Minjung Ryu, Ph.D.

Minjung Ryu is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and at the Learning Sciences Research Institute (LSRI) at UIC. She studied chemistry in college and organic chemistry in her master’s degree program. After a couple of years of working in industry, she realized her passion for education and decided to pursue her Ph.D. in science education. Her research interests focus on learning, participation, and identity construction of multilingual learners in STEM learning environments. She has worked with multilingual learners of immigrant and former refugee backgrounds in formal and informal education contexts. Through her work, she hopes to design and provide learning environments in which multilingual learners can engage in STEM learning in a personally meaningful way.

Ryu, M. (2019). Mixing languages for science learning and participation: an examination of Korean-English bilingual learners in an after-school science-learning programme, International Journal of Science Education, 41(10), 1303-1323.

Ryu, M. & Sikorski, T.-R. (2019). Tracking a learner’s verbal participation in science over time: Analysis of talk features within a social context. Science Education, 103, 561-589.

Ryu, M., Tuvilla, M. R. S., & Wright, C. E. (2019). Resettled Burmese refugee youth’s identity work in an afterschool STEM learning setting. To be published in Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 33(1), 84-97.

Ryu, M., Mentzer, N., & Knobloch, N. (2019). Preservice teachers’ experiences of STEM integration: Challenges and implications for integrated STEM teacher preparation. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 29(3), 493-512.

Ryu, M. & Tuvilla, M. R. S. (2018). Resettled refugee youths’ stories of migration, schooling, and future: Challenging dominant narratives about refugees. The Urban Review, 50(4), 539-558.

Ryu, M., Nardo, J. E., & Wu M. Y. M. (G) (2018). An examination of preservice elementary teachers’ representations about chemistry in an intertextuality- and modeling-based course. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 19, 681-693.

Ryu, M. (2015). An examination of Melody’s identities, contexts, and learning in a US science classroom: implications for science education of Asian transnational students. Asia-Pacific Science Education, 1:4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41029-015-0004-y

Ryu, M. (2015). Understanding Korean transnational girls in high school science classes: Beyond the model minority stereotype. Science Education, 99(2), 350-377.

Ryu, M. (2015). Positionings of racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority students in high school biology class: Implications for science education in diverse classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(3), 347-370.

Ryu, M. (2013). Dancing between Kyung Soo and Mike: Identity formation through dialogic interactions. In R. Endo & X. L. Rong (Eds.), Educating Asian Americans: Achievement, schooling, and identities (pp. 181-204). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

- B.A. Chemistry, Seoul National University (2003)
- M.S. Chemistry, Seoul National University (2005)
- Ph.D. Science Education, University of Maryland, College Park (2012)
- Postdoc Training, University of Maryland, College Park and Johns Hopkins University (2012-2014)

I started my career as a chemist in industry. While studying chemistry in schools and working as a chemist, I had been curious why chemistry, and science in general, is so hard to some people, how people learn chemistry, and what it means to learn chemistry. I transitioned to education to pursue those questions, and now I teach chemistry and science teaching methods for students who want to be teachers. In my research, I seek to understand issues around diversity, equity, language, and participation in formal and informal science learning settings. My hope is to find ways to make science learning environments more equitable in order to make science accessible to everyone and empower all learners.

2018

Nardo, J. E., Ryu, M. (2018, July). Examining how Preservice Elementary Teacher’s Views of Science Influence their Science Identity Constructions. Poster presented at the 25th Biennial Conference on Chemistry Education, Notre Dame, IN.

Wright, C. E., Tuvilla, M. R. & Ryu, M. (2018, July). Identity work of resettled Burmese refugee youth in an afterschool STEM program. Presentation given at the 25th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Notre Dame, IN.

Wu, M. Y., Nardo, J. E., & Ryu, M. (2018, July). Exploring How Graduate Teaching Assistants Negotiate their Identities-in-Practice within General Chemistry Labs. Poster presented at the 25th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Notre Dame, IN.

Tuvilla, M. R. (2018, June). Multimodal Interactional Analysis of Youth Interactions in an Afterschool Science Learning Setting, Sheffield, UK.

