Postdoctoral Research Associate

Agency

Department

What we want

The Postdoctoral Research Associate will join 3AforCT: AI-Guided, Authentic, Ag-STEM Inquiry for Cultivating Computational Thinking in Rural Middle Schools, an NSF CAREER project conducted in partnership with rural educators. The project co-designs locally meaningful investigations in which students use environmental sensors, real-world data, and carefully designed AI-supports to explore agricultural and environmental questions and develop evidence-based solutions. Through iterative design-based research, the project examines student learning, teacher practice, classroom implementation, and the effectiveness, safety, relevance, and usability of the AI-based supports. The postdoctoral research associate will join an interdisciplinary, multi-site research-practice partnership and contribute across school-based research, teacher co-design, classroom implementation, mixed-methods and multimodal analysis, project coordination, and the mentoring of junior researchers. The position offers opportunities to co-author publications, present findings to scholarly and practitioner audiences, contribute to open educational resources, and build expertise at the intersection of computing-integrated STEM education, AI-supported learning, and design-based research. The postdoctoral research associate will assume increasing independence in completing project activities and deliverables under the supervision and mentorship of the Principal Investigator. The position requires reliable participation in school-based fieldwork, timely and accurate work, responsive communication and collaboration, compliance with research and data requirements, and regular travel to partner schools.

What you need to know

Salary: Commensurate

Schedule: The work schedule may occasionally include early-morning, evening, or weekend hours to support school-based implementation, data collection, and teacher co-design activities.

Travel: Regular travel and on-site presence at partner schools are required for implementation, data collection, and teacher co-design activities.

Please Note: This position is grant funded; future employment may be contingent upon future funding.  

Qualifications

Required Education

• 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.

Preferred 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 conducting human subjects research in K-12 classroom settings, including collecting and managing data from minors through audio or video recording, surveys, observations, interviews or focus groups, and student artifacts.
• 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.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to develop and revise clear, well-organized scholarly manuscripts and 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, integrate evidence across data sources, draw evidence-based conclusions, and learn project-specific methods.
• Ability to synthesize research findings, classroom evidence, and partner feedback to guide revisions to curriculum materials, research instruments, and educational technologies.
• Ability to manage concurrent research and implementation activities, establish priorities, meet deadlines, follow through on commitments, exercise sound judgment with increasing independence, and seek clarification or approval when needed.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and assume increasing independence under general supervision, recognize when clarification or approval is needed, adapt appropriately to changing field conditions, and 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 and apply appropriate data-management, quality-control, version-control, human-subjects protection, and 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, including periods of sitting, standing, and walking and the setup and transport of project equipment and materials.
• Frequent use of computers, audiovisual equipment, sensors, and other research and classroom technologies.
• Occasional work in outdoor conditions and variable weather during school-based implementation and data-collection activities.

Machines and Equipment Provided

• Access to shared project audiovisual, sensor, and field-research equipment, including cameras, audio-recording equipment, tripods, Arduino microcontrollers, environmental sensors, and related materials.
• Access to University-approved secure data-storage, computing, and research systems required for assigned project duties, including survey, analysis, transcription, collaboration, version-control, and project-specific AI tools.

Responsibilities

Research and Design

• Leads assigned components of iterative design-based research cycles, using evidence from prior implementations to redesign and test curriculum materials, research instruments, and AI-supported project tools; documents revisions and prepares them for subsequent implementation in collaboration with the project team.
• Leads assigned classroom data-collection activities, including approved consent and assent procedures, surveys, audio and video recordings, structured observations and field notes, student artifact collection, teacher interviews, and student focus groups.
• Prepares and manages technical equipment and research materials for fieldwork, including transportation, setup, testing, inventory, maintenance, and troubleshooting of cameras, microphones, and Arduino sensors.
• Maintains complete, accurate, and timely research records; deidentifies and quality-checks data; organizes, documents, and archives data in approved University systems using established file-naming and version-control procedures.
• Conducts assigned qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods analyses of multimodal and multi-source data; prepares data, develops and applies coding frameworks, assesses reliability, and integrates findings across data sources for publications, reports, and design decisions.
• Prepares substantive drafts and revisions of peer-reviewed manuscripts, conference proposals and papers, and other scholarly and practitioner-facing products in collaboration with the project team.
• Conducts research in accordance with approved human-subject protocols and applicable data-security, district, University, and sponsor requirements.

Project Coordination, Co-Design, and Implementation Support

• Maintains project workplans, schedules, deliverable trackers, and implementation records; communicates progress, barriers, and decisions needed to keep the project on schedule.
• Coordinates assigned implementation and data collection logistics with partner teachers, school districts, and the research team, including scheduling, site access, permissions, participant communications, and data-collection and co-design activities; communicates changes requiring partner or district approval.
• Plans and facilitates assigned portions of teacher co-design workshops, synthesizes teacher feedback and classroom data into revision briefs, and coordinates approved revisions to project materials and tools.
• Maintains organized, version-controlled project documentation and shared repositories for curriculum materials, research instruments, troubleshooting guides, teacher-generated adaptations, and other project resources; prepares approved materials for dissemination.
• Coordinates recurring project team meetings, participates in advisory board meetings, and maintains timely, professional communication with collaborators and school partners.

Mentoring

• Trains and coordinates graduate and undergraduate research assistants in data collection, transcription, coding, and data management.
• Reviews assigned work for accuracy and completeness, provides timely and constructive feedback, and follows up on needed revisions.

Presentations and Sponsor Reporting

• Prepares and presents audience-appropriate research findings and project materials to researchers, practitioners, school partners, advisory board members, sponsors, and internal audiences.
• Contributes accurate and timely assigned content to sponsor progress reports, annual project briefs, Institutional Review Board revisions, and other required reporting.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.