Our Creative Communities research group is seeking community research coordinator to support in our community-based research and design projects in the areas of informal learning, creative learning experiences with computing, and equity-oriented community design. This is a great position for someone who has been working in informal settings or community-based organizations and is curious about the role R&D can play in these settings. While the position has the word “research” in it, we find that community-based experience and strong organizational and collaborative skills to be most important. We hope to find someone who can start early 2023.
The community research coordinator will work directly with Prof. Ricarose Roque and join an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team of researchers and educators across CU Boulder, the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium, and the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at MIT. This initiative is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Making and tinkering spaces have emerged and spread widely across informal learning organizations such as museums, libraries, and community centers. These spaces have a mix of craft, traditional, and emerging computational tools and activities that engage people in project-based, interest-driven, and peer-supported learning experiences. Facilitators play important roles in enabling STEM-learning in making and tinkering spaces, as well as ensuring spaces are welcoming diverse learners from underrepresented groups. The project team has been designing and developing “computational tinkering” activities and facilitation resources that help facilitators meaningfully and equitably integrate computational thinking in their practice and their spaces. In addition, we aim to investigate the impact of these resources through a research plan that will examine facilitators’ development as they jointly engage with youth and families in these activities. More details about the project are here.
Position responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Collaborating with informal learning educators across libraries, museums, and community centers. Additional partners include the ideaLAB network for makerspaces at the Denver Public Library and the Clubhouse Network, an international community of creative technology spaces with more than 100 Clubhouses located in 20 countries
Assisting with qualitative data collection such as writing field notes, photo and video recordings, documenting project artifacts, and organizing data files
Coordinating project meetings and events for educators and educational partners
Collaborating on the development of case studies and learning resources
Participating in the research and development of “computational tinkering” activities with project team and network of educators
Ideal candidates will have an undergraduate degree in education, design, information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, or a related field. Candidates must have at least two years of experience working in a community-based organization such as a library, museum, makerspaces, school, community center, or other related spaces.
Other requirements include:
Experience organizing and facilitating activities for participants from diverse backgrounds
Skilled at collaborating as part of a team and also working independently
Excellent organizational skills
Excellent writing and communications skills
Preferred skills and experiences include:
Fluency in speaking other languages beyond English such as Spanish
Experience facilitating online and in-person events for educators and learners
Understanding of ideas and strategies for supporting creative learning experiences with computing
Personally enjoy playfully experimenting and creating with code, craft, and other material
To apply, please go to this link for more details.