TT in PER, CU-Boulder

The Department of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor faculty position in Physics Education Research (PER).  The successful candidate will join a vibrant research group in PER, and is expected to establish a vigorous research program, which includes attracting external funding to support undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs. In addition, the successful candidate will be expected to teach a broad spectrum of Physics Department courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Candidates should be well versed in contemporary issues in the field of PER and associated research-based teaching practices. More on the PER group at Colorado can be found at: per.colorado.edu.

The University of Colorado is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to building a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans. Alternative formats of this ad can be provided upon request for individuals with disabilities by contacting the ADA Coordinator at hr-ada@colorado.edu.

  

Minimum Qualifications: Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Physics or related areas.

Preferred Qualifications: We are particularly interested in candidates complementing and broadening research within the Physics Education Research group at Colorado. 

Application Link: https://cu.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=11404&lang=en.

Application Materials Required: Cover Letter, CV, List of References, Statement of Research Plan, Statement of Teaching Philosophy 

Application Materials Instructions: Review of applications will begin on December 15, 2017; applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Contact Name: Heather Lewandowski 

Contact Email: cupersearch@gmail.com

[Readvertised: open until Dec 15] Postdoc in HS Computational Physics Education (Student Learning), Michigan State, PERL group

Applications are invited for a post-doctoral researcher for a recently funded National Science Foundation project, “Integrating Computational Science Across Michigan.” This project is supported by a collaboration that joins the Michigan State University's Department of Physics and Astronomy (Prof. Danny Caballero and Prof. Paul Irving) and its College of Education (Prof. Niral Shah and Prof. David Stroupe). The successful candidate for the current position will work collaboratively with team members to design multiple professional development workshops and an on-going support system for high school physics teachers in Michigan who are interested in integrating numerical computation and modeling into their classes. In addition, the candidate will conduct research on student learning and engagement as teacher’s work to implement their co-designed computational activities.

Responsibilities include working in coordination with physics and education faculty to:

• Design multiple professional development opportunities for supporting teachers to integrate computation into high school physics courses,
• Work collaboratively and constructively with in-service high school physics teachers,
• Gather and analyze data in classrooms of students working on computational activities,
• Interview students and teachers about computational usage and experiences,
• Conduct research using qualitative methods to determine how students approach their work on computational activities,
• Mentor junior researchers including graduate students and undergraduates in physics education research, and
• Author articles for journals such as Physical Review: Physics Education Research, the American Journal of Physics, and The Physics Teacher, as well as
• Present research results at professional conferences such as the American Association of Physics Teachers conference and the Physics Education Research Conference.

The candidate will collaborate with faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students in the Michigan State’s Physics Education Research Lab (http://perl.pa.msu.edu/) and Teacher Education program.

The appointment is initially for one year, with the possibility of extension, 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 physics, physics education, or STEM education. A successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Prior professional development experience, which may include leading or supporting in-service or pre-service teachers, teaching assistants, and/or learning assistants,
• Some form of computational experience in their academic experience, research, or both,
• A qualitative research background in some area (e.g., ethnography, case studies) using well-established qualitative methods (e.g., semi-structured interviews, video analysis).
• Prior work organizing a large team around some project (teaching, research, and/or service).

An exceptional candidate will will demonstrate one or more of the following:

• Experience with physics education research,
• Prior experience designing professional development,
• Coordinating data collection across multiple sites including managing video data,
• Supervising junior collaborators on education research,
• Working on a multi/interdisciplinary team,
• A history of successful publications, and/or
• An interest in issues surrounding (in)equity in computational education.

Applicants should submit a CV, a statement of research interests, and a statement of educational philosophy and experiences to careers.msu.edu (posting number 467584). In addition, applicants should arrange for three (3) letters of recommendation to be submitted to the same posting.

Review of applications will begin on Oct 15, 2017 and will continue until the position has been filled. Start date is negotiable with a preference toward candidates that are available in early 2018. Questions regarding the position may be directed to Prof. Paul Irving (pwirving@msu.edu), research advisor for this project, or Prof. Danny Caballero (caballero@pa.msu.edu), co-director of the Physics Education Research Lab.

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.

Phys Port Fellow Postdoc, Kansas State University

Kansas State University is hiring a postdoctoral research associate for a new project to study the use and impact of PhysPort.org by physics faculty, and to determine ways to increase its effectiveness. PhysPort is an online professional development resource that supports physics faculty in implementing research-based teaching and assessment in their classrooms by providing expert recommendations, based on Physics Education Research (PER). The goal of this project will answer the following research questions:   

1. How do physics faculty use PhysPort?

2. What is the impact of PhysPort on teaching practice for both faculty and departments?

As a postdoc, your work may include observing and interviewing interviewing physics faculty, performing phenomenographic and statistical analyses, preparing research results for publication and presentation, assisting with supervising students and assisting with designing changes to PhysPort based on research results. You will work closely with Ellie Sayre (PhysPort Research Director, Kansas State University), Sam McKagan (PhysPort Director, American Association of Physics Teachers), Adrian Madsen (PhysPort Assistant Director, American Association of Physics Teachers), and a team of researchers at Kansas State University and AAPT.

This position is based at Kansas State University, but involves close collaboration with a geographically distributed team and we will consider hiring someone who would work remotely.

We are passionate about the professional development of our postdocs. You will receive training on research, writing papers and grant proposals, user-centered design, and working with a team.

