Details
Posted: 27-May-23
Location: Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Type: Full-time
Salary: Open
Boston College IntroductionFounded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,445 full-time undergraduates and 5,125 graduate and professional students. Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 878 full-time and 1,201 FTE faculty, 2,750 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.2 billion, and an endowment in excess of $2.8 billion.
Job DescriptionPostdoctoral Research Fellow - DevTech
The Devtech research group, directed by Prof. MarinaUmaschi Bers, has an opening for a postdoctoral position with expertise instatistical data analysis with large data sets to work in the "Coding asAnother Language" (CAL) project funded by the US Department of Education.
CAL implementsand evaluates the use of ScratchJr in K-2 classrooms through partnerships withRhode Island and Boston public schools over the course of two years. The CALcurriculum engages young children in developing computational thinking, problemsolving, and collaboration skills while learning how to create their owninteractive projects by programming with ScratchJr. The project accomplishes the following goals:
Create a comprehensive, field-tested, high-quality, integrated K-2 computer science (CS) curriculum and suite of teaching materials and implementation supports that will be free and publicly available.
Achieve high fidelity of implementation in grades K-2 resulting in improvements in student learning outcomes as well as improvements in teachers' pedagogy and content knowledge to implement the curriculum.
Build capacity of Tech Leaders, technology coordinators, and specialized coaches to replicate and sustain work following the grant period.
Broaden participation in CS education from students currently underrepresented in CS education including females, racial/ethnic minorities, and students with disabilities.
The curriculumwill be evaluated for impact. The impact study will use a randomized controltrial design with delayed treatment. Impact will be assessed throughdifferences in learning outcomes in the treatment and control group, looking atcomputational thinking and coding skills, math, and language development. Atransfer and sustainability study will compare fidelity of implementationacross groups/cohorts and measure perceived sustainability through interviewswith teachers and Tech Leaders via the development of a strategic plan.
The ideal candidate has PhD in psychology, statistics,child development or education, or another quantitative social sciencediscipline, with a strong background in quantitative methods. Practicalexperience in an education or evaluation project is a plus. The work involvesintegrating and analyzing multiple, large data sets from disparate sources(primary and secondary data).
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RequirementsRequired qualifications:
demonstrated experience with exploratory, correlational and inference data analysis, especially hierarchical modeling
knowledge of research design principles and educational measurement principles, including familiarity with psychometric concepts such as validity and reliability
expertise in a research-oriented programming language (preferably R) for manipulating data and conducting statistical analyses
experience with data management and collaborative work tools
experience (or willingness to quickly learn) Qualtrics to design and conduct surveys
good project management, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills
excellent communication and writing skills for both technical and non-technical audiences
The postdoctoral scholar will be a key member ofthe DevTech team with significant research responsibilities focused onmethodology and data analysis, the production of publications as well as the developmentof proposals to extend the research. This is a one yearappointment starting in August, 2023.
If you are interested, please check the DevTechwebsite https://sites.bc.edu/devtech/ and sendyour CV and cover letter describing your interest in the project and yourskills to marina.bers@bc.edu
Closing StatementBoston College offers a broad and competitive range of benefits depending on your job classification eligibility:
- Tuition remission for Employees
- Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements
- Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- Low-Cost Life Insurance
- Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans
- Paid Holidays Annually
- Generous Sick and Vacation Pay
- Additional benefits can be found on https://www.bc.edu/employeehandbook
Boston College conducts pre-employment background checks as part of the hiring process and requires all employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Boston College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. In concert with our Jesuit, Catholic mission, Boston College is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and covered veterans. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at https://www.bc.edu/offices/diversity.
Boston College's Notice of Nondiscrimination can be viewed at https://www.bc.edu/nondiscrimination.
