Postdoctoral Research Associate

Postdoctoral Research Associate

The Postdoctoral Research Associate will join 3

AforCT: 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.

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.

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…