ITEST Team Members

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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

Mike Wittie started as a RightNow Technologies assistant professor of Computer Science at Montana 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 Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was advised by Professor Kevin Almeroth's and Professor Elizabeth Belding. Before joining UCSB, Mike worked for Anzus Inc. in San Diego, who has since been acquired by Rockwell Collins. Before coming to San Diego, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an MSE in Computer Science and a BA in Cognitive Science, cum laude.

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.