Assistant or Associate Professor of Learning Sciences

The UW-Madison Learning Sciences Program (https://edpsych.education.wisc.edu/academics/) offers undergraduate courses and graduate degrees (MS and PhD) for students studying learning sciences and learning analytics, including a leading online Master’s program in learning analytics. The Learning Sciences Program is housed in the Department of Educational Psychology, along with programs in Human Development, School Psychology, and Quantitative Methods. The Department of Educational Psychology has consistently been ranked as one of the top departments of educational psychology and the School of Education is ranked as one of the top public schools of education in the nation in U.S. News & World Report. Madison, Wisconsin is one of the most livable cities in the United States. The Learning Sciences program has strong ties with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. The department and university provide a stimulating and supportive environment for research, teaching, and programmatic funding with a strong value on collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

The position is a 9-month tenure-track faculty position beginning August 2022.

We are seeking applicants whose research, training, and teaching integrates learning analytics and the learning sciences as described in one (or both) of the following tracks:

1. Work strongly situated in learning analytics that applies learning analytic tools and methods in the context of theories and methods from the learning sciences

Candidates in this track will have a portfolio of work and scholarly interests that:

– Examines and expands our understanding of models of learning processes in the learning sciences;
– Develops, applies, tests, refines, and/or expands current tools, methods, theory or practice in learning analytics;
– Develops, applies, and/or studies learning analytic tools and methods based on current theories of learning; and
– Applies tools and methods from learning analytics to construct and test models of learning processes, learning theories, and/or learning environments

2. Work strongly situated in the learning sciences that uses state-of-the-art learning analytics tools and methods

Candidates in this track will have a portfolio of work and scholarly interests that:

– Examines and expands our understanding of models of learning processes in the learning sciences;
– Develops, applies, tests, refines, and/or expands current theories or methods in the learning sciences;
– Develops, applies, and/or studies learning environments based on current theories in the learning sciences; and
– Uses current methods from learning analytics to construct and test models of learning processes, learning theories, and learning environments

Strong candidates will focus on one or more of the following areas:

– Applications of learning science theories and methods to the development and testing of technology-based learning environments;
– Applications of learning analytics in the context of technology-based learning environments; and/or
– Applications of theories and methods from learning science and/or learning analytics to address issues of diversity and/or educational disparities

The strongest candidates will have a research focus on methodological issues at the intersection of learning analytics and the learning sciences and/or analyzing learning through the investigation of large-scale data.

The successful candidate will actively participate in the research, teaching, and training programs of the Department of Educational Psychology. Applicants should have an interest in and relevant background for teaching courses in the Learning Sciences Program at the graduate level and for developing undergraduate courses in one or more of the areas listed.

Questions regarding the department or position may be directed to Professor David Williamson Shaffer at dws@education.wisc.edu.