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“The driving framework of how I think about equity in my classroom is from a paper by Rochelle Gutiérrez, who is a fairly predominant math educator, about equity being of these two axes: the dominant and the critical. It has four main components—access and achievement—which form the dominant axes, and identity and power, which form the critical axes. I think of these four ideas as guiding the way that I think of equity across every classroom I design.”

In this episode, we speak with Allison Theobold, Assistant Professor of Statistics at Cal Poly SLO. Allison shares her journey from economics to statistics and data science education, and explore her research on equitable pedagogy. She discusses frameworks for equity and how these inform her teaching practices, as well as how her own experiences as a learner in the age of AI help to inform her own teaching.

“For me, a lot of this work comes from me studying and reflecting on how my pedagogy impacts who might be successful in my class, and what types of students may or may not be successful. How can I broaden that more, in terms of assessment, classroom spaces, and access to resources, whether it’s through their peers, me, or outside of class. So thinking about and reflecting on ways in which the way I’m teaching might not be as favorable for some students as opposed to others.”

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“The biggest challenge for us initially was just, where does data science live? Is it in your math department? Is it in your computer science department? Who's going to teach it? Are you going to have a math faculty? Computer science faculty? And then once you decide where it's going to be, then you have to ensure that you have faculty who are willing to teach, because the class is challenging: it does require some programming, as well as statistical analysis, so it's a lot for a faculty. Usually faculty don't have both of those skills, so that's a challenge.”

In this episode, we sit down with Kyla Oh, Acting Dean of Math, Science, and Career Education at Berkeley City College. Kyla shares her unique path from engineering to patent law and now community college leadership. Together, we discuss the evolving role of community colleges in expanding access to data science education, as well as the challenges that come with building out new programs. Kyla discusses the importance of collaboration across departments and institutions as a means of expanding data science across schools, and highlights the power of support programs and internships to keep students motivated.

“I treat my students like clients. If my students are not showing up to class, then I feel like, oh, I'm doing something wrong. And the same with our industry partners—I want to be able to bring in industry partners, so I have to treat them like clients. Like, how can we best serve you and ensure that that partnership is mutually beneficial?”

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“I feel like most practicing teachers grew up in the same educational system that I did where you are penalized for getting the wrong answer, and you kind of get into this flow of needing to have the correct answer. And that has really informed the way that they teach—they're afraid to be wrong. And so the number one thing I work with teachers on is really building up their confidence to be flexible in the classroom.”

In this episode, we sit down with Hannah Kurzweil, STEM educator and Community Manager for Data Science for Everyone. Hannah shares her unconventional journey to STEM teaching and national community-building in data literacy, and reflects on what it means to support teachers in embracing flexibility and designing interdisciplinary curriculum. Together, we discuss the barriers to bringing data literacy into K-12 classrooms and strategies for building stronger educator communities.

“A lot of teachers feel like they're working in silos…a lot of teachers, often because of the median salaries for educators, don't feel like professionals, and that's really hard when you are so passionate about your work and you don't feel like you're able to be a valued member in society for the work that you're doing. And that's why a community of educators is so important, to bring those levels and that sense of community back, and professionalism back, to the classrooms and the classroom teachers.”