Curriculum Vitae

Academic Background
University of New Mexico: Physics BS, 1991
University of California, San Diego: Geophysics MA, 1995
University of California, San Diego & San Diego State University: Mathematics and Science Education PhD, 2001

Appointments
2001-present Assistant Professor in Science Education, University of Colorado at Boulder
1995-2000 Research Assistant, Physics Department, San Diego State University
1995-2000 Adjunct Professor, Physics Department, San Diego State University

Publications
Journal Articles
Otero, V., Finkelstein, N., McCray, R., & Pollock, S. (2006). Who is Responsible for Preparing Science Teachers? Science 313 (5786), 445-446.

Otero, V. (2006). Moving Beyond the Get It Or Don’t Conception of Formative Assessment. Journal of Teacher Education, 56 (3), pp. 247-255.

Otero, V. (2006). The Learning Assistant Model for Teacher Preparation in Science and Technology. American Physical Society Forum on Education, Summer 2006.

Otero, V. and Nathan, M. (accepted pending revisions). Pre-service elementary teachers’ conceptions of their students’ prior knowledge. Accepted with minor revisions by Journal of Research in Science Teaching, October, 2006.

Otero, V., Peressini, D., Anderson, K., Ford, P., Garvin, T., Harlow, D., Mears, C., Ridell, M. & Waite, B. (2005). Integrating technology into teacher education: A critical framework for implementing reform, Journal of Teacher Education, 56 (1), 2005.

Harlow, D. & Otero, V. (2005) Collaboration Physics: Elementary teachers and university researchers join forces to help students construct understandings of friction--and discover something of the nature of science in the process, Science & Children, February, 31-35.

Niedderer, H., Sander, F., Goldberg, F., Otero, V., Jorde, D., Slotta, J., Strømme, A., Fischer, H. E., Hucke, L., Tiberghien, A., & Vince, J. (2003). Research about the use of information technology in science education. In D. Psillos et al (Eds.), Science Education Research in the Knowledge-Based Society, 309-321. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Otero, V., Johnson, A., & Goldberg, F. (1999). How Does the Computer Facilitate the Development of Physics Knowledge Among Prospective Elementary Teachers? The Journal of Education, 181 (2), 57-89.

Book Chapters
Goldberg, F. and Otero, V. (2003). The Roles of Laboratory and Computer and Simulator Experiments in Helping Students Develop a Conceptual Model of Static Electricity, in Psillos, D., Kariotoglou, P., Tselfes, V., Hatzikraniotis, E., Bisdikian, G., Kallery, M., and Fassoulopoulos, G. (Eds.) Science Education Research in the Knowledge Based Society. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

Curriculum Materials
Goldberg, F., Heller, P., Morse, R., Minstrell, J., Hickman, P., Hickman, J., McKinley, A., Faletti, J., Otero, V., Johnson, A., and McCullough, L. (2000). Constructing Physics Understanding in a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Environment-CPU Software and Activities, The Learning Team, Armonk, NY.

Goldberg, F., Otero, V., and Robinson, S. (2006). Physics for Elementary Teachers: Curriculum, Software, and Video Case Studies. To be published by It’s About Time: Armonk, NY.

Goldberg, F., Robinson, S., Kruse, R., & Otero, V. (in press). Physical Science and Everyday Thinking: Curriculum, Software, and Video Case Studies. To be published by It’s About Time: Armonk, NY, in July 2007.

Referred Conference Proceedings
Finkelstein, N., Turpen, C., Pollock, S., Dubson, M., Iona, S., Keller, C., Otero, V. (2006). Evaluating a model of research-based practices for teacher preparation in a physics department: Colorado PhysTEC. Proceedings of the 2005 PERC, AIP Press. Melville NY, 818, 3 (2006).

Harlow, D. and Otero, V (2005). Talking to Learn Physics and Learning to Talk Physics, Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings, August, 2005.

Otero,V. (2004). Cognitive Processes and the Learning of Physics Part I: The evolution of knowledge from a Vygotskian Perspective, Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" Course CLVI, Italian Physical Society, (E.F. Redish & M. Vicentini, Eds.) Amsterdam: IOS Press, 409-445.

Otero,V. (2004). Cognitive Processes and the Learning of Physics Part II: Mediated Action. Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" Course CLVI, Italian Physical Society, (E.F. Redish & M. Vicentini, Eds.) Amsterdam: IOS Press, 446-471.

Harlow, D. and Otero, V (2004). Learning Physics by Listening to Children, Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings, August, 2004.

