Bridging the STEM Education Gap
Fueled by Failure
Briana H. Clarke has had a long standing goal of making the STEM community more accessible. When she first studied engineering at Seattle Pacific University, Briana saw how steep the learning curve was for a student who is not introduced early on to engineering concepts. Disheartened by her lack of exposure and community, Briana dropped out of C++ during college–twice. However, she was determined to not only better prepare students for a technology driven society, also be a model of problem solving and perseverance.
After completing her degree in physics, Briana taught herself to code in her first year of teaching. She continued to build her own repertoire in order to strengthen her curriculum and students. She infused technology and engineering in her own class, and now holds professional development to impact the broader education community.
Briana H. Clarke
taught science for the past nine years. In Oakland California, Briana started with a classroom budget of $1 per student, and so, she turned to digital platforms conduct online labs.
Her desire to make STEM accessible for her own students broadened to creating worksheets and other resources for students across the country. She published 50 physics and chemistry labs, which were used in over 400 classes during the pandemic.
Briana continued broadening access to STEM education by serving as Physics Education Technology’s Equity and Professional Development Specialist (as pictured).
Briana now continues to independently write curriculum and lead professional development workshops.