About the SETS development team members...
The SETS development team began as part of a CAUSEmos Stat Education Research cluster formed at USCOTS 2007. The team consisted of seven statistics educators/researchers located across the United States (listed alphabetically): Felicity Enders, Randy Groth, Leigh Harrell-Williams, Larry Lesser, TJ Murphy, Rebecca Pierce, and M. Alejandra Sorto. Information for the five remaining active members of the SETS team is listed below.
Dr. Leigh Harrell-Williams
University of Memphis
Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology and Research
leigh.williams@memphis.edu
Learn more about Harrell-Williams and her research >
Dr. Leigh Harrell-Williams is an assistant professor of quantitative research methods
in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research in the College
of Education at the University of Memphis. She has an MS in Statistics and PhD in
Educational Research and Evaluation. She teaches statistics and introductory educational/psychological
measurement courses. Currently, she is the research lead on an NSF IUSE project involving
the multi-institution implementation and assessment of a graduate student instructor
training program. Formerly, she was PI on a University of Memphis faculty grant to
revise and improve the Self-Efficacy to Teach Statistics (SETS) instruments and the
faculty lead partner on a University of Memphis engaged scholarship grant to assist
a non-profit with implementation and evaluation of an informal science learning program
for 6th graders held at the university’s Biological Station.
Dr. Larry Lesser
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Learn more about Lesser and his research >
Teri J. (TJ) Murphy
University of Cincinnati
Professor, Engineering Education
Learn more about Murphy and her research >
Dr. Rebecca Pierce
Ball State University
Associate Professor, Mathematical Sciences
rpierce@bsu.edu
Learn more about Pierce and her research>
Dr. Rebecca L. Pierce is an associate professor of mathematical sciences at Ball State
University, teaching undergraduate and graduate statistics courses which incorporate
the use of statistical software. She has PhD in mathematical sciences from the University
of Texas at Arlington. Previously, Dr. Pierce and colleagues have received several
federal grants which focused on career development and professional development for
teachers. From 1996 to 1998, she was director of a National Science Foundation Grant
under the EHR Model Projects for Women and Girls Program. From 1999 to 2010, she was
a co-author, curriculum developer, and trainer for several Jacob K. Javits’ grants
which represent the only federal funding available for gifted programs. Dr. Pierce
has author or co-authored numerous professional articles related to statistics, statistics
education, mathematics, and gifted education. Along with colleague Dr. Cheryll Adams,
she has co-authored 5 books on differentiated instruction for elementary and middle
school teachers.
Dr. M. Alejandra Sorto
Texas State
Professor, Mathematics
Learn more about Sorto and her research >
M. Alejandra Sorto received her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 2004 in Mathematics
Education. She is currently a faculty member of the Mathematics Department at Texas
State University. Her research focuses on the preparation of teachers in the area
of Statistics, the impact of professional development, and comparative studies in
Latin-America and Africa. In particular, she is interested in developing instruments
to measure content knowledge for teaching, teaching quality and analyzing its effect
on student achievement. She has worked with governments of Chile, Peru, Dominican
Republic, Honduras, and Guatemala to help improve the preparation of teachers in mathematics
and develop educational standards. The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently
awarded her a CAREER research grant to investigate the Mathematics instruction of
English language learners in the state of Texas.
Request the SETS Instruments
Request the SETS instruments: Rebecca Pierce, rpierce@bsu.edu or Leigh Harrell-Williams, Leigh.Williams@memphis.edu.