Harlow, D. and Otero, V (2003). An Examination of Children’s Scientific Argumentation, Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings, August, 2003.

Otero, V. and Nathan, M. (2003). Elementary pre-service teachers’ conceptions of students prior knowledge. In K. Cummings, J. Marx, and S. Franklin (Eds.) Proceedings of the annual Physics Education Research Conference, Madison, WI.

Grants and Contracts
2006-2009 Principal Investigator, V. Otero with Co-Is: D. Briggs, M. Klymkowsky, S. Pollock: Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation, Project Title: “Learning Assistant Model for Teacher Education in Science and Technology (LA-Test).” $1,527,914 Total Award

2009-2011 Principal Investigator, V. Otero with Co-Is: D. Briggs, M. Klymkowsky, S. Pollock: Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation, Project Title: “Learning Assistant Model for Teacher Education in Science and Technology (LA-Test).” $965,235 Pending progress 2006-2009

2005-2008 Principal Investigator, V. Otero with Co-Is R. McCray, J. Curry, and W. Wood: Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation DUE-0434144. Project Title, “Colorado STEM/Noyce Fellowship Program.” $500,000 Total Award

2004-2007 Principal Investigator, N. Finklestein with Co-Is V. Otero & S. Pollock: American Physical Society #1540955. Project Title, “Colorado PhysTEC.” $300,222 Total Award

2003-2004 Principal Investigator, V. Otero: University of Colorado at Boulder, Continuing Education Outreach Grant. Project Title, “Young Environmental Stewards Program Evaluation.” $4,946 Total Award

2003-2006 Principal Investigator, R. McCray with Co-Is V. Otero J. Curry, C. Wieman, & W. Wood: Education & Human Resources/Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation NSF-0203022, HER/DUE. Project Title, “Transforming Science & Mathematics Teacher Preparation.” $932,847 Total Award

2002-2003 Principal Investigator, V. Otero: Catamount Institute, OCG4493B. Project Title, “Young Environmental Stewards Program Evaluation.” $17,995 Total Award

2001-2008 Principal Investigator, F. Goldberg with Co-Is V. Otero& S. Robinson: National Science Foundation ESI-0096856. Project Title, “Professional Development Materials for Constructing Physics Understanding among Prospective and Practicing Elementary Teachers.” $2,021,747 (including supplements)

2000-2003 Principal Investigator, D. Peressini with Co-Is V. Otero & C. Salinas: Preparing Tomorrows Teachers to Use Technology, U.S. Department of Education. Project Title, “Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers For Technology: A Joint Effort Between The University of Colorado and The University of Denver.” $1,170,000 Total Award

Invited Presentations
Otero, V. (2006) & the STEM Colorado/PhysTEC Team. Who is Responsible for Recruiting and Preparing Science Teachers? Presented at Texas State University, San Marcos, December, 2006.

Otero, V. (2006) & the STEM Colorado/PhysTEC Team. Who is Responsible for Recruiting and Preparing Science Teachers? Presented at the Northwest regional meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Seattle WA, November 2006.

Otero, V. (2006). The Colorado Learning Assistant Model: A multidisciplinary approach to teacher recruitment and preparation. Presented at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Education, October 20-21, 2006.

Otero, V., Jalovec, S., & Her-Many-Horses, Ian., (2006). SWOSing and Theoretical Perspectives That Can Explain It. Presented at the bi-annual meeting for the American Association of Physics Teachers, Syracuse, New York, July 22-26.

Otero, V. & The STEM Colorado/PhysTEC Team (2006). The Colorado Learning Assistant Model: A multidisciplinary approach to teacher recruitment and preparation. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society, Dallas, TX, March 2006.

Otero, V. (2005). Evolution of Theoretical Perspectives in PER and the Types of Research We Can (or Can’t) Do. Presented at the first Foundations and Frontiers of Physics Education Conference, August 2005, Bar Harbor, Maine.

Otero, V. (2005). Recruiting Talented Math & Science Majors to Careers in Teaching: A collaborative effort for K-20 educational reform. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, February, 2005, Washington, DC.

Otero, V. (2005). Repositioning ourselves from “knowers” to “learners:” Formative Assessment, Vygotsky, and Teacher Development. Presented at the annual Physics Education Research Conference, August, 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Otero, V. (2005). Evolution of Theoretical Perspectives in PER and the Types of Research We Can (or Can't) Do. Presented at the Foundations and Frontiers in Physics Education Research Conference, Bar Harbor, ME, August, 2005.

Otero, V. and the STEM Colorado Team (2005). Coupling Teacher Recruitment and Preparation with Undergraduate Course Transformation. Presented at the annual meeting of the Physics Teaching Coalition, March, 2005, Muncie, Indiana.

