PER Postdoc, MIT

Research Associate MIT: Physics Education Research

                             Dave Pritchard's group, RELATE.MIT.edu

Help create a variety of research-based week by week topical quizzes and higher level assessments of reasoning skills, important procedures, higher level thinking, and study habits.  These will be Beta-tested in the Relate-MIT-Harvard collaboration on edX.org. In a collaboration with NJCTL.org. These assessments will also be administered online in blended courses – for teachers in both programs, and to students both at MIT and in high schools with a majority of underrepresented minority students. By collecting click-by-click interactions of students we will discover and probe different dimensions of student thinking, using the new assessments, psychometrics, and data mining.  We will provide students and teachers formative/summative assessments with resolution down to the sub-topic and learning objective level, as well as evaluations of higher level skills. The major responsibility of the research associate will be to collect and augment assessments and ideas from the research literature, write new questions, and help understand the data.  This job will include curating resources, performing experimental/control group experiments to research which instructional resources teach which topics & learning objectives best.  Our long term goal is to understand which pedagogies, resources, and learning habits improve student learning of overall expertise.  This work will benefit from the RELATE group’s expertise in educational data mining, advanced psychometrics including multi-dimensional item response theory, and experience in designing online experiments. (see http://RELATE.mit.edu)

Requisite Knowledge and Skills:

Knowledge of Physics (esp. mechanics and E&M) and education research literature

Teaching experience in introductory physics

Writing novel and clear questions

Programming ability with Python

Statistics/data analysis skills, R

A Ph.D or Ed.D in physics or science education research, instructional design, or cognitive science etc. is desired, but a physics BS with following teaching experience is OK.  Applicant must be comfortable working both alone and with others.  All former RELATE alumni have obtained positions in academia or education companies. Inquiries and applications (CV, cover letter, and list of at least three references) should be sent to relateMIT@gmail.com (please include “postdoc application” in subject line). Review of applications will begin immediately; starting date June to late Fall 2018. 

MIT is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. For more information check http://web.mit.edu/physics/about/employment.html and http://relate.mit.edu/jobs.html .

One Year Temporary Lectureship, Saginaw Valley State University, MI

https://jobopportunities.svsu.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1518912644213 

Position Information

Job Title Lecturer, Physics (One-Year, Temporary)   Division/College Academic Affairs/College of Science, Engineering & Technology   Department Physics   Employee Group Faculty   Employee Status Full Time   Work Schedule   Job Summary JOB SUMMARY: The Physics Department at Saginaw Valley State University invites applications for a one year Lecturer of Physics position starting Fall 2018. The successful candidate will be expected to teach introductory freshman and sophomore classes, laboratory courses, including general education courses such as astronomy and meteorology. The teaching responsibilities will total approximately 12 contact hours per semester. A strong preference will be shown for candidates with college level teaching experience and with ability to teach general education courses in astronomy and meteorology.   Minimum Qualifications MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates for this position must have a master's degree in Physics or a closely related field.   Preferred Qualifications PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: College level teaching experience and ability to teach general education courses in astronomy and meteorology preferred.   Additional Information: Screening of applicants will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.   Required Documents Cover Letter Curriculum Vitae   Special Instructions to Applicants Unofficial transcripts (bachelor's and master's degrees) Applicants MUST apply online: www.jobs.svsu.edu Please include the following: Curriculum Vitae, Cover Letter, Unofficial transcripts(bachelor's and master's degrees).   Date Posted: 02-07-2018   Posting Ends: Open Until Filled About SVSU Saginaw Valley State University is a comprehensive university with more than 90 programs of study for its nearly 9,000 students. Located on a suburban campus in Michigan's Great Lakes Bay Region, SVSU is committed to a supportive and empowering environment for students, faculty and staff. The Chronicle of Higher Education recognized SVSU as a "Great College to Work For" in 2016 and 2017. SVSU emphasizes undergraduate teaching and learning, and community-based research. In 2015, SVSU received the Community Engagement classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a distinction achieved by only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities. By their senior year, 84 percent of students have engaged with community employers and agencies in internships, field placements or some other component of their academic preparation. SVSU is establishing itself as a leader in STEM education for the Great Lakes Bay Region, partnering with businesses, foundations and school districts to improve students' performance in math and science at the middle school, high school and university levels. More than 70 percent of SVSU freshmen live on campus in student housing. SVSU fields 17 varsity sports at the NCAA Division II level. The average class size is 23 students. For more information, please visit our website, http://www.svsu.edu.

