Computer Science through Storytelling

Brittany Terese Fasy

PI

Brittany Terese Fasy is an associate professor in Computer Science, with an affiliate position in Mathematical Sciences. She is the principal investigator of this project, which includes coordinating the team and advising students. She is excited to work with the middle school students of Montana, as they are the future of our state.

Stacey A. Hancock

Co-PI

Stacey A. Hancock is an associate professor of Statistics with research interests in statistics education. Her role in this project is to help design assessment instruments and conduct data analyses to determine how best to introduce computational thinking into middle school classrooms. Stacey grew up in Montana and is excited to bring computer and data science to American Indian students throughout the state.

Barbara Komlos

Co-PI

Barbara Z. Komlos has an Ed.D. from Montana State University in Higher Education. Her doctoral research focused on the academic writing of Native American first-year college students. She has been developing culturally responsive curricula and assessments for 15 years and has experience with the design and implementation of qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments, and data analysis. She has taught and mentored Native American students from high school to the undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of academic writing and STEM education. She has also co-facilitating workshops for faculty in STEM to improve their mentoring of Native American graduate students.

Carolyn Plumb

External Evaluator

Before retiring in 2015, Carolyn Plumb was the Director of Educational Innovation and Strategic Projects in the College of Engineering at Montana State University (MSU). Plumb has been involved in engineering education for over 30 years. At MSU, she served as the college’s assessment and evaluation expert, and she continues to plan and implement assessment and evaluation for several projects and programs funded by NSF and the U.S. Department of Education. She is currently an external evaluator for the GenOM Project at the University of Washington (funded by the National Institutes of Health) and was previously the external evaluator for the Biological Frameworks for Engineers program at the University of Washington (funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute). She is also the external evaluator for a new and innovative undergraduate engineering program, Iron Range Engineering, in Minnesota. Plumb has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and an M.S. in Technical Communication, both from the University of Washington. She is experienced in both qualitative and quantitative evaluation and research methods.

Sweeney Windchief

Co-PI

Sweeney Windchief, a member of the Fort Peck Tribes (Assiniboine) in Montana, serves as an associate professor of Adult and Higher Education at Montana State University. His research interests include higher education specifically under the umbrella of Indigenous intellectualism. His teaching privileges include critical race theory, Indigenous methodologies in research, law and policy in higher education and institutional research. His outreach and community engagement activities include; MSU’s American Indian Student Center Executive Committee, the College Horizons advisory council, and is on the AERA Indigenous Peoples of the Americas (IPA) SIG Awards committee. He and his wife Sara have two sons who help keep things in perspective.

Braeden Sopp

Nathan Patera

M.S. student in Computer Science

Nathan Patera is a M.S. student in Computer Science at Montana State University. Nathan graduated from MSU with a B.S. in Computer Science. His role in the storytelling project is to contribute to the development and refinement of lesson plans and other products.

Jo Niglio

Undergraduate student in Applied Mathematics

Jo is working on editing the Storytelling lesson plans. As someone who has a background in both the arts and STEM, she is excited to contribute to the Storytelling research group!

Kyla Andersen

Kyla is an undergraduate pursuing a M.S in Computer Science. Her role in the Storytelling Project is to refine and add content to the lesson plans.

Barbara Komlos

Co-PI

Barbara Z. Komlos has an Ed.D. from Montana State University in Higher Education. Her doctoral research focused on the academic writing of Native American first-year college students. She has been developing culturally responsive curricula and assessments for 15 years and has experience with the design and implementation of qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments, and data analysis. She has taught and mentored Native American students from high school to the undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of academic writing and STEM education. She has also co-facilitating workshops for faculty in STEM to improve their mentoring of Native American graduate students.

Bryce Hughes

Bryce Hughes is an assistant professor in adult and higher education at Montana State University. His research explores transforming higher education to achieve diversity and equity, and a major thread of his research agenda focuses on gender, sexual orientation, and race in STEM fields. He is currently a co-PI on three NSF grants totaling over $1 million.

Loverty Erickson

Loverty Erickson/Doctoral candidate, is an independent/non-profit organization, contracting consultant for Native American education.She consultants with seven Native American tribes in MT, WY, ND, SD, NM & AZ.She has over adecade experience as an educator/administrator in public schools, private schools, and, tribal contract/grant schools in the Bureau of Indian Education.

Michael Running Wolf

Michael Running Wolf was raised in a rural village in Montana with intermittent water and electricity; naturally, he now has a Masters of Science in Computer Science. He has professional experience with IBM, AT&T Wireless and Lawrence Livermore National Lab in Database Theory and distributed cloud computing. Though a computer nerd at heart, his true passion: endangered indigenous language revitalization using Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technology. He was raised by a grandmother who only spoke his tribal language, Cheyenne, which like many other indigenous languages is near extinction. By leveraging his advanced degree and technical skills Michael hopes to strengthen the ecology of thought represented by indigenous languages through immersive technology.

Steve Cooper

Steve accepted the role of Director of the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at UNL in January 2016. He currently holds an appointment as an associate professor of Computer Science and Engineering. Steve comes to UNL fromStanford University, where he served as associate professor (Teaching) in theComputer Science Department. Steve has previously worked as a program manager inNSF'sDivision of Undergraduate Education, within itsEducation and Human Resources Directorate. As an academic, Steve is probably best known for his work withAlice, a 3-D interactive animation environment used for teaching novices how to program. He is interested in computer science education. Many years ago, Steve worked as a software engineer for IBM. There he did operating systems development for IBM's MVS operating system in its Data Systems Division. Steve holds a doctoral (and master's) degree incomputer sciencefromSyracuse University. His undergraduate degrees, inchemistryandmathematics, are fromCornell University.

Alex Mershon

M.S.student in Computer Science

Alex Mershon was a Graduate Research Assistant in the Computer Science Department at Montana State University. He graduated with his B.S in Computer Science, with honors, at MSU and looks to use his expertise in computer science to help create the lesson plans for this project. He is interested in broadening the scope of computer science in the Montana Curriculum.

Allison Theobold

Ph.D.graduate inStatistics Education

Allison Theobold was a Ph.D. student in the Mathematical Sciences, focusing on Statistics Education. Her role in this project is to help administer outreach events and aid in the development of lesson plans for Montana middle school educators. She is looking forward to understanding the development of IEFA lesson plans and getting middle school students interested in computer science. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Barbara do Amaral

Ed.D. student in Adult & Higher Ed.

Barbara do Amaral was a graduate student in the Department of Education, in the Adult & Higher Ed.D. program. Her research interests are in marginalized and underrepresented student populations. She also has an M.A. in Translation from Kent State University, B.A. French Literature from MSU, and B.S Business and Administration from the University of Maryland. Her role in the storytelling project is to identify IEFA culturally-relevant stories from American Indians in the Northwest that can be created into 3D Models.

Brad McCoy

Ph.D. student in Computer Science

Brad McCoy is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Montana State University. His role in the Storytelling project is to conduct outreach events and to help develop new lessons.

Brendan Kristiansen

Computer Science Major

Brendan Kristiansen was an undergraduate at Montana State University studying computer science. His role with the Storytelling team is to conduct outreach events and create new lesson plans that Utilize Alice. He enjoys getting to help teach students about Native American culture and history while using new technology.

Charles Harvey

Middle School Educator (by choice :-) ). After 13 years of teaching science,Charles Harvey now has the honor and pleasure of teaching Computer Literacy and empowering students with technology solutions and critical thinking!

Connie Chang

Outreach Coordinator

Connie Chang was an associate professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Her role in this project is to help coordinate outreach events. Connie looks forward to the connections that will be made with K-12 teachers of American Indian students across Montana.

Elijah Meyer

Ph.D. graduate in Statistics

Elijah was born and raised in Great Falls, Montana and currently holds a Master’s degree in Statistics earned from Montana State University. His early work involved sports statistics, focusing in on Fitbit data and Disc Golf visualizations. His recent work involved collaboration on developing a professional development program for first-year graduate student instructors, and the revamp of the Introductory Statistics curriculum at Montana State University. His current research investigates newer statistics instructors’ breakthroughs with and motivations for using active learning. Many of these projects have been presented to audiences at the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM), Cascadia Symposium of Statistics in Sports (CASSIS), and United States Conference on Teaching Statistics 2019 (USCOTS19). He earned his Ph.D. in statistics with a focus in statistics education in 2022 and is currently a Postdoc at Duke University.

Gallage Nipun Ariyaratne

Biochemistry Major

Gallage Ariyaratne is a senior majoring in Biochemistry at Montana State University. He was engaged with radical SAM enzyme research at Broderick's group in MSU. His role with the storytelling project is to assist the graduate students in creating lesson plan materials and assess the results of outreach events.

Jachike Craig Madubuko

Computer Science Major

As a senior in Computer Science at Montana State University,Jachike Craig Madubuko is excited to work on this team as the Web Content Manager and create 3-D models for lesson plans. He likes helping students discover the fun of programming.

Jake Chipps

Joseph "Jake" Chipps is a postdoctoral researcher in the MSU School of Computing. Jake was a math and CS educator for 15 years, a curriculum developer, professional development facilitator, and a standards writer. Jake is excited to bring his experience in CS education to the Storytelling Project.

Kirby Overman

Computer Science Major

Kirby Overman was an undergraduate at Montana State University studying Computer Science. He is a member of the team working on with lesson plans and enjoys the opportunity to introduce Computer Science to new students in the context of local culture

Mark Braun

Computer Science and Statistics Major

Mark Braun was an undergraduate at Montana State University studying computer science and statistics. His role with the Storytelling team is to help develop new teacher training modules.