Otero, V. (2004). The Role of Education Research in PER and Teacher Education. Presented at the bi-annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, January, 2004. Miami, FL.

Otero, V., Iona, S. and Pollock, S. (2004). Shared Responsibility for Preparing Teachers. Paper presented at the bi-annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers. August, 2004, Sacramento, CA.

Otero, V. (2003). Blurring the Boundaries between physics departments and schools of education for teacher preparation. Presented at Joint Fall Meeting of the AAPT AOK & Nebraska AAPT Sections and Big 12 Physics Education Research Conference at Kansas State University on November 7-8, 2003.

Otero, V., Cobanoglu, D.; Harlow, D. (2003). The Subtle Role of Tacit Theory in Physics Educational Research, Paper to be presented at the bi-annual conference of The American Association of Physics Teachers, Austin, Texas, January, 2003.

Otero, V. (2003). Qualitative Research on Student Conceptual Development: The Need for a Theoretical Framework, Paper presented at the Enrico Fermi Summer School in Physics Education Research, Varenna, Italy, July, 2003.

Otero, V. (2001). The changing role of the computer simulator in students' construction of explanatory models, Paper presented at the at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, St. Louis, MO, March 2001.

Otero, V. (2001). Combining group behaviors with out-of-class interviews, presented at the American Association of Physics Teachers annual meeting, Rochester, NY, July 2001.

Otero, V. (2001). A Cognitive System: Students' evolving conceptions of electrostatics and the evolving social and material environment, presentation to The Ohio State Physics Department, April 2001.

Otero, V. (2001). The process of learning about static electricity and the role of the computer simulator, presentation to The Denver Area Physics Teachers annual meeting, Denver, CO, February 2001.

Conference Presentations
Otero, V. (2006). Recruiting Talented Mathematics and Science Majors to Careers in Teaching: A collaborative effort for K-16 educational reform. Presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, San Francisco, CA, April 3-6, 2006.

Geil, K., Briggs, D., Harlow, D., & Otero, V. (2006). Measuring Sophistication of Beliefs about Teaching and Learning. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, CA, April 7-11, 2006.

Otero, V. (2005) . When Cognitive meets Socio-Cultural Theory: Evolution of conceptual models leads to evolution of the learning environment and vice versa. Presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, April 2005, Dallas, TX.

Otero, V. (2005). Elementary Teachers Developing Identities as "Science People." Presented at the bi-annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Salt Lake City Utah, August 2005.

Otero, V. (2005). "After I gave students their prior knowledge..." Pre-service elementary teachers conceptions of students' prior knowledge. Presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research on Science Teaching, Dallas, TX , April, 2005.

Otero, V. and Harlow, D. (2005). Classroom Contexts and Curricula for helping Teachers Develop Identities as “Science People.” Presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, April 2005, Dallas, TX.

Cobanoglu, D., & Otero, V. (2004) The role of representations in facilitating the second and third grade students understanding of motion. Paper presented at the bi-annual meeting of The American Association of Physics Teachers, January, 2004, Miami, FL.

Harlow, D. and Otero, V. (2004). Learning Physics by Listening to Children. Paper presented at the biannual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, August 2004, Sacramento, CA.

Harlow, D. and Otero, V. (2004). Analyzing Children's Ideas: An authentic application of physics knowledge. Paper presented at the bi-annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, January, 2004, Miami, FL.

Otero, V. and Nathan, M. (2003). Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Initial and Changing Views about Students’ Prior Knowledge and Collaborative Learning. Presented at the 84th annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April, 2003 Chicago, Illinois.

Otero, V. (2001) The Role of Computer Simulators in Students’ Construction of Explanatory Models of Static Electricity, Presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, March, 2001, St. Louis, Missouri.

Otero, V. (2000). The Role of the CPU Computer Simulator in Learning: Video Classroom Data: Results, Methodology and Video Analysis Tools, Presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, August, 2000, Guelph, Canada.

Monaghan, J.M., Otero, V., Goldberg, F., & Johnson, A. (2000). An analysis of the Constructing Physics Understanding (CPU) science teaching methodology from multiple perspectives. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Otero, V. and Goldberg, F. (1999). The Computer Simulator and the Process of Scientific Inquiry. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, August, 1999, San Antonio, Texas.

Otero, V. and Goldberg, F. (1998). Student Learning about Static Electricity in A Model-Focused, Computer-Rich, Collaborative Learning Environment. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, August, 1998, Lincoln, Nebraska.