STEM Education Research Associate, University of Maryland College Park

The University of Maryland is hiring a Research Associate in STEM Education to start in Spring 2018

The position:
We are seeking a postdoctoral research associate to assist in conducting research on and leading the development of a thriving community of faculty who teach Introductory Physics for Life Science (IPLS) classes.
Research topics may include (but are not limited to):
- How physics faculty create courses from collection of curricular materials, use online resources, and engage in online communities
- How community building activities such as workshops and social media can help faculty incorporate, adapt and maintain innovative instructional methods in their teaching.
Community building activities may include (but are not limited to):
- Conducting in-person and online workshops for physics faculty
- Seeding and facilitating online discussions among physics faculty
- Learning about and engaging in best practices for creating thriving online communities

The project:
The Living Physics Portal is a collaborative project between the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and 8 colleges and universities to create a web portal to collect and curate curricular materials developed for Introductory Physics for Life Science (IPLS) classes, and to sustain a community of educators dedicated to iteratively improving instruction in these courses. The project started just over one year ago and we have conducted initial research into how physics faculty plan IPLS courses, categorize curricular materials, create curricular materials, and collaborate with other instructors in their course planning and implementation. We have a large collection of interview and focus group data available for analysis for a wide variety of investigations. We have created designs for, and are currently implementing, an online system for faculty to share and discuss interdisciplinary curricular materials. This system will be easily searchable and browsable, support faculty in adapting these materials, help faculty design new IPLS courses that fit their specific circumstances, and sustain a community educators interacting and learning through the portal. We aim to create a thriving community of IPLS instructors who share stories, ideas, and materials through professional development workshops and extended online and in-person interactions. Finally, we will conduct extensive research into the use of the database and the curricular materials therein, and the evolution of the community of users.

Preferred qualifications:
- PhD/EdD in STEM field or physics/science education
- Enthusiastic learner (because this project will involve research in many different areas, your ability to learn is more important than extensive experience in relevant areas)
- Understands how to listen and draw out people’s experiences and perspectives (e.g. in the context of interviews)
- Experience with research into faculty/teacher change, instructional change, institutional change, and/or faculty/teacher professional development
- Experience with an existing online community of educators
- Experience with qualitative research including interviewing and video analysis 
- 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

Logistics:
- Employer: University of Maryland, College Park
- Location: Preferably in the DC area, but will consider hiring someone who would work remotely
- Supervisors: Primary supervisor Chandra Turpen, with additional advising by a team of researchers at the University of Maryland (Joe Redish), and the American Association of Physics Teachers (Sam McKagan and Adrian Madsen).
- Start date: Anytime between February and September 2018.
- Time commitment: Prefer full-time, but flexible for the right candidate
- Length of appointment: 1-year contract, renewable up to 3 years
 
For more information,contact Chandra Turpen: Chandra.Turpen@gmail.com

To apply:
Please submit the following to Chandra Turpen at Chandra.Turpen@gmail.com:
- Cover letter, including:
    - Why you are interested in this position
    - Why you are a good fit for this position
    - Your preferred start date
    - When you received or expect to receive your PhD or EdD
    - Your preferred work location (College Park, MD; or elsewhere)
    - Your preferred full-time or part-time status (ranging from 50% to 100% time)
- CV, including:
    - List of publications
    - Education, research, and community-building experience
- Contact information for three references