The University of Southern Indiana Mathematical Sciences Department is expanding its work to enhance the current state of undergraduate teacher preparation for data science and statistics through a portion of a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The project, “Collaborative Research: Enhancing Data Science and Statistics Teacher Education – Transforming and Building Community,” is a collaboration between USI, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Eastern Michigan University (EMU) and the Concord Consortium. USI will receive an estimated $175,000 from the project.

Nationwide, there are efforts underway to heighten the attention to data and statistics in secondary mathematics curriculum. An increasing number of careers rely on the ability to make data-informed decisions. The Collaborative Research grant focuses on how teachers are prepared to address these needs.

The project will get underway by collecting and analyzing data on the current state of undergraduate teacher preparation, researching both early-career secondary math teachers and preparation programs for mathematics teachers. It will also build a teacher education networked improvement community through partnerships with national organizations and provide professional development opportunities for faculty members across the nation who prepare future teachers.

Dr. Rick Hudson, Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Department, Professor of Mathematics, and Co-Principal Investigator on the project, says at its conclusion, the collaborative team will develop, curate, and disseminate high-quality data science and statistics teacher education curriculum materials. “We will enhance and expand our existing modules to develop materials in support of mathematics teacher educators and establish a web-based hub to share teacher education resources,” Hudson says. “We will also enhance capabilities of the Concord Consortium’s Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP), a tool for teaching with statistics to better support data modeling and sampling simulations.”

In addition to Hudson, Dr. Stephanie Casey, Professor of Mathematics Education at EMU; Dr. Gemma Mojica, Research Scholar at NCSU; and Bill Finzer, Senior Scientist at Concord Consortium, are serving as Co-Principal Investigators on the project. The Lead Principal Investigator on the project is Dr. Hollylynne Lee, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Education at NCSU.

The same five collaborators, including Hudson, partnered on an earlier grant project from 2016-22, titled “ESTEEM (Enhancing Statistics Teacher Education with E-Modules),” which resulted in the development of web-based modules for teaching future mathematics teachers about statistics. The current grant extends that work.

“The new grant will allow our team to work toward systemic change across the nation by broadening our reach to additional higher education institutions and partnering with professional organizations and statistics teacher education initiatives,” Hudson says.

Through the imaginations of Vincennes University Education majors and Education Professor Lisa Miller, a beautifully illustrated and touching children’s book will come to life next spring along the banks of the Wabash River.

Miller and the future teachers are creating a “story walk” for elementary school students in Knox County and their families to enjoy. A children’s book will be displayed page by page on signs along a walking route. Knox County youth will go from sign to sign, reading the story while making their way along the river.

The story walks promote reading and encourage outdoor recreation. The walk along the Wabash will teach VU students preparing to become educators how to take literacy outside the walls of classrooms and include parents and guardians in a literacy event.

The impactful and unique project is supported by a grant from the Knox County Community Foundation.

According to VU College of Social Science, Performing Arts and Communications Dean Dr. Cynthia Ragle, “We are thankful to the Knox County Community Foundation for the funds to implement Professor Miller’s story walk. This activity is a fun way to connect our Education students with the community, encourage reading, and promote being active together as a family.”

Knox County Community Foundation Regional Director of Development Savannah Linenburg and Regional Director of Community Engagement & Impact Laura Hazelman recently presented Miller with a check for $4,000.

“The Story Walk supports both education and youth development – two program areas the Knox County Community Foundation strives to support,” Hazelman said.

VU students will plan the stations and create interactive activities for the story walk. There will be questions along the way that will help children understand the story and guide parents and guardians on what questions they might ask to help their child build literacy skills. Along the trail, there will be multiple opportunities for activities that enrich the story as students are reading it.

Stations of craft activities, movement activities, games, and a photo booth are planned at the end of the trail. Children will also select a free book to take home after the story walk

“In my teaching experience in public schools, I often planned events which involved parents and found it to be so important for students,” Miller said. “It has been a vision of mine that our future teachers have the opportunity to plan a literacy event for children, and with this grant opportunity, it will be possible thanks to the Knox County Community Foundation. We are thankful to the Foundation and its support of Vincennes University and Knox County youth and their families.”

The book that will spring to life along the story walk is “Mossy” by award-winning author and illustrator Jan Brett. It shares the tale of Mossy, a one-of-a-kind turtle with a breathtaking garden growing on her shell, who loses her freedom when she is removed from a lily pad pond and taken to live in a museum.

“This book was selected due to the amazing artwork and the important message of the story concerning wildlife,” Miller said. “It is a beautiful story about a turtle and some real-life dilemmas she faces. I am so excited that this has come to life.”

The University of Southern Indiana New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art (NHGCA) is proud to present Filled Up 3, A Ceramic Cup Show, in partnership with New Harmony Clay Project. Filled Up 3 features ceramic cups by contributing artists around the United States, juried by noted ceramic artist Malcolm Motubo Smith.

The exhibit will host a public opening reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, November 12, featuring a juror’s talk and an award announcement.

Smith currently serves as Associate Professor of Ceramic Art at Indiana University in Bloomington. He earned an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1996 and studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and Penn State University where he completed a BFA in ceramics in 1994.

Professionally, Smith is active in presenting workshops and lectures and participating in residencies, including visits to Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts and the Robert McNamara Foundation. His works have been presented at The Luise Ross Gallery in New York City and are held in numerous private and public collections, including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, FuLed International Ceramic Art Museum, the Haan Museum, the Indiana State Museum and the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum.

Filled Up 3 is made possible in part by the Efroymson Family Fund, the Lenny and Anne Dowhie Trusts, Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The NHGCA promotes discourse about and access to contemporary art in the southern Indiana region and is an outreach partner of the University of Southern Indiana. The gallery is located at 506 Main Street in New Harmony, Indiana. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, visit the NHGCA website, or call 812-682-3156.

New Harmony Clay Project (NHCP) is an artist residency and educational center located at the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Ceramic Studio in Historic New Harmony, Indiana. NHCP fosters an environment that supports the investigation of new ideas and work in the ceramic arts. It is an organization under the New Harmony Artist Guild, a non-profit 501(c)3, that serves as an incubator for nurturing the arts. NHCP is a rural residency program, supported by the Efroymson Family Fund, Greater Houston Community Foundation, Lenny and Anne Dowhie Trusts and Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation. The goal is to encourage emerging and professional visual artists/educators in ceramics by giving them quiet space and the time to develop a new body of work.