McCullough, L., Otero, V., and Goldberg, F. (1997). Computer Diagnostic Testing About Charge Flow in Circuits. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, August, 1997, Denver, CO.

Otero, V., Johnson, A., and Goldberg, F. (1997). Using Learning Commentaries to Help Students Become More Aware of Their Own Learning. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, January, 1997, Phoenix, AZ.

Workshops
Undergraduate Learning Assistants: A Powerful Way to Improve Student Learning and Recruit Future Teachers. V. Otero, G. Stewart, & S. Vokos. At the annual meeting of the Physics Teacher Education Coalition, Fayetteville, AR, March 24-25, 2006.

STEM Colorado Workshop for K-12 Teachers, Noyce Fellows, and University Faculty. Held annually (since 2003) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, June 14-16, 2006.

Physics for Elementary Teachers: A workshop for physics faculty. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Syracuse, NY, July 22-26, 2006.

Otero, V. and Cobanoglu, D. How Do We Know What Students Are Thinking: Theory and Methods in Video Data Analysis. Workshop presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Boise, ID, Summer, 2002.

Otero, V., Hammer, D., and May, D. How Do We Know What Students Are Thinking: Theory and Methods in Video Data Analysis. Workshop presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Summer, 2001.

Courses Developed and Taught
Elementary Science Theory and Methods: This course is based on four themes: Assessment and Instruction, Student Knowledge, the Nature of Science, and K-6 Science Content. This practicum-based course provides opportunities for pre-service teachers to become aware of, express, and utilize their understandings of teaching and learning, including their current (and developing) understandings of terminology and associated concepts related to teacher education.

The Nature of Science and Science Education: The enrollment in this course includes veteran teachers seeking masters degrees, teacher candidates enrolled in a masters plus certification program, undergraduate and post-baccalaureate teacher candidates, and includes both elementary and secondary teachers and pre-service teachers. The diverse nature of this population allows for critical investigations of both the nature of the scientific enterprise, science and society, and the role of the nature of science throughout a student’s academic life, from kindergarten to twelfth grade and beyond.

Physics for Elementary Teachers: This innovative physics course is a content course for elementary and middle school teachers and includes not only inquiry-based activities focused on the development of physics knowledge, but also inquiry-based activities focused on the recognition and appreciation of elementary students’ good physics ideas. In addition, it contains activities that explicitly address the nature of science and the nature of learning. The nature of learning is investigated from the perspective of enrolled students’ own learning, the learning of elementary students, and the learning of scientists.

Mathematics and Science Theory and Reflective Practice: This course was developed as a part of a collaborative project designed to recruit talented mathematics and science majors to careers in teaching while transforming our large-enrollment undergraduate science and mathematics courses. Undergraduate Learning Assistants from all participating departments are required to take this course in which theory and practice are discussed in terms of their own experiences teaching in the undergraduate setting. This course also serves as a tool for recruiting mathematics and science majors to teacher education programs and has been attended by over six mathematics and science research faculty.

Professional Activities
2006-2007 Research In Physics Education Committee Member
2006-2007 Physics Education Research Leadership Organizing Council-Secretary
2006-2007 Advisory Board Member for NSF-funded grant for Graduate TA Training
2005-present Reviewer, Journal of Teacher Education
2005-present Reviewer, Physics Review Special Topics
2005-present Reviewer, American Educational Research Journal
2004-present Member, Chicano Faculty and Staff Association, University of Colorado at Boulder
2003-present Reviewer, American Journal of Physics
2002-present Reviewer, Review of Educational Research
2001-present Advisor, Denver Area Mathematics, Engineering, & Science Achievement Program
2001-present Reviewer, Journal of Research in Science Teaching
2006-present Reviewer, Journal of the Learning Sciences

Awards
Emerging Pioneer Award – 2006, awarded by the Boulder Natural History Museum.

K-12 Outreach and Collaborations
Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) Program Advisor (2002-present). St. Vrain Valley School District, Longmont, CO.

Professional Development for Constructing Physics Understanding (2006): Physics for Elementary Teachers workshop for 3rd and 4th grade teachers, St. Vrain Valley School District, Longmont, CO.

Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) (2002-2003): Constructing Physics Understanding for Second and Third Grade Females and Minorities, Columbine Elementary School, St. Vrain Valley School District, Longmont, CO.

Constructing Physics Understanding for Elementary Teachers (2002). Physics for Elementary Teachers, on-site professional development. University of Colorado at Boulder, St. Vrain Valley School District, Longmont, CO.