The GRASP team (GestuRe Augmented Simulations for supporting exPlanations) is looking for students interested in assisting with research on embodiment and interactive science simulations. We are in the midst of a 4-year NSF grant looking at how middle school students use their hands/bodies to reason about critical science concepts. In this project we are conducting interviews with middle school students and working with our partners at the Concord Consortium (http://concord.org/) to create new gesture-enabled web simulations on topics such as heat transfer and why we experience seasons.
Depending on the student's interests and skills, duties on this project could include video transcription and data analysis, simulation testing and design, and conducting interviews with children at local schools. A background in science teaching or science education research is preferred but not required. Experience with design research and mixed methods in edcuational settings also preferred. Video coding and transcription experience would be highly valuable to us as well.
25% Assistantships are available and we anticipate this position starting around the beginning of the Spring 2016 semester, but starting earlier than this is an option. We intend for this work to go beyond a single semester, and summer work is a possibility.
Please contact Dr. Robb Lindgren (robblind@illinois.edu) and Ms. Polly Kroha (pkroha@illinois.edu) with any inquiries about the position. If you would like to be considered send us an email with a brief statement of interest and a resume/CV. Describe any related or relevant work you've done previously.