Nardo, J. E., Ryu, M. (2018, May). Reexamining Preservice Teachers’ Reluctance towards Science Education: Helping Students by Not Teaching Science. Poster presented at the Fourteenth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Urbana-Champaign, IL

Wu, M. Y. (2018, May). Ethnographic Lag: Realizing the Nuances in Video Games. Poster presented at the Fourteenth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Urbana-Champaign, IL.

Wright, C. E., & Ryu, M. (2018, May). Who’s Laughing Now?: Laughter as Participation in Science Learning. Poster presented at the Fourteenth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. Urbana-Champaign, IL.

Nardo, J. E., Ryu, M. (2018, April). Examining how Preservice Elementary Teachers' Views of Science Influence their Science Identity Constructions. Round Table Session presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.

Tuvilla, M. R. (2018, April). Multimodal Interactional Analysis of Youth Interactions in an Afterschool Science Learning Setting. Paper presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.

Wu, M. Y., Ryu, M. (2018, April). Viewing Interdisciplinarity through the Lens of Communities of Practice. Round Table Session presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.

Nardo, J. E., & Ryu, M. (2018, March). Examining how Preservice Elementary Teacher's Views of Science Influence their Science Identity Constructions. Poster presented at the 2018 Annual Graduate Student Education Graduate Education Research Symposium, West Lafayette, IN.

Tuvilla, M. R., Wright, C. E., & Ryu, M. (2018, March). Analysis of Multilingual Learners Interactions in an Afterschool Science Program. Poster presented at the 2018 Annual Graduate Student Education Research Symposium, West Lafayette, IN.

Tuvilla, M. R., Wright, C. E., & Ryu, M. (2018, March). Analysis of Multilingual Learners Interactions in an Afterschool Science Program. Poster presented at the 3rd Annual Purdue Linguistics, Literature, and Second Language Studies Conference, West Lafayette, IN.

Wu, M. Y., Nardo, J. E., & Ryu, M. (2018, March). Investigating Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Identities-in-Practice within General Chemistry Laboratories: An Exploratory Study. Poster presented at the 2018 Annual Graduate Student Education Research Symposium. West Lafayette, IN.

Ryu, M., Tuvilla, M. R., & Wright, C. (2018, March). Examination of Burmese Youth's Participaton and Identity Work in a Community-based Science Program. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Atlanta, GA.

Nardo, J. E., Wu, M. Y., & Ryu, M. (2018, January). Teaching Preservice Elementary Teachers Chemistry through Modeling Everyday Phenomenon. Poster presented at the 3rd Annual Indiana STEM Education Conference, West Lafayette, IN.

Wright, C. E., Tuvilla, M. R., & Ryu, M. (2018, January). Multimodal Interactional Analysis for Analyzing Participation in Informal Learning Settings. Poster presented at the 3rd Annual Indiana STEM Education Conference, West Lafayette, IN.

2017

Wright, C. E., & Ryu, M. (2017, October). Laughter as a Lens for Participation in Afterschool Science Settings. Poster presented at the 2nd Annual Learning Science Graduate Student Conference, Bloomington, IN.

Nardo, J. E., & Ryu, M. (2017, October). Reexamining Preservice Elementary Teachers' Reluctance towards Science Education: Helping Students by Not Teaching Science. Poster presented at the 2nd Annual Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference, Bloomington, IN.

Wu, M. Y. (2017, October). Viewing Interdisciplinarity through the Lens of Communities of Practice. Round Table Session presented at the 2nd Annual Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference, Bloomington, IN.

Ryu, M., Nardo, J. E., & Wu, M. Y. (2017, October). "Chemistry is Everything": An Investigation of preservice elementary teachers' learning about chemistry in a context-based and modeling-enhanced course. Paper presented at the STEM Education Summit, West Lafayette, IN.

