Rose-Hulman has received a nearly $230,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Education to help Indiana elementary and secondary school teachers implement computer science educational programs to prepare students for future success in a high-tech world filled with robotics, computer programming and cybersecurity issues. 

The Designing for Impact Next Level Computer Science program will have Rose-Hulman computer science and software engineering professors providing professional development workshops this summer and fall to Indiana educators who teach kindergarten through 12^th grades. 

Workshops will have teachers learning how to program robots and teach robotic programming through Botball, a hands-on robotics educational program, and applying principles of the Python computer programming language. 

Meanwhile, teachers will learn how to integrate computer science principles into their own subject, discipline, and grade level, and demonstrating the power and diversity of computer science. Teachers also will participate in intensive on-campus workshop, covering basic and advanced computing and robotics skills, along with introductory courses on cybersecurity. 

This program aligns with Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb’s Next Level Agenda educational initiatives for 2023.

“These initiatives are important to help Indiana schools provide their students with the computer applications that will be necessary for them to take advantages of opportunities that will be ahead for the rest of their lives,” said President Robert A. Coons, a member of the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet that developed elements of Governor Holcomb’s Next Level initiative. “Skills in all forms of technology are critical to meet Indiana’s future workforce development needs, and the earlier our students learn these skills, the better.”  

Rose-Hulman professors planning to organize and instruct the workshops include David Mutchler, Rachel Krohn, Mohammad Noureddine; and Kim Tracy. The program is being supervised by Nicki Manion, assistant director of Rose-Hulman’s Portal Resource for Indiana Science and Mathematics (PRISM) program.

Supporting the IDOE grant proposal were educators Karen Goeller, deputy superintendent of the Vigo County School Corporation; Rusty King, executive director of the West Central Indiana Educational Service Center Region 3, and Christy Wrightsman, director of career connected learning with the Brown County School Corporation.