Postdoc at Michigan State

Applications are invited for a post-doctoral researcher in Physics Education in CREATE4STEM and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University. The successful candidate for the current position will work to develop and refine instructional materials for a new calculus-based mechanics course taught around project-based inquiry, will collect data on student learning as well as faculty practice in the course, and will assist in the analysis of the collected data.

Responsibilities include working in coordination with physics and education faculty to:
* develop an integrated plan of course evaluation and innovation;
* identify specific learning goals that represent faculty-consensus;
* develop valid assessments of student learning in this course;
* participate in and supervise the development of instructional routines, materials, and practices for improving student learning in this course; and
* publish assessment tools and findings in Physics Education journals.
The candidate will collaborate with faculty, post-docs, and graduate students in Michigan State's CREATE4STEM Institute (http://www.create4stem.msu.edu/) and in the Physics Education Research Lab (http://www.create4stem.msu.edu/group/perl).

The appointment is initially for one year, with the possibility of a one year extension for a total of two years, based on performance and the availability of funding. The salary will be competitive and commensurate with experience. Appointment is contingent upon successfully completing a full background check.

Candidates are expected to hold a Ph.D. in STEM or STEM education. Candidates who hold a Ph.D. in physics, specifically in physics education is preferred. Additionally, candidates with curriculum development and project management experience, knowledge of mixed-methods research, and experience with computational modeling in the any programming language are highly preferred. Applicants should submit a CV, a statement of teaching philosophy and experiences, and a statement of research experience and interests to jobs.msu.edu (posting number 8794). In addition, applicants should arrange for three (3) letters of recommendation to be uploaded to the same posting.

Review of applications will begin on January 2, 2014 and will continue until the position is filled. Please inquire with Prof. Danny Caballero (caballero@pa.msu.edu) regarding status. The start date is negotiable but with a preference for May 2014 or sooner.

MSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. MSU is committed to achieving excellence through cultural diversity. The university actively encourages applications and/or nominations of women, persons of color, veterans, and persons with disabilities.

Informal Science Ed postdoc at Univ of New Hampshire

Informal Science Education Postdoctoral Research Associate for 2014/2015

 

The SPIRALS program, Supporting and Promoting Rural and Indigenous Adolescents’ Learning of Science, at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and funded by a National Science Foundation Informal Science Education (ISE) Award invites applications for a postdoctoral research associate in Informal Science Education and Adolescent Research. The position may be renewable for up to 2 years and may begin as early as May 2014.

 

SPIRALS is focused on the impacts of contextualization on science learning, motivation and attitudes toward science.  The project uses a systematic approach that incorporates mixed methods of data collection and analysis to examine how culture and community impact STEM learning.  The project team has a community-based participatory research orientation; therefore, local community group members provide expertise that contributes to the design of the curriculum and the research as well as the interpretation of the findings.  The project will contribute to what we know about how underserved and underrepresented youth engage in STEM learning in relation to their world views.

 

The postdoctoral research associate will be instrumental in creating and implementing a curriculum with a diverse group of community members to support community-based youth groups in New England explore a local sustainable practice.  In addition, the researcher will be responsible for implementing the project research plan.

 

Required and Preferred Qualifications

Required qualifications are:

·         a Ph.D. in science education or educational psychology;

·          a strong expertise in quantitative methodologies including multilevel modeling;

·         the abilities to prioritize tasks, to engage in long- and short-term planning,

·         and to handle a variety of demands simultaneously are critical.

 

The following attributes, experiences and knowledge are preferred:  

·         working directly with culturally diverse populations at many levels;

·          formal or informal teaching experience;

·         experience with databases, quantitative and qualitative analysis skills;

·         an understanding of adolescent development;

·         and knowledge of sustainability and systems thinking.

 

Candidates should be willing and able to work a flexible schedule, including occasional travel, weekends, and extend hours during periods of intense activity.  We seek self-motivated, creative individuals who have excellent interpersonal, written and public speaking skills, and who can work both independently and as part of a team effort.

 

Salary and Appointment

This Postdoctoral Research Associate position is full-timed, salaried, and benefited position at the University of New Hampshire.  The position is annually renewable, depending on performance and anticipated continuing grant funding.  Salary is competitive and commensurate with professional experience and qualifications of the candidate.  The University of New Hampshire offers a competitive benefits package.

 

Application Procedure

To apply for the SPIRALS Postdoctoral Research Associate position, please submit the following to the Lisa Wilder via email:  lisa.wilder@unh.edu:

1.      a letter of interest in the position, including your career goals (no more than two pages),

2.      a current curriculum vitae,

3.      statement of teaching and research philosophy (no more than 2 pages), and

4.      the names of three professional references, including current position, relationship to the applicant, and phone and email contact information.

 

Application Review Timeline

Review of applications will begin on January 15^th, 2014 and will continue until the position is filled.

 

Questions?

Questions about the position should be directed to the SPIRALS Principal Investigators:

Dr. Eleanor Abrams, Professor, Department of Education, Morrill Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH; email:  eleanor.abrams@unh.edu

Dr. Michael Middleton, Associate Professor, Department of Education, Morrill Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH; email:  michael.middleton@unh.edu

 

Please reference the NSF SPIRALS program in all communications.

 

The University of New Hampshire is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access/Affirmative Action institution. The university seeks excellence through diversity among its administrators, faculty, staff, and students. The university prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, or marital status. Application by members of all underrepresented groups is encouraged.  

PhET Postdoc at CU Boulder

The PhET Interactive Simulations Project at the University of Colorado Boulder has an opening for a Research Associate (postdoctoral researcher) position focusing on studying interactive simulations (sims) for learning science. The PhET Team develops interactive sims for teaching and learning science and math, creates activities that couple with the sims, and makes all of these resources freely available to educators and students on the web. Research is a major component of the PhET Project, and focuses on understanding aspects of design and use that lead to increases in student learning and student engagement.

The primary responsibilities of the successful applicant will be to carry out and publish research on learning and engagement from sims, along with related issues on sim design and use. Of particular interest is the investigation of why PhET sims seem to be engaging and useful for students with extremely wide range of backgrounds and levels of education. The same sims are commonly used in middle school, high school, and several levels of college science classes. We wish to understand how effective the sims are at all these different levels and why, as well as exploring what this wide range of effectiveness can say more generally about how teaching methods and materials might be optimized for a diverse group of students. The work will be done with the guidance and collaboration of Carl Wieman of Stanford University who is doing research in a number of areas blending science disciplinary expertise and cognitive psychology. The successful candidate will likely be involved with collaborations with other members of Wieman’s research group, some members of Dan Schwartz’s cognitive psychology group at Stanford, and the other members of the PhET research team. Other responsibilities include training faculty on use of PhET sims through PhET workshops at local and national meetings, and collaborating with other members of the PhET team on design activities, as appropriate.

The successful candidate will work at the University of Colorado Boulder which is a national leader in STEM education with over 50 campus programs addressing STEM education and a new Center for Science Learning launched in 2012. In addition, the candidate will also have an opportunity to participate and interact with the Physics Education Research group as well as the cross-disciplinary STEM Discipline-based Education Research Group.

More information on PhET can be found at: http://phet.colorado.edu

Qualifications: We will consider graduates with a PhD in: any science who is interested in shifting their focus to science education research, a PhD in cognitive psychology with a strong interest in the hard sciences, or a PhD in physics education research. Prior experience teaching or working with students and teachers is a plus, along with knowledge of the science education literature.

Start Date: There is considerable flexibility in the start date. We will consider start dates as early as January 1, 2014 and as late as August 15, 2014.

To Apply:
All applicants must apply through JobsAtCU website: https://www.jobsatcu.com/postings/75435

Applicants must complete the Faculty/Exempt Professional and EEO Data (application) form, upload a cover letter, a statement on their perspectives on teaching and learning, a 1-2 page statement discussing the candidate’s research interests and potential research approaches related to why PhET sims seem to be engaging and useful for students with extremely wide range of backgrounds and levels of education, and a resume/curriculum vitae. A proof of degree (unofficial transcript) must be uploaded, and three references must be entered (note the applicant should enter the contact information for letters, and the system will contact them to upload their letter).

The official application process will not be complete until you upload your documents online.

Review of applications will begin on December 13, and continue until the position is filled.

Please email Oliver.Nix@colorado.edu with any questions about the application process.
(Note:  This position is different from this posting.)

Two PostDocs in Physics/Science Education @ FIU

Institution:   Florida International University

STEM Transformation Institute

Miami, Florida

Deadline:    Open until filled

Salary:      Commensurate with experience

Description: The STEM Transformation Institute and the Physics Education Research Group at Florida International University seeks two postdoctoral researchers in physics education, engineering education, science education, or a closely related field.  The first position starts in January 2014 and is particularly allotted for work on an ongoing NSF funded research project involving analysis of case studies of high school physics classes, implementing experimental studies within similar classes, and designing a professional development course for high school physics teachers.  The responsibilities of the successful applicant will include coordination and participation in all aspects of the research including presenting/publishing findings.  A second postdoctoral research position beginning in August 2014 is for integrating network analysis techniques with qualitative and behavioral analyses in the study of physics student retention and persistence. More information about the STEM Transformation Institute can be found at http://stem.fiu.edu and for the Physics Education Group at http://casgroup.fiu.edu/fiuperg.

Eligibility: We will consider PhD graduates with expertise in education research (and strong content background in science/physics/engineering) or traditional areas of STEM research (particularly network science) who have experience in conducting education research.

Application: Please electronically submit a letter of interest, CV, brief statement of research interests, 1-2 publication reprints, and names of 3 references to eric.brewe@fiu.edu.

Florida International University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Postdoc at Ohio State

The Ohio State University Department of Education and Department of Physics are jointly seeking a postdoctoral fellow in physics education research. The successful candidate will work on a project recently funded by the National Science Foundation. This project will investigate fundamental aspects of solving introductory-level synthesis physics problems requiring a joint application of multiple concepts. We attempt to explicate bottlenecks of student solving synthesis problems, understand expert approaches to synthesis problems, and design effective methods to improve student skills in solving such problems. The candidate's responsibilities primarily include working in collaboration with physics and education faculty to design effective research plans, strategies and instructional materials, implementing empirical studies in physics education, performing qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis, and publishing research results in prime physics/science education journals. The candidate will also have the opportunity to work closely with the faculty in both departments to advise graduate and undergraduate students, manage project-related activities, and participate in classroom teaching and curriculum development.


Qualifications: Candidates must have a Ph.D. degree by the time of employment in physics education research/science education research or a closely related field. A strong disciplinary background in physics or closely related areas is required. Experience in the research topics of student conceptual understanding, problem solving and reasoning is preferred. The candidate will also have strong interpersonal and communicative skills, a high sense of responsibility, and the ability to initiate and complete research projects.


The position is a twelve-month appointment and is renewable for a second year contingent upon performance and the availability of funds. Preference will be given to those who can start as soon as possible, including applicants available in Summer/Autumn 2014.  Candidates should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae including a list of publications, summary of research accomplishments, a brief description of research interests, and at least three letters of recommendation to: Prof. Lin Ding (Department of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, email:ding.65@osu.edu) Electronic submissions welcome athttps://www.jobsatosu.com/  refer to posting number 378959 (10/142013-10/20/2013).


Review of applications will begin November 15 and continue until the position is filled. Women and minority candidates are especially encouraged to apply.  The Ohio State University is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer.

Postdocs at MSU

Three Post-Doctoral Research Associates
STEM Education
Michigan State University
Posting # 8540

The Automated Analysis of Constructed Response (AACR) Research Group (www.msu.edu/~aacr ) at Michigan State University seeks three candidates to fill three one-year, 12 month (with possible additional years) Research Associate positions in college teaching and learning in the fields of science or engineering.  We are an interdisciplinary team of Discipline-Based Education Researchers (DBER) from Biology, Genetics, Chemistry, Engineering, Education, and Statistics who are investigating computerized analysis of students’ writing in large enrollment undergraduate Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses to model students’ thinking.

We have received a 5 year NSF grant to expand our collaborations on these projects with STEM education researchers across the country. The selected Research Associates will participate in NSF-funded research projects in collaboration with MSU faculty in the Colleges of Engineering and Natural Science, and the MSU Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL).  Our research group has a strong post-doc researcher mentoring program and an excellent placement record of our researchers.

Applicants should have completed a doctoral degree in a natural science, engineering, or STEM education. You should have a strong commitment to undergraduate STEM education and interest in working with a leading group of interdisciplinary STEM educators.  Successful candidates will have a mix of some set of the following skills, which will enable the Research Associates to make unique contributions to the project team:
•             disciplinary expertise in a STEM discipline
•             STEM education research
•             assessment of learning
•             faculty professional development for reformed teaching
•             computational linguistics / natural language processing
•             database management
•             web site development
•             multivariate statistics and computer modeling
•             experience with SPSS Modeler
•             qualitative research methods
•             experience publishing and presenting research findings
Excellent communication and organizational skills are required. You will be expected to participate in the mentoring of graduate and undergraduate research assistants. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.  The salary is commensurate with education and experience.

A complete application package consists of a cover letter, cv, copy of transcripts, two samples of scholarly writing and names and email addresses of three references. Review of application materials will begin November 8, 2013 and continue until the positions are filled.  Targeted position start date: January 6, 2014.

Apply online:
https://jobs.msu.edu     Search for position 8540

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. MSU is committed to achieving excellence through cultural diversity. The university actively encourages applications and/or nominations of women, persons of color, veterans and persons with disabilities.

Postdoc in STEM Education at University of Arizona

The University of Arizona seeks a post- doctoral research associate to conduct assessment work in the 3-year AAU STEM Education Project.  The project goals are to (1) revise five introductory level STEM majors’ courses to align with evidence based teaching practices, and (2) positively impact STEM department cultures to sustain long-term commitment to evidence-based teaching practices.  The individual selected for the position will report directly to the Associate Vice Provost for Instruction and Assessment and will work closely with the faculty leaders of the project.  Duties and responsibilities will include: (1) collecting and analyzing assessment data across the AAU STEM project courses, (2) collaborating on assessment with faculty members in the Instructional Development Teams,  (3) working with the Vice Provost and the Associate Vice Provost to assess progress of department level cultural changes with regard to evidence-based teaching in STEM, (4) preparing manuscripts for publication in research journals, and (5) assisting the AAU STEM faculty leaders in grant proposal writing.  Minimum qualifications include: (1) a Ph.D. in science, education, or a related field, completed within the last five years, (2) excellent written and verbal communication skills, and (3) research experience in a postsecondary education project.  Preferred qualifications include: (1) skill in the use of statistical and textual analysis software, (2) research experience in the area of assessment in STEM, and (3) publications in the area of assessment. If interested, go to:  http://www.uacareertrack.com. Search for Job #53566.