Ryu, M., Sikorski, T. R., & Tuvilla, M. (2017, June). A multimodal analysis of group collaboration: What does equitable and inequitable collaboration look like? Paper presented at the Association for Visual Pedagogies Conference, Aalborg, Denmark

Ryu, M., Tuvilla, M. R., & Wright, C. E. (2017, May 14). Creating Spaces With Resettled Refugee Youth [Video file]. Retrieved May 16, 2017, from http://stemforall2017.videohall.com/presentations/994%20

Ryu, M., Nardo, J. & Wu, M. Y. (2017, April). An examination of preservice elementary teachers’ learning about chemistry epistemic practices. Paper presented at the annual conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, San Antonio, TX.

Ryu, M. (2017, April). Discursive functions of translanguaging in science learning contexts: An examination of Korean-English bilingual learners. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.

Ryu, M., Tuvilla, M. R., & Wright, C. (2017, April). Burmese refugee youth’s identity work in an after-school learning setting. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.

Tuvilla, M. R. & Ryu, M. (2017, April). Resilience in the moment: Refugee youth’s resilience in science learning setting. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.

Nardo, J. E., Wu, M. Y., & Ryu, M. (2017, March). Making Chemistry More Accessible to Elementary Education Majors: Seeing the Finer Strokes in the Fresco of Everyday Life. Poster presented at the Annual Graduate Student Education Research Symposium, West Lafayette, IN.

Tuvilla, M. R., Wright, C. E., & Ryu, M. (2017, March). Burmese Youth's Identity Negotiation in an Afterschool STEM Program. Poster presented at the Annual Graduate Student Education Research Symposium, West Lafayette, IN.

Tuvilla, M. R. & Ryu, M. (2017, January). What can K-12 teachers learn from minoritized youth's interactions in an afterschool science program?. Paper presented at Indiana STEM Education Conference, West Lafayette, IN.

2016

Tuvilla, M. R. & Ryu, M. (2016, October). Betty's resilience in the moment: Refugee Youth's 'Hidden' Resilience in an Afterschool STEM Program. Paper presented at Learning Sciences Graduate Students Conference, Chicago, IL.

Ryu, M. (2016, April). “Do you have hwangsa?” An examination of Korean-English bilingual translanguaging in an afterschool science program. Paper presented at the annual conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Baltimore, MD.

Ryu, M. (2016, April). “They don’t assign readings to us: Asian international students in collaborative STEM learning environments. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.

Ryu, M., Mentzer, N. & Knobloch, N. (2016, April). An examination of pre-service teachers’ sense-making of STEM integration in an STEM education methods course. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.

Ryu, M. & Tuvilla, M.R. (2016, April). Critical STEM literacy practices among resettled Burmese refugee youth. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.

Tuvilla, M. R. & Ryu, M. (2016, January). Responsive teaching: A way to engage transnational students in science talks. Paper presented at Indiana STEM Education Conference, West Lafayette, IN.

2015

Ryu, M., Mentzer, N., & Knobloch, N. (2015, July). 미국의 한 대학의 사례를 중심으로 살펴본 융합교육 교사 양성 프로그램의 가능성과 해결과제, Possibilities and challenges of integrated STEM teacher education: Experiences of a U.S. university. Paper presented at the biannual meeting of the Korean Association for Science Education, Daejeon, Korea.

Ryu, M., Jeffery, K., & Soares, L. (2015, August). General chemistry course reform: Chemistry for pre-service elementary teachers. Poster presented at the IUPAC2015 (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), Busan, Korea.

Ryu, M. & Soares, L. (2015, August). Teaching chemistry through STEM integration: Opportunities and challenges. Poster presented at the IUPAC2015 (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), Busan, Korea.

Ryu, M. (2015, August). 정체성의 관점에서 본 다문화 및 이민자 학생의 과학교실 담화 참여, Understandings of science classroom discursive participation of multicultural and immigrant students from an identity perspective. Paper presented at the biannual meeting of the Korean Society of Elementary Science Education, Jinju, Korea.

Ryu, M. & Sikorski, T-R. (2015, April). Characterizing shifts in Selena’s talk: A study of students’ discursive participation in afterschool Science Club. Paper presented at the annual conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Chicago, IL.

Ryu, M., Sikorski, T-R, Richards, J. & Jaber, L. (2015, April). Watching a Student Challenge Evolutionary Theory: Insights Gleaned From Collaborative Data Analysis. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.