Are you fascinated by the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence in Education? Are you eager to ensure that AI is actually used to support learning and avoid misuse?

Then apply for the PhD-position on Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence in Education at the Human-Technology Interaction Group (HTI)!

Job Description

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays an increasing role in education, allowing for automated instruction and feedback on large scales. However, human-AI collaboration in education is currently often suboptimal, resulting in underused and ineffective uses of AI systems. One important reason is that users have limited insights in the decisions made by the underlying algorithm and in its limitations. Recently, 'explainable AI' has been introduced as a solution to transparently explain the inner workings of AI algorithms. However, accurate explanations do not always lead to effective use of AI systems.

In this multidisciplinary PhD project, you will combine insights from AI, educational sciences, human-computer interaction, and learning analytics to improve the effectiveness of AI in education. Specifically, you will design effective explanations for automated writing evaluation of academic writing in higher education. The PhD project comprises three steps: (1) enhancing state-of-the-art AI algorithms for writing evaluation by tailoring them to indicators based on learning and writing theories; (2) co-designing explanations with students and teachers via a human-centered design approach; (3) evaluating the explanations in the lab as well as in the classroom using a broad range of objective and subjective measurements.

As this is an inherently multidisciplinary research project, the ideal candidate will combine technical expertise data science and (explainable) AI (e.g. visualization techniques and feature-importance measures) with an ability to engage relevant issues in educational sciences (in particular, bias, fairness, and assessment design).

• Recently completed (or be close to the completion of) a Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Data Science or related discipline with demonstrable interest and experience in (educational) psychology [OR] a Master's degree in Educational Psychology or related field, with demonstrable interest and experience in data science.
• Demonstrable experience in conducting empirical and/or experimental research, including knowledge of and demonstrable experience with applying (state-of-the-art) statistical techniques.
• Demonstrable experience with data wrangling (e.g., in R, Python).
• Motivated to develop teaching skills and coach students.
• Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level).

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months. You will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. €2,770 max. €3,539).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.