[edm-announce] Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Position with Dr. Nia Dowell @ UC Irvine

From: Stephen Fancsali <sfancsali@xxxxxxxxx>
To: edm-announce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2020 09:19:10 -0400

[on behalf of Nia Dowell]

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Position with Dr. Nia Dowell

Language and Learning Analytics Lab

University of California, Irvine

10 mins to beautiful beaches and 30 mins to gorgeous mountains 🙂

Join us as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Language and Learning
Analytics Laboratory (LALA-Lab) at the University of California, Irvine’s
School of Education. This postdoctoral fellowship includes a very
competitive salary of ~$80,000 a year plus benefits. In addition, the
fellow will be given a budget for research assistants, travel, and
discretionary funds. This position is for 1 year, renewable for a second
year (and potentially a third). The anticipated start date will be
September 2020, with some flexibility for the availability of the
applicant. The candidate will work under the supervision of Dr. Nia
Dowell <http://niadowell.com/>and will play a collaborative and
co-leadership role in a vibrant research team.

Applications will be reviewed as soon as they are received.

To Apply: Applications should be submitted online at
https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/apply/JPF06318

About the position

The successful candidate will conduct research in educational data science,
learning analytics, speech and natural language processing (NLP) to solve
challenging and impactful, real-world problems. They will participate in
the development and application of advanced NLP and machine learning
techniques to multi-party text and speech data collected in authentic
contexts (e.g., large and small group collaborative problem solving). They
will also participate in the design and development of real-time automated
feedback systems for collaborative interactions.

This is a full-time postdoctoral research position funded by the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation project “Learning engineering post-doctoral
fellowship”, which is being led by PI Justin Reich (MIT) with co-PIs Ken
Koedinger (CMU) and Nia Dowell (UCI). The goal of this grant is to provide
support for scholars who are Black, Latinx, first generation Americans
and/or impacted by poverty to pursue research into learning engineering and
to engage in projects that focus on promoting inclusivity and equity for
under-represented populations.

The position offers a unique postdoctoral training experience and
unsurpassed publishing opportunities within multi-department and
multi-institution grant-funded projects. The successful candidate will be
encouraged to develop new technical skills, strengthen their portfolio of
peer-reviewed publications, gain interdisciplinary experience, develop
leadership, and gain expertise in co-authoring grant proposals.
About the lab

The Language and Learning Analytics Laboratory (LALA-Lab) brings together
an interdisciplinary group of students and faculty who explore the
intersections of technology with teaching, learning, and education, with a
particular focus on learning analytics, educational data mining, and
collaborative engagement. Led by Dr. Nia Dowell, Assistant Professor in
Education at UC-Irvine, the LALA-Lab includes researchers with backgrounds
in cognitive science, education, information, psychology, and statistics.
The LALA-Lab takes a multi-disciplinary approach that builds on theories
and methods in the learning sciences, cognitive psychology, human-computer
interaction, and computational social sciences. Dr. Dowell and her team
conduct basic research on socio-cognitive and affective processes across a
range of contexts, focusing in particular on interactions within
educational technology and develop computational models of these processes
and their relationship to learner outcomes. Their research uses a range of
advanced techniques such as computational linguistics and machine learning.
Current projects focus on:

i. understanding differences in students’ socio-cognitive
engagement patterns across gender and racial lines

ii. identifying interpersonal dynamics that characterize
varying levels of creativity/innovation and sense of belonging during
collaborative interactions, and

iii. developing AI-based interventions to promote inclusivity in
digitally-mediated team problem-solving environments.

Qualifications

Applicants should have a doctorate in data science, information sciences,
cognitive science, human-computer interaction, computer science, learning
sciences, learning analytics, psychology, or a related field. They should
have completed strong, compelling PhD research in one (or more) of these
areas.

Required

● Ph.D. in Data Science, Statistics, Information Sciences, Computer
Science, Cognitive Science, Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, Learning
Sciences or a related field at the time of hire

● Candidates must have had experience as or identify as First
Generation American, Black, Latinx, and/or impacted by poverty and be
committed to doing research that positively impacts students with those
experiences/identities

● A strong research record, documented by recent publications in
top-tier conferences and journals

● Good communication skills and fluency in English

● Strong computational and analytical skills, especially the ability
to develop software and/or perform sophisticated data analysis

● Highly motivated and creative, enjoys working in a collaborative
research environment

Desired

● Research experience in one or more of the following areas: software
development, advanced machine learning and data mining, learning analytics,
natural language understanding, discourse modeling

To Apply: Applications should be submitted online at
https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/apply/JPF06318

Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

REQUIREMENTS

Document requirements

–

Curriculum Vitae – Your most recently updated C.V.
–

   Cover Letter – cover letter explaining your relevant background and
   interest in this project
   –

1-2 sample publications

Reference requirements

–

3 required (contact information only)

Questions about the position may be addressed to Nia Dowell, Asst.
Professor at dowelln@xxxxxxx Questions about the application process can be
addressed to Tory Garcia togarcia@xxxxxxx

—
*Guest Editor* for a Special Section on Collaboration Analytics in the
Journal of Learning Analytics [ CfP
<https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/JLA/announcement/view/157>
]

Nia Marcia Maria Dowell

Assistant Professor

School of Education <http://education.uci.edu/>

EDUC 3361A

University of California, Irvine

Google Scholar
<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lIBxWgsAAAAJ&hl=en> | @NiaDowell
<https://twitter.com/NiaDowell>| niadowell.com
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