Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate/Project Manager
Organization: SOLES
Department: The Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education (JI)
Reports to: Dr. Yaoran Li (Principal Investigator)
Location: San Diego office
Full-time, temporary, exempt, non-continuing, benefits-based
Yearly Salary Rate: $56,000-62,000

The mission of The Jacobs Institute is to empower educational dreamers, designers, and leaders through inclusive innovation. Over the past eight years, The Jacobs Institute has established itself as a credible and important voice in K-12 education, particularly in advancing innovation and equity in schools. In collaboration with some of the nation’s largest urban school districts, The Jacobs Institute’s team of experts partners with educational organizations to understand students’ learning and development processes, identify best practices, build capacity and improve student outcomes through research and development, strategic direction, and professional learning.

GENERAL PURPOSE

The Postdoctoral Research Associate (project manager) will work on the three-year collaborative project “VisMO” funded by the National Science Foundation on visuospatial skill development and mathematical learning, led by Dr. Yaoran Li of the University of San Diego and Dr. David Geary of the University of Missouri (see https://www.sandiego.edu/soles/jacobs-institute/research-evaluation/). The successful candidate will join a productive interdisciplinary team of scientists, educators, and artists from multiple organizations to develop a first-of-its-kind educational program and curriculum to foster elementary school children’s visuospatial skills development using origami. Collaborating with local schools and informal learning organizations, project VisMO consists of design-based research and a rigorous experimental study to explore effective teaching and learning strategies as well as examine the causal link between children’s visuospatial skills development and their longitudinal gains in mathematical competencies. This project has a focus on English Language Learners (ELLs), so we specifically welcome researchers who have the expertise and/or are interested in this student population to apply.

The successful candidate will collaborate closely with the PIs and participate in all aspects of this research project, from curriculum design, program implementation, and data collection, to publications. The successful candidate will also serve as the project manager. Under the general guidance of the PIs, the postdoctoral associate will direct the day-to-day operations of the study, such as guidance to research assistants, compilation of the training and scoring protocols, and communication with the WestEd team and the partner schools on the data collection. Additional responsibilities will include engaging in writing new grant proposals and presenting research results to key stakeholders.

The initial appointment will be of one year, with the possibility of renewal based on performance and funding. The review starts on September 10th. The position is open until filled.

Those interested may learn more at the full job description, linked here (PDF).