Sincerely, South

Have you been wondering about online AI assistants and applications? Are you curious about how artificial intelligence is impacting the educational landscape? In this third episode of their series highlighting aspects of AI, Dr. Joe Gaston and Dr. Susan Ferguson are joined by Sage, a Google Gemini AI Assistant. Sage discusses her perspective on AI in education and industry as well as her self-perception and awareness of public attitudes toward artificial intelligence. Tune in as the three discuss evolving perceptions of AI, useful tips for preservice teachers who want to utilize an AI assistant for planning and resource acquisition, ethical considerations of AI use, future outlook for AI for personal use, and more.

In this second of a multi-episode series exploring the latest in how AI impacts our educational landscape, hosts Dr. Joe Gaston and Dr. Susan Ferguson chat with Timothy Johnson. As a regional director for Alabama Technology in Motion, Johnson visits schools and classrooms to help educators navigate the new opportunities that have arisen as a result of AI technologies.  Tune in as the three discuss how AI can be demystified for K-12 students and how the state is supporting adopters of new technologies as they guide students to be discerning implementers to enhance their learning. 

Dr. Angela Rand, Director of the Marx Library and College of Education and Professional Studies liaison discusses AI with hosts Dr. Joe Gaston and Dr. Susan Ferguson. In this first of a three part series about artificial intelligence, Dr. Rand discusses concerns and conversations about over use of AI and the positive aspects and implications for its use in higher education. In our first video enhanced Sincerely, South podcast, she shares a model for demystifying and discernment in approaching AI.

The Robert Noyce program supports talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers. It also supports experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become teacher leaders who continue as classroom teachers in high-need school districts.  Each year the Southeast Regional Noyce Conference hosts recipients of the funding to network and to learn about new and innovative STEM teaching practices. In this special edition of Sincerely, South, Dr. Joe Gaston talks with Noyce scholars, teachers, and program personnel from throughout the southeast region. Tune in as they share their stories of growth and as they recount how the Noyce program has made a difference in their lives and in the lives of their students. Hear from first-generation college students, seasoned STEM professionals, and teacher leaders about their experiences with NSF Noyce.If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a STEM teacher through the NSF program contact Dr. Susan Ferguson (ferguson@southalabama.edu) or Dr. Katie Guffey-McCorrision (skguffey@southalabama.edu).

In this special grad edition of Sincerely, South hosted by Dr. Tres Stefurak, Dr. Jim Van Haneghan discusses the history of the Instructional Design doctoral program at South as well as the core of the program that attracts students from all disciplines. Mentorship throughout the program is highlighted as one of the components that drives success from the beginning, through dissertation, and beyond. They are joined in the studio by four recent graduates who share their motivations for studying Instructional Design as well as their experiences throughout the program. Get inspired by Dr. Julie Schwindt (former Accountant & CPA), Dr. Shelly Bates (former recreational therapist), Dr. Stephanie McGilvary (former physician assistant), and Dr. Shelly Mayo (former medical records supervisor) as they discuss their educational backgrounds and what led them to pursue their Instructional Design doctorate.

Dr. Jeremiah Newell has been part of Accel Day and Evening Academy Charter School in Mobile, AL since its start and now serves as CEO of the Mobile Area Education Foundation. In this episode ofSincerely, Southhe illuminates the need for alternative education and alternative paths to help students recognize their educational goals, including flexible scheduling to help students earn their high school diplomas. Join Drs. Joe Gaston and Susan Ferguson as they discuss with Dr. Newell how state and local partnerships and support have been instrumental in offering educational and career-ready options to create agency for more students from middle grades through graduation and how that is now expanding to lower grades as well.

How do faculty and advisors influence the way students feel a sense of belonging in higher education? Science Education Advisor Dr. Katie McCorrison co-hosts with Dr. Joe Gaston in a special alumni highlight episode. Alternative school teacher Sophia Houston discusses how engaging, hands-on experiences such as onsite field trips offer new perspectives for students with limited experiences. Informed by her research with university faculty, Dr. Henning and Dr. Tran into disparities between an individual and their organizational norms, Houston has developed meaningfully tangible experiences for marginalized students in secondary science classrooms. She also discusses how this "cultural mismatch" can hinder first generation college students as they navigate applying for admission and financial aid as well intersecting with STEM disciplines and student organizations. In exposing student perceptions of barriers to access advisors and resources as well as condescending attitudes by faculty, Houston is getting the word out about how to become agents of change in better assisting and promoting marginalized college students.