Preferred qualifications:

• PhD/EdD in STEM field or physics/science education
• Enthusiastic learner
• Passion for improving the state of physics education at the university level
• Successful research record and the ability to conduct independent research
• Ability to listen and draw out people’s experiences and perspectives (e.g. in the context of interviews)
• Ability to communicate effectively with physics faculty
• Experience with research into faculty/teacher change, instructional change, institutional change, and/or faculty/teacher professional development
• Experience with qualitative research including interviewing and video analysis
• Experience with statistics
• Strong communication and writing skills and a willingness to improve them
• Strong time management and organizational skills and a willingness to improve them
• Ability to work with a geographically distributed team
• We realize that no one person has all of these preferred qualifications; a successful candidate might have some of them. If you are interested in this position, we encourage you to apply, or at least contact us with questions.

If you have any questions about the project or the position, please contact Ellie (esayre@ksu.edu) or Sam (smckagan@aapt.org).

Interested applicants should apply by submitting a letter of interest and a curriculum vita as well as a list including contact information for at least three references at this link:  http://careers.k-state.edu/cw/en-us/job/502494/fellow-post-doc-physics

Kansas State University is an Equal Opportunity Employer of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and actively seeks diversity among its employees.  Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law.

In connection with your application for employment, Kansas State University may procure a Background Screen on you as part of the process of considering your candidacy as an employee.

FT Renewable, University of Florida

Lecturer in Physics at the University of Florida

As part of a major faculty hiring initiative, the Department of Physics at the University of Florida (UF) seeks qualified applicants for a full-time, nine-month, renewable, non-tenure-track Lecturer position to begin in August 2018.

The primary teaching duties will be to work as a part of a team teaching over 5000 students who take introductory physics classes at UF each year.  Depending on the applicant's background and departmental needs, other areas of undergraduate physics instruction may be involved.  The Lecturer will be expected to help with programmatic improvements in our large course instruction by, for example, training teaching and learning assistants, applying pedagogy from physics education research, including more active learning environments, or implementing strategies to encourage and maintain participation from groups underrepresented in physics and STEM fields.

The successful candidate must hold a Ph.D. degree (or equivalent) in Physics, Physics Education, or a related field, and at least two years of experience teaching undergraduate Physics. Experience with some of the teaching improvements mentioned above is preferred. The salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience, and includes a full benefits package. Opportunities for summer teaching are likely. At UF, Lecturers have professional development opportunities, including a well-defined promotion structure, a professional development leave program, and access to travel funds for conference presentations.

Applications must be submitted online at http://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/cw/en-us/job/504681 , and must include: a cover letter, a curriculum vitae with publication list, a summary of physics teaching background and experience, a link to a short (5-10 minute) instructional video prepared by the applicant on a topic of his or her choice, and the names and contact information for three to five references. Reference providers will only be notified of their upload link once an application is submitted in full, so early completion of an application is highly recommended.

To ensure full consideration, applications must be submitted by November 15, 2017. For more information, please contact Prof. Selman Hershfield (selman@phys.ufl.edu).

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty and staff. Searches are conducted in accordance with Florida's Sunshine Law. If an accommodation due to disability is needed to apply for this position, please call (352) 392-2477 or the Florida Relay System at (800) 955-8771 (TDD).

TT in DBER, Auburn AL

Auburn University-College of Sciences and Mathematics Tenure Track Position in Discipline-Based Education Research

The College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSAM) at Auburn University invites applications for a tenure-track, 9-month position at the level of Assistant Professor, with research interests in the area of discipline-based education research. The home department of the successful candidate will be housed in either COSAM’s Department of Biological Sciences or Department of Physics, according to the background of the candidate. COSAM has recently hired DBER faculty in the Department of Geosciences and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

COSAM is eager to grow this developing DBER group within the college.

The successful candidate is expected to establish an extramurally funded DBER program and collaborate with a growing cohort of researchers within the college on studying/transforming STEM higher education through basic and applied research methods and their assessment. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, innovation of evidence-based, active-learning course development/delivery, and efficacy of student-led teaching methods in the learning process within the STEM classroom/lab. Duties also will include teaching in the home department at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and supervising graduate research.

A Ph.D. in one of the science disciplines of the above participating departments, a record of scholarly accomplishments in science education research, and at least one year of research/teaching experience beyond the Ph.D. are required. The candidate selected for this position must meet eligibility requirements to work in the United States on the date the appointment is scheduled to begin (August 2018) and continue working legally for the proposed term of employment. The candidate must possess excellent written and interpersonal communications skills.

Auburn University is one of the nation’s premier public land-grant institutions. In 2018, it was ranked 46th among public universities by U.S. News and World Report. Auburn maintains high levels of research activity and high standards for teaching excellence, offering Bachelor’s, Master’s, Educational Specialist, and Doctor’s degrees in agriculture and engineering, the professions, and the arts and sciences. Its 2017 enrollment of 29,776 students includes 23,964 undergraduates and 5,812 graduate and professional students. Organized into twelve academic colleges and schools, Auburn’s 1,450 faculty members offer more than 200 educational programs. The University is nationally recognized for its commitment to academic excellence, its positive work environment, its student engagement, and its beautiful campus. A large and dynamic STEM program exists at Auburn, with close to 50% of total student instruction being based within STEM departments.

Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a detailed 2 to 3-page statement of the research plan, a 2-page statement of teaching philosophy, and names and contact information of at least three references when submitted electronically at  https://aufacultypositions.peopleadmin.com/postings/2489.

 

Review of applications will begin 1 December 2017 and will continue until the position is filled. For more information please contact dber3@auburn.edu.

Auburn University is an EEO/Vet/Disability Employer