Faculty and Staff

Co-Directors:

Valerie Otero, Ph.D. - Associate Professor

 In addition to teaching four courses at CU, Dr. Otero’s research explores the dynamic nature of the learning environment and how it influences the evolution of students’ ideas.  In the past, she has worked on a team to develop the Physics for Elementary Teachers and Physical Science for Elementary Teachers curricula and has won over $11 million in grants since 2001 for projects to improve mathematics and science education at both the elementary and secondary level.  She continues to implement new programs to recruit and prepare mathematics and science teachers such as CU Teach launched in the fall of 2008.   

Mike Klymkowsky, Ph.D. - Professor

– College of Arts and Sciences (Molecular, Cellular, and Development Biology) 

Email: Michael.Klymkowsky@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-8508  (303) 492-8508

Office: Porter Biosciences 425

Dr. Klymkowsky is one of the leaders in science education at the University of Colorado at Boulder; he has recently been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for his work in this area.   Mike is committed to science education, teacher education and in developing assessment instruments for measuring conceptual understanding in biology.  He has developed an interactive, virtual laboratory based introductory course, MCDB 1111:Biofundamentals (described here).    Throughout the past four years, Dr. Klymkowsky has established a research and development team to create and test the Biology Concept Inventory (BCI) to measure students’ conceptual understandings of fundamental concepts in biology (see here), as well as the Ed's Tools applet for collecting and analyzing student thinking (see here).  The BCI is currently being tested throughout the nation and can be accessed through the bioliteracy web site.   

Currently, he is collaborating with Melanie Cooper (Clemson University) on an NSF-funded project to develop a new type of text and ancillary research and assessment materials for introductory general chemistry.   Together with Erin Furtak, Ph.D. (see below), he has developed the new course "Teaching and Learning Biology"(MCDB 4811/5811) and working with Kathy Garvin-Doxas, Isidoros Doxas (socraticmetrics.com), and Brad Mclain (Space Science Institute), to explore the possibility of developing concept inventories that address to cross-disciplinary studies and educational outreach efforts in astrobiology.      

Master Teachers:

Karen Germann, M.Ed. - Senior Instructor

– School of Education (Science Education)

Email: Karen.Germann@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-6241  (303) 492-6241

Office: Education 320C

Karen has a BS degree in chemistry from Clarkson University and a M.Ed. degree in curriculum and instruction from UNLV.  She has spent the last thirteen years teaching junior and senior high school science and technology classes in public schools, in both Nevada and Colorado.  In public schools her accomplishments as an instructor range widely; from helping basic science students achieve success to guiding honors chemistry students.  Karen is also interested in meeting the needs of diverse learners in a classroom, and has worked extensively with special needs students.  Prior to becoming a teacher Karen worked as a chemist in environmental analytical laboratories for nearly a decade, and she continues to serve a technical consulting firm as a staff scientist and subject matter expert.

Karen has a genuine passion for science and learning.  She places a great value on igniting that same passion in young people, and on helping beginning teachers find success as instructors in the classroom.  In her role as Master Teacher for the CU Teach program, Karen looks forward with great enthusiasm to the many new opportunities the position affords.  She is eager to contribute to advancing the quality of public education.

Craig Schneider, Ph.D. - Senior Instructor

– School of Education (Math Education) 

Email: Craig.Schneider@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-6241  (303) 492-6241

Office: Education 320C

 During eight years of teaching high school mathematics and in my doctoral work, the most important quality I brought to my work was the belief that every student could have success in learning mathematics. Through methods and content courses, I supported the preparation of pre-service teachers as they began their math teaching careers, as well as helping in-service teachers continue their professional growth in mathematics education. I also worked as a research assistant and professional development designer/facilitator for the NSF-funded Supporting the Transition from Arithmetic to Algebraic Reasoning grant. As a post-doctoral research specialist at the University of California at Santa Cruz's NSF-funded Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/Latinas, I was a part of research team investigating mathematical discourse practices of Latino youth. Currently, I am a Master Teacher with CU Teach.

Core Faculty:

Kanesha Baynard – Director of Field Experiences

- School of Education (Office of Student Services)

Email: Kanesha.Baynard@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-2590  (303) 492-2590

Office: Education 151

Erin Furtak, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor

– School of Education (Science Education) 

Email: Erin.Furtak@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-4242  (303) 492-4242

Office: Education 317 

Vicki Hand, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor

– School of Education (Math Education)

Email: Victoria.Hand@Colorado.edu

Phone: 303) 492-7738

Office: Education 318

Laura Moin, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor

– School of Education (Science Education)

Email: Laura.Moin@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-8554  (303) 492-8554

Office: Education 218 

David Webb, Ph.D. -Assistant Professor

– School of Education (Math Education)

Email: dcwebb@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-0306  (303) 492-0306

Office: Education 216 

 

Jennie Whitcomb, Ph.D. – Associate Dean for Teacher Education

-School of Education (Research on Teaching)

Email: Jennie.Whitcomb@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 735-3029  (303) 735-3029

Office: Education 151

Affiliated Faculty:

Noah Finkelstein, Ph.D. – Associate Professor

- College of Arts and Sciences (Physics)

Email: Noah.Finkelstein@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 735-6082  (303) 735-6082

Instructors: 

– JILA Physics Frontier Center

Email: Laurel.Mayhew@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-7815  (303) 492-7815

Laurel is the Director of Educational Community Partnerships for the JILA PFC PISEC Program. She developed both the K-12 outreach and the research components of the program. She developed a training program for university students that work with children in the after school program, in addition to a series of assessments designed to measure the effect of the program on both children and university students.

Evelyn Puaa - Instructor & Math Advisor

- College of Arts and Science (Math)

Email: Evelyn.Puaa@Colorado.edu

Phone:  (303) 492-8906  (303) 492-8906

Office: Math 242

Mike Ross - Doctoral Student

– School of Education (Science Education) 

Email: Michael.J.Ross@Colorado.edu

Office: Education 320F

Mike is a doctoral student in science education and has five years experience teaching science and math here in Colorado.  He received a BS in physics from the University of Texas in 1998, and is a former Navy officer.  At CU, Mike has worked as research assistant with the K-12 Learning Assistant Test Group and has been both a teaching assistant and instructor for pre-service teacher education courses.  Mike’s research interests include addressing the racial achievement gap, and the effects of early teaching experience on pre-service teacher learning in in-major classes.

Support Staff: