The Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT) seeks up to five Research Fellows for the 2013-14 academic year. The HILT Research Fellows will form an interdisciplinary cohort to work with one another, faculty and senior leadership within one or more of Harvard’s Schools, and the HILT team. HILT Research Fellows will conduct original research, synthesize and apply relevant extant research, and develop and implement assessments aligned with Harvard’s core teaching and learning mission. The positions are annual and renewable for up to three years.
The HILT Research Fellowships are intended for dedicated scholars with exceptional research skills, relevant backgrounds in behavioral science, social science or educational research, and an interest in advancing higher education through the scholarship of learning and teaching. The competitive salary and unique opportunities for independent, high-impact research are intended to attract unusually talented candidates, including those interested in tenure-track faculty positions. As appropriate, insights gained through the research of HILT fellows will be disseminated through a mix of publishable academic manuscripts, internal reports, in-person presentations, posters, and conference proceedings.
Background and details:
How can we improve higher education using research, community-building, and technology? This is the broad mission of the university-wide Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching, created with a $40M gift from Gustave and Rita Hauser. To further HILT’s mission, Harvard’s President and Provost have created the HILTResearch Fellowship Program, and are actively seeking Fellows for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Research Fellows will be coordinated centrally but each Fellow will be based at one or more specific Harvard school (e.g., Harvard Medical School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Faculty of Arts and Sciences). The Fellows will therefore report jointly to the Director of the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching and to faculty mentors selected according to both the incumbent’s scholarly interests and the school context.
The Fellows program is organized around the presumption that because teaching and learning are complex phenomena a) research should be approached from multiple levels of analysis and b) educational innovation should draw upon knowledge and methods from a variety of fields. HILT Research Fellows will function as a cohort with complementary expertise and perspectives, approaching school-based and university-wide projects from a collaborative, interdisciplinary perspective. Fellows will be considered from the following areas of expertise (and possibly others):
Areas of Expertise(s):
Areas of Expertise(s):
• cognitive sciences: memory, attention, problem-solving, intelligence
• educational psychology, learning sciences: learning, studying, feedback, instructional design
• social psychology: social cognition, mindset, group dynamics, meta-cognition
• economics: rewards, incentives, academic decision-making
• psychometrics, statistics: educational assessment, data-mining, network analysis
• computer science, educational technology: classroom technology, digital culture, social media
• organizational behavior, sociology, educational policy: organizational change, leadership, communities of practice
• educational psychology, learning sciences: learning, studying, feedback, instructional design
• social psychology: social cognition, mindset, group dynamics, meta-cognition
• economics: rewards, incentives, academic decision-making
• psychometrics, statistics: educational assessment, data-mining, network analysis
• computer science, educational technology: classroom technology, digital culture, social media
• organizational behavior, sociology, educational policy: organizational change, leadership, communities of practice
Candidates should have a PhD. at the time of application or by the end of the current academic year; in exceptional cases, candidates with other terminal research degrees may be considered. The degree should be in a relevant behavioral or social science field, as indicated above. Candidates should have demonstrated expertise in behavioral/social science research methodology (including statistics and data analysis), a record demonstrating the ability to publish in scholarly journals, and teaching experience in higher education. Applicant must possess strong writing, presentation, interpersonal, and technical skills (particularly using data processing and statistical software), and be willing to work as part of a collaborative, diverse research team.
Full job posting: https://academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/4674
