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Candidates are invited to apply to a full-time, 2-year postdoctoral researcher position in mathematics education in the Mathematical Sciences Department at Michigan Technological University (MTU) beginning September 1, 2022. The successful candidate will work with Dr. John Gruver on an NSF-funded project entitled, “Developing and Investigating Unscripted Dialogic Mathematics Videos (DRL 1907782).” There will also be opportunities to collaborate with Dr. Lobato and graduate students at San Diego State University, who are also working on this project. The project focuses on both developing dialogic instructional videos to explore an alternative to traditional models of instructional videos and researching students’ learning from those videos. Our instructional videos are dialogic in that they feature the authentic dialogue of two students as they grapple with complex mathematical problems (for examples, see mathtalk.org).
The postdoctoral researcher will investigate students’ learning from these videos by helping to carry out three studies. The first study will explore how vicarious learners (VLs), those watching the videos, orient towards the students featured in the videos. The second study will focus on how a pair of VLs learn from several video lessons over time. The third study will investigate how these videos might be used as the basis of instruction in a high school classroom. Additionally, in the third study we will investigate what students in the class learned from the video-based instruction and how they oriented towards the students in the videos. All three of these studies will make use of a video unit we are currently producing that focuses on developing quantitative meanings for fractional exponents over the course of 7 lessons.
The postdoctoral researcher will also have the opportunity to help develop a new video unit focused on trigonometric functions. Developing the unit will include conducting a conceptual analysis for the topic, creating a hypothetical learning trajectory, writing individual lessons, filming students engaging with those lessons, and making editorial decisions about what to include in the produced videos. The postdoctoral researcher will also have the opportunity to serve as the teacher in these videos, if desired.
Michigan Tech attracts world-class faculty who enrich the educational experience of smart, motivated, and adventurous students. Applicants who are committed to promoting a sense of belonging and contributing to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environment for all are strongly encouraged to apply (https://www.mtu.edu/diversity-inclusion/).