David Hammer
Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences
EDUCATION: University Science Education
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (non-tenure-track)
The Department of Education at Tufts University, in collaboration with the departments of Physics and Biology, invites applications for a full-time postdoctoral scholar to work with The Listening Project, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Initiative for Inclusive Excellence. The initial appointment is for the academic year 2017-2018, renewable for up to three years total.
The project aims to help instructors elicit, recognize, and engage with the productive beginnings of science in all students’ thinking. We emphasize including and supporting students whose voices and reasoning can be missed in traditional courses.
Faculty and teaching assistants will work in groups to collect, study, and make sense of examples of students’ work in introductory science, using video from classes and copies of assignments and exams. The first focus will be on interpreting students’ thinking and experience, including when that is challenging to do. From there, the groups will consider possibilities for what might help those students make progress toward disciplinary practices of learning and knowledge of canonical ideas.
The postdoctoral scholar will be part of the project leadership team, with responsibilities to help lead instructor working groups, collect and study data from target introductory classes in biology and in physics, and collaborate in research on learning, teaching, and change in higher education.
The position requires a PhD, graduate preparation in a natural science, scholarly background in STEM discipline-based education research, and expertise in responsive teaching, ideally with an emphasis on underrepresented groups.
Applications must be submitted via Interfolio at https://apply.interfolio.com/42537. Please submit a letter of application, including descriptions of your background and research interests, and a CV; please also arrange for three confidential reference letters, which the writers should submit directly. Contact department administrator Michelle Paré at michelle.pare@tufts.edu for questions about the position or the application process.
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
Tufts University, founded in 1852, prioritizes quality teaching, highly competitive basic and applied research and a commitment to active citizenship locally, regionally and globally. Tufts University also prides itself on creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community. Current and prospective employees of the university are expected to have and continuously develop skill in, and disposition for, positively engaging with a diverse population of faculty, staff, and students.
Tufts University is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff and fostering their success when hired. Members of underrepresented groups are welcome and strongly encouraged to apply. If you are an applicant with a disability who is unable to use our online tools to search and apply for jobs, please contact us by calling Johny Laine in the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) at 617.627.3298 or at Johny.Laine@tufts.edu. Applicants can learn more about requesting reasonable accommodations at http://oeo.tufts.edu.