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Maggie Braun

Teaching Professor and Associate Dean Carnegie Mellon University

  • Pittsburgh PA

Maggie Braun has had a profound impact on undergraduate education and advising during her 13-year tenure at the Mellon College of Science.

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Biography

Maggie Braun joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 2008 as assistant department head for undergraduate affairs in the Department of Biological Sciences. She served as the primary academic advisor for all undergraduates in the department, mentoring more than 600 students over the past seven years. In January 2015, Braun was named the director of MCS core education, helping to implement the college’s new, multidimensional undergraduate education program that aims to prepare students for their future as 21st-century scientists. Since 2016, she has served as associate dean for undergraduate affairs where she coordinates curricula, advising, and community-building programs for all undergraduates in the Mellon College of Science. Braun also serves on a number of campus-wide committees on student-centered success initiatives and teaches a capstone course for multi- and interdisciplinary studies students.

Areas of Expertise

Molecular Cloning
Molecular Biology
Future of Education
Biological Sciences
Biochemistry

Media Appearances

Author details history, ethics of immortal human cell line

The Tartan  online

2010-03-01

Maggie Braun, assistant department head of the biological sciences department, raised her hand during Skloot’s lecture to discuss the use of HeLa cells. “I previously worked with [HeLa cells] at the National Institute of Health using them as a control for ‘normal behavior,’ ” said Braun following the event, “we tested them against other cancerous tissues.”

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Media

Social

Industry Expertise

Education/Learning

Accomplishments

Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Advising and Mentoring

2022

Education

Youngstown State University

B.S.

Biological Sciences

2001

University of Pittsburgh

Ph.D.

Biological Sciences

2007

National Cancer Institute

Postdoctoral Fellow

Articles

Investigating the Impact of an Online Collaboration Course on Students’ Attitudes and Learning

Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age. Making the Learning Sciences Count

Soniya Gadgil, Maggie Braun, Martha Harty, Ken Hovis, and Marsha Lovett

2018-06-25

Collaboration and teamwork are critical skills in today’s workplace, but teaching
them effectively remains a challenge. Collaborative U, an online instructional resource that
students complete at the start of a major group project, was designed to address this issue. We
present results from a randomized controlled trial comparing Collaborative U to a control
condition equated on format and duration. Students in the Collaborative U condition maintained
their initial high positive attitudes towards collaboration from pre to post, whereas students in
the control condition showed a decline. Furthermore, students who completed Collaborative U
learned more from pre to post and also rated team process and final products significantly higher
than those in the control condition on a variety of attributes. Our findings offer encouraging
evidence for the efficacy of a short, online intervention in supporting teamwork skills, and have
important implications for integrating team-based activities into classrooms.

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