Post-Doctoral Associate at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Post-Doctoral Associate Position
Learning Informatics Lab
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

UMN Classification: Post-Doctoral Associate (9546)

To apply: https://hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/339694

Position Overview: 

The Learning Informatics Lab at the University of Minnesota is seeking a postdoctoral fellow. The Learning Informatics Lab is an interdisciplinary research lab based in the College of Education and Human Development and dedicated to advancing and applying data science and informatics techniques to educational data in order to address pressing challenges in K-12 education.

This postdoc position is part of a new project in Educational Data Mining and Learning Engineering funded by Schmidt Futures (https://schmidtfutures.com) and in collaboration with Infinite Campus. Schmidt Futures funds interdisciplinary networks for early-stage talent and advanced computing platforms to accelerate research. Infinite Campus is a Minnesota-based company that builds and deploys student information and learning management systems for K-12 education. More than 2,000 school districts in 45 states use Infinite Campus systems; research outcomes of this project are poised to make broad impacts in U.S. K-12 schools. The postdoctoral fellow will be a full-time employee of the University of Minnesota, working on the Twin Cities Campus, but will also join the Visiting Scholars program at Infinite Campus and will conduct some of their research on-site at Infinite Campus.

The goal of this two-year grant is to develop new, cutting-edge research projects that will advance learning analytics, educational data mining, learning engineering, and cognitive science. The specific projects will be developed by the postdoc with guidance from U of M faculty and Infinite Campus research staff. Projects can take on areas such as personalized learning, proficiency estimation, predictive learning analytics, adaptive assessment, curriculum recommendation, and fairness and inclusion in learning analytics. Projects are encouraged to address pressing challenges in K-12 education, from better matching students with learning paths that meet their needs to addressing achievement gaps.

The postdoctoral fellow will work closely with a team of faculty at the Learning Informatics Lab, led by Prof. Bodong Chen (Learning Technologies), and including Prof. Joseph Konstan (Computer Science and Engineering) and Prof. Sashank Varma (Computer Science and Psychology, Georgia Tech), along with other faculty members in the lab (https://innovation.umn.edu/informatics/). They will work in partnership with teams at Infinite Campus with expertise in data science, creating data science solutions to novel educational problems, building machine-learned products, and developing applications for K-12 teaching and learning.

Candidates should be committed to producing original research and publishing their work in highly ranked conference proceedings and journals (as appropriate). The PIs and the Learning Informatics Lab are committed to the professional development of the postdoctoral fellow, and will provide resources to support professional development including participation in professional conferences. The postdoc will work as part of a multi-site team and will be expected to divide their time between the University of Minnesota and Infinite Campus.

Job Responsibilities:

Research & Project Management (100%)

• Conceptualize, design, and implement computational research projects that make use of Infinite Campus’ massive Student Information System (SIS) and Learning Management System (LMS) data.
• Work alongside Lab faculty to design, plan, coordinate and implement logistical aspects of projects: Track progress, facilitate communication, and ensure organization both within and across research projects.
• Work closely with teams at Infinite Campus to access their massive SIS and LMS data to address research questions.
• Manage, institute, and document procedures for research planning, data analyses, and reporting at the University of Minnesota.
• Lead and assist with the preparation of research articles, reports, grants and related materials.
• Disseminate research findings at academic conferences and journals.

How To Apply