Postdoctoral Scholar, Online teaching, learning and measurement

The School of Education at the University of California, Irvine is excited to announce multiple full-time Postdoctoral Scholar positions focusing on online teaching, learning, and measurement. The Postdoctoral scholar will have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects that aim to improve the effectiveness of online learning environments, and will contribute to research efforts to better understand college online course instructional features and student experiences, as well as identify promising strategies for improving instructional effectiveness and student outcomes. Salary and rank within the Postdoctoral Scholar series commensurate with experience. The appointment is for two years, with possibility of renewal based on performance and availability of funding. The specific start date is flexible and can be negotiated based on the candidate’s availability.

Responsibilities: The postdoctoral scholar will work on a number of cutting-edge projects related to online teaching and learning, and will have the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team and college partners to utilize exceptionally rich data (e.g., student surveys, clickstream data, and college administrative data) toward a deeper understanding of the online teaching and learning environment, and carving out interventions to improve student experiences and outcomes.

Responsibilities include collaborating with faculty PI and co-PIs on the project; assisting with project management, including communication with the college partner; collecting and analyzing one or multiple of the following data resources depending on the postdoc’s expertise and interests, including student surveys, clickstream data from learning management systems, and longitudinal college administrative data; developing and implementing educational interventions in an online learning environment; publishing and presenting findings; writing funding proposals to seek additional external support; consulting with and mentoring teams of graduate and undergraduate students; managing communication, training sessions, and dissemination of research results; and coordinating the personnel and facilities within the project team.

Requirements:

• Candidates must possess a Ph.D. in related fields, such as Education, Psychology, Data Sciences, Sociology or Economics; A good record of research productivity in online learning, higher education, self-regulated learning, or motivation; Broad knowledge in applying quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand and improve teaching and learning, including expertise in one or more of the following areas: learning analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, clickstream data analysis, longitudinal administrative data analysis, survey data analysis, and designing and implementing educational interventions or digital tools; Expertise in statistical software (e.g., R, STATA, or Python); Advanced expertise in academic writing and editing for peer-reviewed scholarly articles; Successful experience in writing human subjects protocols; Demonstrated ability to work well with others, including both receiving direction and providing direction; Expertise in collaborating with college administrators and leading research initiatives and teams.

Researchers passionate about improving the quality of online education and possess the necessary qualifications and experience are encouraged to apply for this exciting opportunity to join our team at the School of Education at UC Irvine.

Salary: The salary range is $60,000-$71,952 annually.

To Apply:  Applications should be submitted online at https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF08162. Please submit a cover letter describing your relevant expertise and interests, a curriculum vitae, and sample paper or publication, and names and contact information of three references.

Questions about the position may be addressed to Associate Prof. Di Xu at dix3@uci.edu. Questions about submission or receipt of applications can be addressed to Laurie Andress-Delaney at landress@uci.edu

University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.