[CogSci] Postdoctoral Fellow Position in Learning Informatics at the University of Minnesota

[Sashank Varma]

The Learning Informatics Lab at the University of Minnesota (
https://innovation.umn.edu/informatics/) is seeking a postdoctoral fellow.
This interdisciplinary research lab is dedicated to advancing and applying
data science and informatics techniques to educational data in order to
address pressing challenges in K-12 education.



This position is part of a new project in Educational Data Mining and
Learning Engineering funded by Schmidt Futures and in collaboration with
Infinite Campus. Schmidt Futures (https://schmidtfutures.com) funds
interdisciplinary networks for early-stage talent and advanced computing
platforms to accelerate research. Infinite Campus (
https://www.infinitecampus.com/) 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 fellows will be full-time employees of the University of
Minnesota, but will also join the Visiting Scholars program at Infinite
Campus.



The goal of this two-year grant is to develop new, cutting-edge research
projects that will advance learning engineering, learning analytics,
educational data mining, and cognitive science. The specific projects will
be developed by the postdoctoral fellow with guidance from the university
faculty and the Infinite Campus research staff. Projects can take on areas
such as personalized learning, proficiency estimation, predictive learning
analytics, adaptive assessment, curriculum recommendation, and promotion of
fairness and transparency 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 Dr. Bodong Chen (Learning Technologies),
and including Dr. Joseph Konstan (Computer Science and Engineering) and Dr.
Sashank Varma (Computer Science and Psychology, Georgia Tech). 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.



The ideal candidate will have: (1) a Ph.D. in data science, computer
science, machine learning, statistics, cognitive science, learning
analytics, or an allied discipline; (2) a strong technical background with
demonstrated experience developing computational tools and/or applying data
science methods to large data sets; and (3) a desire to use data science
approaches to address challenges and problems in education. 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 postdoctoral fellow 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.



Review of applications will begin immediately, and the position will begin
as soon as a suitable candidate is identified. Candidates must have
completed all of the requirements of their Ph.D. programs before beginning,
but they do not have to have formally graduated. We anticipate that funding
will be available for two years. The position will be annually renewed
based on performance and continued availability of funding.



Please contact Dr. Chen (chenbd at umn.edu) or Dr. Varma (varma at gatech.edu)
for questions about the position.



Apply at: https://hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/339694
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