Mike Wittie

Past Co-PI

Mike Wittie started as a RightNow Technologies assistant professor of Computer Science atMontana State University in Fall of 2011. Since Fall of 2017 he was an associate professor at the Gianforte School of Computing. He has received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Computer Science Departmentat theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, where he was advised by ProfessorKevin Almeroth's and ProfessorElizabeth Belding. Before joining UCSB, Mike worked for Anzus Inc. in San Diego, who has since been acquired byRockwell Collins. Before coming to San Diego, he graduated from theUniversity of Pennsylvaniawith an MSE in Computer Science and a BA in Cognitive Science, cum laude.

Ming Lin

Advisory Board Member

Ming Lin is currently the John R. & Louise S. Parker Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill and an honorary Distinguished Professor (Yangtze Scholar) at Tsinghua University in China. Her research interests include computer graphics, robotics, and human-computer interaction, with focuses on physically-based modeling, sound rendering, haptics, algorithmic robotics, virtual environments, interactive techniques, geometric computing, and distributed interactive simulation. She is a Fellow of ACM, IEEE, and Eurographics. She has been serving asa member of the IEEE Computer Society (CS) Board of Governors and a member of Computing Research Association-Women (CRA-W) Board of Directors.

Monte Meyerink

Ph.D. student in Education Curriculum & Instruction

Monte Meyerink was a Ph.D. student in the Department of Education, studying Curriculum & Instruction with a focus in Mathematics Education. In addition to working as a graduate research assistant for The Storytelling Project, he is a graduate teaching assistant for K-8 Mathematics Methods. Monte earned a M.S.Ed. in Education in 2018 and a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Mathematics Education in 2016 from Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD. His primary research interest is using technology to teach middle and high school mathematics. Monte's role on The Storytelling Project is to assist in the development of lesson plans and supervise outreach events.

Olivia Firth

M.S. student in Computer Science

Olivia Firth was a M.S. student in Computer Science at Montana State University. Olivia graduated from Montana State University with a B.S. in Mathematics. She was drawn to CS Education research by her background as a math tutor and children's climbing instructor. Her role in The Storytelling Project is to contribute to the creation of lesson plan materials as well as helping assess the results of outreach events and student work.

Patrick Jeffers

Graduate Student in Native American Studies

Patrick Jeffers was a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Native American Studies program at Montana State University. Having gotten his Undergraduate degree in History and Science at the University of Tulsa, he will be assisting this project on the cultural aspects of the project, making sure that the tribes of Montana and the area around are represented correctly and appropriately. He is looking forward to being a part of this project, and working with the students involved.

Que Nguyet Tran

Ph.D. student in Adult& Higher Education

Que N. Tran was a graduate research assistant in the "Growth and Enhancement for Montana Students" -GEMS project in the Department of Education. My research interests are learning sciences, digital literacy, and college student's career planning. I have an M.Sc. in Marketing from University College Dublin (Ireland), B.Sc. in Economics from University of Foreign Trade (Vietnam), and B.A. in English major from Hanoi University (Vietnam). I was also a Humphrey Fellow in Higher Education Administration at Pennsylvania State University. Before joining the Ph.D. program at MSU, I experienced in the Asian and the European higher education systems for over a decade.

Sam Micka

Ph.D.graduate in Computer Science

Samuel Micka was a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Montana State University where he is a member of the applied algorithms lab. His role in the storytelling project is to assist with outreach programs and to help develop lesson plans. His interest in computer science education drives his work and he looks forward to learning more about how to effectively teach students about computer science concepts.

Scott W. H. Young

Collaborator

Since 2018 Scott is an Associate Professor and User Experience & Assessment Librarian at the MSU Renne Library. He holds a Master of Arts in Archives and Public History from New York University completed in 2011, a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Palmer School of Long Island University completed in 2011, and a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Archaeology, Summa Cum Laude from University of Minnesota completed in 2005.

Sean Mihalko

Statistics

Sean Mihalko was an undergraduate at Montana State University studying statistics. His role with the Storytelling team is to help develop new teacher training and outreach modules.

Suzie Hockel

Program Coordinator

Suzie Hockel is an MSU graduate in Elementary Education with a Technology Enhancement. Through this project, she assists in coordinating all aspects relating to the organization of this grant. Having previously taught in the Gallatin Valley for a few years, Suzie looks forward to connecting again to the school system and broadening her experience to American Indian schools in Montana.

Therese Lupariello

M.S. student in Statistics

Therese Lupariello was a M.S. student in Statistics at Montana State University. Therese graduated from St. Lawrence University with a B.S. in Mathematics. Her role in the Storytelling Project is to contribute to lesson plan and teacher training development, as well as help conduct outreach events.

Tyler Fallis

Computer Science Major

Tyler Fallis was an undergraduate at Western Washington University studying Math and Computer science. He produces 3D models and lesson materials related to the Alice activities of the lesson plans. He is excited to provide more students with access to Computer Science education.