"Peer Helpers Plus" equips people with tools to healthily treat and support each other and to destigmatize the term "mental health". Join host Dr. Joe Gaston with guest host Dr. Tres Stefurak as they talk with the founder of Thrive Way LLC and Executive Director of the Jennifer Claire Moore Foundation, Allison Moore. Tune in as Moore discusses basic level coping skills and character curriculum for all students across needs levels and through real-life situations that can impact any student. Learn the benefits of peer mentoring in equipping people to deal with signs of distress among those with whom they interact and the curriculum available to districts to train members of leadership, program coordinators, parents, and key stakeholders. Moore also shares her experiences as a non-traditional doctoral student in the graduate Instructional Design Program at South as well as her upcoming guide to fundraising through planning and hosting rodeos. You can contact Allison Moore at: Allison@jennifermoorefoundation.com or allison@thriveway.com.

Dr. Kathy Thompson shares the inspirational story of her career as a black, female educator in STEM education as she celebrates mentors, taking chances, and high-bar goal setting. Tune in with hosts Dr. Joe Gaston and Dr. Susan Ferguson as they learn how productively run local and state grant projects can attract invitations to attain and administer federally run grant-funded programs.

Join Dr. Tres Stefurak as he hosts the first Grad Edition of Sincerely, South, a series that highlights graduates of the College of Education and Professional Studies. He is joined in the studio by USA graduate Jason Williams as they discuss inspiration to teach as influenced by early experiences working with students with special needs, as well as the need for male influence in the elementary classroom. Tune in to get inspired as they discuss the motivation to teach and the desire to fill a need in the community.

Dr. Joe Gaston is joined in the studio by Physical Education faculty, Dr. Craig Parks and Dr. Shelly Holden. Dr. Parks discusses his internal grant funded research exploring student attrition from undergraduate physical education programs, as a microcosm of the trend in declining undergraduate enrollment and program completion. Dr. Holden talks about lessons learned from the EdTPA portfolio evaluation and the effort to make the process and outcome more indicative of actual preservice teacher competencies and abilities.

This is the second in a two part episode where we hear directly from high school students in teacher preparation academies about what motivates them to pursue teaching as a career. Drs. Joe Gaston and Susan Ferguson continue the conversation with guest Dr. Allan Allday as they listen to interviews with high school juniors and seniors who visited the podcast studio as part of a campus preview initiative facilitated through faculty in the college. Themes in this episode include how the teacher prep academy facilitates experiences for future teachers as well as how many hope to be role models for future generations of students.

In this episode we hear directly from high school students in teacher preparation academies about what motivates them to pursue teaching as a career. Drs. Joe Gaston and Susan Ferguson welcome back to the show chair of the Department of Leadership and Teacher Education, Dr. Allan Allday, as they listen to interviews with high school juniors and seniors who visited the podcast studio as part of a campus preview initiative facilitated through faculty in the college. Themes in this episode include inspiration to become engaging educators, as students recount teachers who made life-changing impact in their lives, as well as wanting to be an encouragement to students in light of negative situations they faced.

Tune in as Dr. Angelia Bendolph shares her journey as a first generation college graduate who has made her mission serving students in P-12 through higher education and effecting change in government, engineering, and industrial arenas through human-centered/learner-centered design and solutions. From her early career as an engineer to her doctoral journey in Instructional Design, Dr. Bendolph's message that community and mentorship matter in the success of underrepresented populations in STEM professions, is one that will encourage and inspire.

The HEART Project (Health, Empowerment, and Recovery from Trauma) is a college campus based initiative for supporting victims of sexual assault through counseling and medical care. SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program advocates serve as liaisons between victims and Title IX and law enforcement, as well as helping them navigate their emotions and rights post-assault. Dr. Candice Selwyn discuses how, through a grant, her team has been able to develop and extend the services provided through a partnership with medical, law enforcement, and counseling personnel to better attend to the needs of campus sexual assault victims. As one of only eight grantees in the county, Dr. Selwyn and her intern, Tristen Grantham, and SANE coordinator, Kat Loveless, share how this project may become a model for medical forensic care for other campuses. The team also emphasizes that free sexual assault care is available at both the student health center on campus and the freestanding ER adjacent to campus on Hillcrest. The Heart Project is supported by a federal grant designated 2020-V3-GX-0164, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. More information about the HEART project can be found at: https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/studenthealth/heartproject/

