Position Description: Postdoctoral Fellow – Instructional Research & Development Organization: UC Davis Center for Educational Effectiveness The Center for Educational Effectiveness promotes excellence in undergraduate education at UC Davis through a combination of research, teaching support, and educational analytics. We collaborate with faculty, graduate students, and instructors to implement evidence-based instructional practices and develop and explore innovative solutions that enhance learnercentered instruction.
We presently have opportunities for a postdoctoral researcher to join our growing Instructional Research & Development (IRD) team. On this team, you will participate in the development and prototyping of instructional innovations to advance teaching and learning at our large, diverse R1 university. You will also participate in generating new discoveries and knowledge that help educators to design more effective learning experiences and improve their students’ outcomes.
Position Summary: The successful candidate will participate in the Instructional Research & Development team’s upcoming suite of research projects related to understanding, supporting, and advancing higher education learning. Examples of potential upcoming projects include: designing and testing quick cognitive-science based techniques to improve learning in learning management systems such as Canvas or Blackboard; developing and researching improv-based training for educators; researching identity and inclusion in STEM courses; understanding student outcomes and attrition patterns in online courses.
Our postdoctoral fellow will also assist with IRD’s charge to build and support the SOTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) community on campus. Potential contributions might include research consultations for faculty; participation in the planning of the yearly SOTL conference; or creating as-needed workshops, guides, or other resources for scholarly teachers at UC Davis.
Specific Responsibilities:
• Collaboratively design and implement pilots and full research projects that benefit UC Davis and are of interest to the national teaching community.
• Collect data through a variety of methods including observations, surveys, interviews; or in some cases, registrar data requests and LMS (Canvas) data pulls. Perform relevant data analysis.
• Contribute and lead the preparation of manuscripts, funding proposals, and conference presentations.
• Assist in the IRD Unit’s efforts to support the growing SOTL community on campus, through providing research consultations or other resources or tools. • Participate in lab-related activities such as regular meetings, process and documentation design, and mentorship of student researchers. CEE Instructional R&D Post-Doctoral Scholar December 2018
Qualifications: Required:
• Ph.D. in Education or STEM Education. We will also consider candidates with PhDs in any discipline, in combination with a strong background in teaching and learning research, discipline-based education research, scholarship of teaching and learning, and/or relevant social science research.
• Familiarity with research and literature on evidence-based teaching practices in higher education.
• Organization, communication and collaboration skills; the ability to work independently as well as on multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated proficiency with one or more of the following: research interviewing, qualitative coding/thematic analysis, survey design, statistical analysis of educational/social data, educational design and innovation experience, relevant network analysis experience, educational evaluation experience, or other research and development methods relevant to applied higher education work.
• Flexibility and curiosity to learn new methods/approaches as needed.
Preferred:
• Teaching experience in higher education, particularly with active, reform, or unscripted teaching methods (e.g., team-based learning, problem-based learning, flipped classrooms)
• Educational design or teaching innovation experience in higher education
• High degree of proficiency with qualitative, quantitative, and/or mixed methods
• For consideration for future improv-in-learning projects: experience with theatrical or comedic improv, particularly as a performer, ensemble builder or facilitator
How To Apply
Email Dr. Stephanie Pulford (spulford@ucdavis.edu) with a cover letter, CV, and contact information for three references.
Posting Here:
https://cee.ucdavis.edu/Join%20Our%20Team%3A%20Employment%20Opportunities