Job Description:

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER 2, Comparative Media Studies (CMS)/Writing-MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program (STEP), to handle the placement and mentoring of MIT students who are pre-service STEM teachers. The primary tasks are operational and relational, but with opportunities to co-teach undergraduate courses and participate in/lead educational research and development projects.  Responsibilities include interviewing, screening, and selecting candidates and placing them in local schools with mentor teachers; advising/supervising student teachers, including formal/informal observations, identifying growth areas, determining if students meet state licensure requirements, and completing and processing state paperwork; meeting with mentor teachers to discuss student teacher growth, answer questions related to forms/paperwork, and assess/intervene if issues arise; supporting course instructors, including revising and developing curriculum, contributing to/teaching classes, grading and providing feedback on student writing, placing 25 students in classrooms for 20 observation hours, and responding to student emails/requests/inquiries; advising students interested in teaching or education-related careers; collaborating on various education-focused projects in the STEP lab; developing and creating professional development for teachers; and co-developing and leading teacher professional development on a variety of topics.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED:  bachelor’s degree in a related field; five years’ relevant experience; three years’ secondary school teaching experience, preferably in math, science, or computer science; experience advising/mentoring college students or pre-service teachers; ability to organize and coordinate schedules/activities and set priorities, make decisions, and multitask with minimal supervision; excellent interpersonal and verbal and written communication skills; and experience with program, project, and/or event management.  PREFERRED: advanced degree in instructional design and technology; curriculum and program design experience in higher education or relevant area (e.g., education, math, sciences, or computer science); and pre-service teacher education or teacher mentoring experience.  Job #23639-8

This hybrid position will be based at the Cambridge campus.

Local, Boston-area travel (transportation provided) can be expected, with additional travel possible if the candidate is interested.

To apply: https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/external/jobDetails/jobDetail.html?jobPostId=29334&localeCode=en-us

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POSITION: RAICA Undergraduate Researcher

START DATE: January 8, 2024

END DATE: February 2, 2024

HOURS: 20-40 hr/wk

PAY RATE: $17/hr

RAICA (Responsible AI for Computational Action) is a curriculum design and development research project consisting of project-based learning modules that prepare students to be informed consumers and responsible producers of AI. Students progress through each project applying responsible design thinking, practicing computational thinking, deepening their understanding of AI literacy, and developing computational action by designing and/or implementing AI tools to engage problems or opportunities they care about. 

RAICA is a central project within the MIT RAISE group, with PI’s Dr. Cynthia Breazeal, Dr. Hal Abelson, and Dr. Eric Klopfer, executing on the university-wide initiative’s mission to advance equity in learning, education and computational action to rethink and innovate how to holistically and equitably prepare diverse K-12 students to be successful, responsible, and engaged in an increasingly AI-powered society.

During IAP 2024, up to 2 UROPs will work closely with RAICA’s researcher, Dr. Christina Bosch, to support, analyze and report on implementation data collected from educators and learners who are collaborating with the project. The goal for this four-week collaboration with RAICA is to develop empirically-based design principles that could guide iterations of AI curricula involving design thinking.

The UROPs will contribute to the conceptual organizing and digitizing of learning artifacts and hard-copy classroom observation notes, the qualitative (and possibly quantitative) analysis of such data, and will support literature reviews as well as written reports of findings for communication outside of the project team (e.g., via conference proposals and papers, blog posts, and other creative modes of communication). Creative uses of generative AI to support and extend these tasks is encouraged. 

Research questions addressed in this work include: How does a sample of learners engage in, acquire, and express responsible design thinking (RDT) (i.e., communication about chosen stakeholders, design values, design impact); computational thinking (CT) (i.e., abstraction, problem solving, pattern recognition, logical reasoning); AI literacy (i.e., identifying, manipulating, and evaluating AI technology and tools); and demonstrate computational action during the course of one RAICA module? How can generative AI support the cycle of empirical testing, revision, and theory generation that defines design-based research? 

The final deliverable will be a digitized, collated digitized data set; an internal report of findings, which can contribute to a presentation about the IAP-term project; and contributions to a written conference proposals and presentation. If accepted, the UROP will be invited to present and attend the conference (virtually). 

Valued skills & knowledge

We understand that UROP’s are an opportunity to learn and grow new skills, so while we don’t have a set list of required skills, a combination of some of the skills and knowledge listed below are preferred. 

  • Strong organizational skills
  • Excellent reading and writing skills
  • Understanding of computational thinking
  • Experience with software development and/or AI tools
  • Willingness to learn and try new things

Complete this Google form to apply.  Application DEADLINE: December 8, 2023