VCAST Project Team

Laurie Cavey is a professor of mathematics education at Boise State University. She specializes in mathematical knowledge for teaching concepts related to algebra, functions, and mathematical modeling at the secondary levels. She enjoys investigating the ways that teachers think about students’ mathematical ideas and how a focus on student thinking might transform the ways in which we educate teachers. She is currently serving as PI on the NSF-funded Video Cases of Students’ Function Reasoning (VCAST) project and the NSF-funded project, “Closing the Loop: From Student to STEM Teacher for Idaho Schools.”

Michele Carney is an associate professor of mathematics education at Boise State University. She specializes in mathematics teacher preparation and professional development, and her research focus is on how mathematics teacher education can be effectively scaled and measured. She has served as PI or Co-PI on several large-scale mathematics professional development projects. She is currently serving as PI and co-PI on two state-funded professional development projects for mathematics teachers and Co-PI on the NSF-funded Video Cases of Students’ Functional Reasoning (VCAST) and Researching the Order of Teaching (ROOT).

Tatia Totorica is a clinical assistant professor with Boise State University’s secondary STEM education teacher preparation program, IDoTeach, and the project manager for the NSF-funded Video Cases of Students’ Functional Reasoning (VCAST) grant. After 24 years in the secondary mathematics classroom, she teaches both content and pedagogy courses, supervises fieldwork experiences, and provides induction support for teachers upon their graduation. She specializes in mathematics instruction, pre-service teacher preparation, and professional development support for in-service secondary teachers.

Patrick R. Lowenthal is an associate professor of educational technology at Boise State University. He specializes in online course design and online teaching. He recently completed a three year state-funded design-based research project, in which he served as the Co-PI, focused on using online modules to teach students’ with disabilities digital literacy skills needed for post-secondary employment or education. His research focuses on how people communicate using emerging technologies–specifically on presence, identity, and community online.

Jason Libberton teaches advanced math classes at American Falls High School and serves as Math Coordinator for the school district. He loves to challenge teachers and students to see math as more than a memorized set of procedures. He has a B.S. in statistics from Brigham Young University and M.Ed in administration from Grand Canyon University. He has been involved with multiple aspects of VCAST, including module design and instructor training.

Ya Mo is an assistant professor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies at Boise State University and a research fellow at the National Institute of Statistical Sciences. She received a dual major Ph.D. in Measurement and Quantitative Methods and Curriculum, Instruction, and Educational Policy Programs, and an M.S. in Statistics from Michigan State University, as well as an Ed.M in TESOL from Boston University. She researches quantitative methods, psychometric measures, and survey statistics; she also applies quantitative research methods to study substantive topics in education, especially large-scale assessments.

Dominique Banner has 14 years teaching experience. She started as a graduate teaching associate at Fresno State. Since then she has taught both community college and high school mathematics. Dominique has both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Mathematics, as well as, a Masters in Secondary Education. She is currently a student in the EdD program with an emphasis on Curriculum and Instruction at Boise State University.

Bailly Woodring graduated from Boise State University in May, 2021 with a B.A. in Elementary Education and a Middle School Mathematics Endorsement. She served on the VCAST project team from 2019-2021, specializing in HTML coding for web design and video editing for Partner Instructor training conferences and course implementation.