Hosts Drs. Joe Gaston and Susan Ferguson discuss the array of experiences that have guided Dr. Allan Allday along his journey of supporting children, family, and educators through behavioral interventions and perspective-keeping, both in the United States and abroad. Tune in as Dr. Allday optimistically talks about the role hope plays in the lives of families and children who have a variety of needs and behavior problems and who often lack support and encouragement from the education community. He also offers advice and considerations for educators who work with students with a variety of behavioral needs, as well as how teacher reactions to severe behavior issues play a role in both short term and long term student outcomes, with emphasis on the importance of relationship building and of viewing the child as a person rather than a problem. From his role as Department Chair in the College of Education and Professional Studies, Dr. Allday offers insight to the importance higher education faculty play in active community engagement.

What inspires people to be change careers and become K-12 teachers in STEM? Ramsey Willis, a local high school mathematics teacher and adjunct faculty member at the University of South Alabama, joins the hosts of 'Sincerely, South' to discuss the National Science Foundation Noyce Pathway to Mathematics II grant. As a recipient of an NSF Noyce Grant, Willis is one of more than 100 local educators who have launched their careers with the help of funding for graduate degrees in STEM education awarded to undergraduate STEM majors. Tune in to learn about his inspiring journey from the business world to the head of the classroom! Host Dr. Joe Gaston is a Co-PI on the grant and coordinator of the technology connection for middle and high school educators. Co-Host Dr. Susan Ferguson is PI on the current grant and discusses how Noyce grants have had a positive impact on local and regional STEM education and how the recently funded grant incorporates rich experiences in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the STEM classroom. They are also joined by grant Co-PI and College of Education and Professional Studies Associate Dean Dr. Tres Stefurak, who is focused on teacher mental wellbeing. Listen to the inspirational story that led Mr. Willis to education and learn how those interested in a career in STEM education can have their graduate degree funded through NSF Noyce at the University of South Alabama.

“Sincerely, South” meets STEM education in episode 16! Join host Dr. Joe Gaston as he meets with the University of South Alabama Noyce STREAM (Science Teacher, Research, Education and Methods) team about their newly-funded National Science Foundation grant that puts undergraduate science majors into middle and high school classrooms across the region. As a Noyce scholar, students receive a $40,000 scholarship, which includes funding for their graduate education and additional expenses.  Learn how this four-semester program involves local school systems through mentorship, which in return has played a role in retaining teachers and promotes integrated science and math education in engaging ways that reach underserved and marginalized student populations. Hear from Dr. Katie McCorrison as she talks about the evolution of the University’s Noyce programs and how scholars now have the opportunity to participate in research through partnerships with graduate science and education faculty and local secondary teachers. Learn how Dr. David Forbes has reimagined advanced science coursework at the graduate level to enhance the experience of preservice teachers as they prepare to apply their content knowledge in their own classrooms in local schools. Meet Noyce graduate Pamela McPherson, now a tenured teacher at Baker High School in Mobile, as she discusses the program and its benefits to science majors who want to make an impact on our future leaders. For more information about the STREAM program or to participate in the fall pre-residency program for spring admission, visit SouthAlabama.edu/NoyceSTREAM or contact Dr. McCorrison at skguffey@southalabama.edu

Join Dr. Joe Gaston and Dr. Caitlyn Hauff as they discuss student athlete mental wellness with Clinical and Counseling Psychology Doctoral Student Kellen Hill. Informed by his own experience in athletics, Hill has been instrumental in providing mental wellness support for college athletes. Hear how the CHAMPS (Champions of Healthy Athletes for Mental Performance Strategies) initiative is removing the stigma associated with mental wellness through self care and mental health check-ins as part of their regular care programs.

Dr. John Hoyle is the president of the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, the state’s only fully public and residential high school for sophomores, juniors and seniors seeking advanced studies in math, science, computer science and the humanities. Tuition, room, and board are free. Hoyle says ASMS provides a "turbocharged STEM pipeline for the state." ASMS offers college-level academic and research experiences and values student leadership and leadership development. The school recently started the Jo Bonner Leadership Academy in honor of University of South Alabama President Jo Bonner, who previously served as school board chairman at ASMS. Hoyle earned a Ph.D. in Instructional Design and Development from the USA College of Education and Professional Studies in 2018. His work at ASMS currently focuses on preparing for the school's 30 year anniversary, the construction and funding of the E.O. Wilson Science Research Center, and recruiting new students, who may ultimately find jobs in the state's booming STEM industries.