Research Interests
Graduate teaching assistant professional development, culturally responsive pedagogy, biology education
My education research is focused on implementing and evaluating culturally responsive pedagogy in biology courses. I am also interested in how faculty and graduate teaching assistants approach diversity, equity, and inclusion in the science classroom.
Current Research Projects:
- Evaluate how faculty and universities support undergraduate students who are involved in faculty-mentored research.
- Determine efficacy of graduate teaching assistant professional development programs.
Courses
Bio Sci 9B – Science of Food and Cooking
Bio Sci 100 – Scientific Writing
Bio Sci D111L – Developmental and Cell Biology Lab
Recent Publications
- Parsons, M. J., Bowman, R., Leon Parada, K., Bojorquez, D., Lewis, C., Padre, B., and Lee, S. W. UCI BioEYEs: A graduate student-led model for sustainable, inclusive science outreach. Zebrafish, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1177/15458547261476961
- Shihadih, D. S., Runkel Baez, E., Asgari, M., Berl, J., Chouinard, A. J., Gutzler, S., Heinrich, K. K., Riordan, E., Lee, S. W., and Shortlidge, E. E. Assessing the Evolving the Culture of Biology Program through the lens of the Teacher Centered Systemic Reform (TCSR) model. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00064-26
- Parsons, M. J., and Lee, S. W. A zebrafish module for genetic problem-solving. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00051-26
- Chouinard, A. J., Shihadih, D., Lee, S. W., Gutzler, S., Heinrich, K. K., Asgari, M., and Shortlidge, E. E. The Web of TPD Reform: A reflective tool for analyzing and improving teaching professional development programs for teaching assistants. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 26(3), 2025. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00046-25
- Lee, S. W., Miyasato, H., Tirado, J., Dingwall, S., and Cardullo, R. A. Minoritized students and their faculty research mentors view benevolence differently in the relationship. PLoS One, 20(9): e0332153, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332153
- Tran, S., Tirado, J., Miyasato, H., and Lee, S. W. Students’ perceptions of social issues in biology courses. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 25(1), 1-11, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00194-23
- Lee, S. W., and Tran, S. Students need more than content knowledge to counter vaccine hesitancy. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 24(2), 1-8, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00047-23
- Ung, P., Yonezawa, M., Lee, S., and Cook, D. B. Thinking like a scientist. Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online Database, 2020.
- Lee, S. W., and Ing, M. Does the match between gender and race of graduate teaching assistants and undergraduates improve student performance in introductory biology? CBE Life Sciences Education, 19:ar57, 1-10, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-07-0137
- Lee, S. W. The impact of a pedagogy course on the teaching beliefs of inexperience graduate teaching assistants. CBE Life Sciences Education, 18:ar5, 1-12, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.18-07-0137
- Thompson, M., Pastorino, L., Lee, S., and Lipton, P. Research and Teaching: Re-envisioning the introductory science course as a cognitive apprenticeship. Journal of College Science Teaching, 46(1): 84-91, 2016.