor

Photo of Nathaniel Brown

Nathaniel Brown

Ph.D.

Contact

Campion Hall Room 301D

Telephone: 617-552-0708

Email: nathaniel.js.brown@bc.edu

Education

  • Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
  • M.Sc., Cambridge University
  • B.S., Harvey Mudd College

Courses

Introductory Statistics
Classroom Assessment
Readings and Research in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation
Readings and Research in Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment

Research Interests

Classroom assessment; assessment for learning; alternative grading practices

Expertise

  • STEM Teaching and Learning
  • Research Methods, Evaluation & Psychometrics
Curriculum Vitae

Department

MESA Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics & Assessment

Profile

Nathaniel Brown has geared his career toward changing the way we think about learning and accessing education. Specifically, his research explores learning assessment鈥攔eforming grading practices to establish formative classroom cultures, promote growth mindsets, chart clear paths for students and teachers, and support learning regardless of achievement level. His expertise spans cognitive development, STEM teaching and learning, and student motivation.

In addition to teaching at the Lynch School, Brown leads professional development workshops on learning assessment, most recently for the Emmaus Series at md传媒国产剧 College鈥檚 Roche Center for Catholic Education. He previously taught graduate and undergraduate courses at Indiana University Bloomington and the University of California Berkeley.

Among the publications to which he has contributed, a recent edited volume on a synthetic agenda for the learning sciences鈥攚hich bridged the cognitive-situative divide鈥攚as considered a major contribution to the field. For the past three years, Brown has presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Measurement in Education, of which he is a member. He also belongs to the International Society of the Learning Sciences and the American Educational Research Association.

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Brown, N. J. S., Afflerbach, P. P., & Croninger, R. G. (2014). Assessment of critical-analytic thinking.聽Educational Psychology Review, 26, 543-560.
  • Brown, N. J. S., & Wilson, M. (2011). A model of cognition: The missing cornerstone in assessment. Educational Psychology Review, 23, 221-234.
  • Brown, N. J. S., Furtak, E. M., Timms, M., Nagashima, S. O., & Wilson, M. (2010). The Evidence-Based Reasoning Framework: Assessing scientific reasoning. Educational Assessment, 15, 123-141.
  • Brown, N. J. S., Nagashima, S. O., Fu, A., Timms, M., & Wilson, M. (2010). A framework for analyzing scientific reasoning in assessments. Educational Assessment, 15, 142-174.

Edited Volumes

  • diSessa, A. A., Levin, M., & Brown, N. J. S. (Eds.).聽(2016).聽Knowledge and interaction: A synthetic agenda for the聽learning聽sciences. New York, NY: Routledge.
  • Brown, N. J. S., Duckor, B., Draney, K., & Wilson, M. (Eds.). (2011). Advances in Rasch measurement (Vol. 2). Maple Grove, MN: JAM Press.

Book Chapters

  • Brown,聽N. J. S., Maderer, S. S., & Wood, J. (2016). Assessing physical and聽earth and space science in the context of the NRC Framework for K-12聽Science Education and聽the Next Generation Science Standards. In H. Braun聽(Ed.),聽Meeting the challenges to measurement in an era of聽accountability聽(pp. 349-386). New York, NY: Routledge.
  • Brown, N. J. S., Danish, J. A., Levin,聽M., & diSessa, A. A. (2016). Competence reconceived: The shared聽enterprise of Knowledge Analysis and聽Interaction Analysis. In A.聽A. diSessa, M. Levin, & N. J. S. Brown (Eds.),聽Knowledge and聽interaction: A聽synthetic agenda for the learning sciences聽(pp. 11-29). New York, NY:聽Routledge.
  • Brown, N. J. S. (2016). Feedback-relevant places: Interpreting shifts in聽explanatory narratives. In A.聽A. diSessa, M. Levin, & N. J. S. Brown (Eds.),聽Knowledge and聽interaction: A聽synthetic agenda for the learning sciences聽(pp. 403-425). New York, NY:聽Routledge.
  • Brown, N. J. S., Dai,聽S., & Svetina, D. (2016).聽Analyzing NAEP data at the item level. In P. Kloosterman, D. Mohr, & C. Walcott (Eds.),聽What mathematics do students know and how is聽that knowledge changing? Evidence from the National聽Assessment of Educational聽Progress聽(pp. 33-44). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
  • Brown, N. J. S., Svetina, D., & Dai,聽S. (2016).聽Analyzing NAEP data at the construct level. In P. Kloosterman, D. Mohr, & C. Walcott (Eds.),聽What mathematics do students know and how is聽that knowledge changing? Evidence from the National聽Assessment of Educational聽Progress聽(pp. 315-334). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
  • Kloosterman, P., Walcott, C.,聽Brown, N. J. S., et al. (2015). Using NAEP to analyze eighth-grade students鈥� ability to reason algebraically. In J. A. Middleton, J. Cai, & S. Hwang (Eds.),聽Large-scale studies in mathematics education聽(pp. 179-207). New York, NY: Springer.

Recent Grants

  • VideoReView:聽Support for Teachers鈥� Collection and Interpretation of Classroom Video to聽Improve Science Understanding and聽Argumentation. (NSF DRK-12:聽$2,296,031). S.聽Doubler聽(PI), S. Guler (co-PI), N. J. S. Brown聽(co-PI).
  • Focus on聽Energy: Preparing Elementary Teachers to Meet the NGSS Challenge. (NSF DRK-12: $1,999,836). S. Lacy (PI), N. J. S. Brown (co-PI), R. Tobin (co-PI).
  • Psychometric and Growth Modeling of Complex聽Patterns of Learning Resulting From the Interrelationships Between Multiple聽Learning聽Progressions. (NSF REESE:聽$951,997). N. J. S. Brown聽(PI).

Awards

  • Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow, 2004鈥�2005
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 1999鈥�2002
  • Winston Churchill Foundation Fellow, 1998鈥�1999
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