Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job Summary

Required Qualifications

• •PhD in learning sciences, educational technology, computing or computer science education, educational psychology, curriculum and instruction, STEM education, or a closely related field by the date of appointment
• •Reliable participation in school-based fieldwork
• •Timely and accurate work
• •Responsive communication and collaboration
• •Compliance with research and data requirements
• •Regular travel to partner schools
• •Early-morning, evening, or weekend hours
• •On-site presence at partner schools
• •Ability to develop and revise clear, well-organized scholarly manuscripts
• •Ability to communicate research effectively to scholarly, practitioner, sponsor, and school-partner audiences
• •Knowledge of education research design and one or more qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, or multimodal approaches
• •Ability to conduct and document rigorous analyses
• •Ability to integrate evidence across data sources
• •Ability to draw evidence-based conclusions
• •Ability to learn project-specific methods
• •Ability to synthesize research findings, classroom evidence, and partner feedback
• •Ability to manage concurrent research and implementation activities
• •Ability to establish priorities
• •Ability to meet deadlines
• •Ability to follow through on commitments
• •Ability to exercise sound judgment with increasing independence
• •Ability to seek clarification or approval when needed
• •Ability to recognize when clarification or approval is needed
• •Ability to adapt appropriately to changing field conditions
• •Ability to incorporate feedback into subsequent work
• •Ability to communicate, facilitate, and collaborate professionally and respectfully with research participants, educators, school and district partners, interdisciplinary researchers, technical collaborators, and project team members
• •Ability to maintain accurate, reproducible, secure, and well-documented research records
• •Ability to apply appropriate data-management procedures
• •Ability to apply appropriate quality-control procedures
• •Ability to apply appropriate version-control procedures
• •Ability to apply appropriate human-subjects protection procedures
• •Ability to apply appropriate data-security procedures
• •Ability to learn, use, and troubleshoot project-specific digital, audiovisual, sensor, AI-supported, and other classroom and research technologies
• •Ability to work in classroom, office, and occasional outdoor school settings
• •Ability to work during periods of sitting, standing, and walking
• •Ability to setup and transport project equipment and materials
• •Frequent use of computers, audiovisual equipment, sensors, and other research and classroom technologies
• •Ability to work in outdoor conditions and variable weather during school-based implementation and data-collection activities
• •Access to shared project audiovisual, sensor, and field-research equipment
• •Access to University-approved secure data-storage, computing, and research systems
• •Ability to lead assigned components of iterative design-based research cycles
• •Ability to use evidence from prior implementations to redesign and test curriculum materials, research instruments, and AI-supported project tools
• •Ability to document revisions and prepare them for subsequent implementation
• •Ability to lead assigned classroom data-collection activities
• •Ability to conduct approved consent and assent procedures
• •Ability to conduct surveys, audio and video recordings, structured observations and field notes, student artifact collection, teacher interviews, and student focus groups
• •Ability to prepare and manage technical equipment and research materials for fieldwork
• •Ability to handle transportation, setup, testing, inventory, maintenance, and troubleshooting of cameras, microphones, and Arduino sensors
• •Ability to maintain complete, accurate, and timely research records
• •Ability to deidentify and quality-check data
• •Ability to organize, document, and archive data in approved University systems
• •Ability to conduct assigned qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods analyses of multimodal and multi-source data
• •Ability to prepare data, develop and apply coding frameworks, assess reliability, and integrate findings across data sources
• •Ability to prepare substantive drafts and revisions of peer-reviewed manuscripts, conference proposals and papers, and other scholarly and practitioner-facing products
• •Ability to conduct research in accordance with approved human-subject protocols
• •Ability to comply with applicable data-security, district, University, and sponsor requirements
• •Ability to maintain project workplans, schedules, deliverable trackers, and implementation records
• •Ability to communicate progress, barriers, and decisions needed to keep the project on schedule
• •Ability to coordinate assigned implementation and data collection logistics with partner teachers, school districts, and the research team
• •Ability to communicate changes requiring partner or district approval
• •Ability to plan and facilitate assigned portions of teacher co-design workshops
• •Ability to synthesize teacher feedback and classroom data into revision briefs
• •Ability to coordinate approved revisions to project materials and tools
• •Ability to maintain organized, version-controlled project documentation and shared repositories
• •Ability to prepare approved materials for dissemination
• •Ability to coordinate recurring project team meetings
• •Ability to participate in advisory board meetings
• •Ability to maintain timely, professional communication with collaborators and school partners
• •Ability to train and coordinate graduate and undergraduate research assistants in data collection, transcription, coding, and data management
• •Ability to review assigned work for accuracy and completeness
• •Ability to provide timely and constructive feedback
• •Ability to follow up on needed revisions
• •Ability to present audience-appropriate research findings and project materials to researchers, practitioners, school partners, advisory board members, sponsors, and internal audiences
• •Ability to contribute accurate and timely assigned content to sponsor progress reports, annual project briefs, Institutional Review Board revisions, and other required reporting
• •Ability to conduct human subjects research in K-12 classroom settings
• •Ability to collect and manage data from minors through audio or video recording, surveys, observations, interviews or focus groups, and student artifacts
• •Ability to apply one or more qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, or multimodal analytic approaches in classroom-based research
• •Ability to use research software appropriate to the candidate's methodological expertise
• •Ability to design, deploy, or evaluate generative AI-supported educational tools
• •Ability to use Arduino microcontrollers, environmental sensors, or related classroom technologies in educational research or instruction
• •Ability to coordinate multi-site research activities
• •Ability to collaborate across interdisciplinary research teams
• •Ability to maintain sustained partnerships with schools or community organizations
• •Record of scholarly writing and dissemination through peer-reviewed manuscripts, conference presentations, or related research products to scholarly or practitioner audiences
• •Knowledge of education research design and one or more qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, or multimodal approaches

Desired Qualifications

• •Research experience in one or more project-relevant areas, such as K-12 STEM or computing education, computational thinking, AI-supported learning, or a related area
• •Experience conducting design-based or classroom implementation research, including teacher co-design and the evidence-informed development or refinement of standards-aligned K-12 curriculum materials, assessments, teacher supports, or educational technologies
• •Experience applying one or more qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, or multimodal analytic approaches in classroom-based research, with proficiency in research software appropriate to the candidate's methodological expertise (e.g., R, Python, SPSS, NVivo, or MAXQDA)
• •Experience designing, deploying, or evaluating generative AI-supported educational tools, including large language model-based agents, with attention to instructional quality, learner interaction, and responsible use
• •Experience using Arduino microcontrollers, environmental sensors, or related classroom technologies in educational research or instruction
• •Experience coordinating multi-site research activities and collaborating across interdisciplinary research teams and sustained partnerships with schools or community organizations
• •Record of scholarly writing and dissemination through peer-reviewed manuscripts, conference presentations, or related research products to scholarly or practitioner audiences