Job description
Are you passionate about education and addressing societal challenges? We are offering an exciting postdoc position focused on balancing disciplinary and transdisciplinary competencies in engineering curricula. This is a unique opportunity to combine research with impact by shaping future curricula.
Information
Grand societal challenges require a shift in the rationale of engineering curricula from focusing on engineering challenges to addressing grand societal challenges. This shift involves moving from solely teaching disciplinary knowledge towards fostering transformative competencies, both disciplinary and transdisciplinary. However, there is a lack of knowledge on co-creating constructively aligned engineering curricula that balance and support the development of transformative competencies within the new rationale. TU/e received a NRO research grant for the future of higher education to study how to co-create content-wise open, yet time-bound engineering curricula that are constructively aligned, and balance and support the development of transformative competencies within the new rationale of addressing societal challenges.
This project will contribute to a change in rationale for engineering curricula from a focus on solving engineering challenges to addressing societal challenges. The project will deliver validated design principles and solutions for practice for co-creating content-wise open, yet time-bound constructively aligned engineering curricula within the new rationale. Since transformation of educational institutes is restricted by current systems and mentalities, we have chosen the time-bound scope to have realistic impact at the end of the project. Our research will deliver foundation for changing one or more engineering curricula within five years. To achieve this, two interlinked sub-projects are devised, conducted by one PhD candidate, and one Post doc.
As a PhD candidate and postdoctoral researcher, you will conduct educational design research, i.e. a development study aimed at designing evidence-based solutions for complex problems in educational practice. This approach allows for systemic analysis of the problem, iterative (re)design and evaluation of practice-oriented solutions, and the advancement of knowledge.
The first sub-project; a PhD track, focusses on the characteristics of transformative competencies to be achieved as learning outcomes, and pathways to identify that set, in co-creation with stakeholders. The second sub-project, a postdoc track, focusses on pedagogies or structures for guiding students in selecting competencies to be achieved as learning outcomes, through learning activities and assessment processes fitting these learning outcomes. Together, both researchers focus on aligning at curriculum level the learning outcomes, learning activities and assessment processes (i.e., Constructive Alignment) when the set of learning outcomes is non-predefined.
We aim to contribute a set of validated design principles and solutions for various target groups and thereby delivering the foundation for changing one or more engineering curricula within five years, spark discussion and initiate systemic changes in higher education more broadly.
You will present your research findings at international conferences and publish them in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Given the applied nature of this project, your insights will be implemented within the practical context of TU/e and shared through non-academic channels to reach a broader audience.
As a PhD candidate or Postdoctoral researcher, you will be embedded in TU/e innovation Space and the Sustainability Office at TU/e and actively contribute to the initiatives of both. A teaching component of 0,1 fte is included in the role. Your teaching competencies can be developed by using the rich experience on Challenge-Based Learning at TU/e and within TU/e innovation Space. You can contribute to CBL or sustainability courses, together with the applicants where possible, and as such learn from experienced coaches, teachers and educational designers.
Both positions are part of an NRO project on the Future of Higher Education. The total project lasts 4,5 years, with 4,5 years for the PhD project and 3,6 years (44 months) for the postdoc project. The postdoctoral researcher will also take on project management related tasks for the project.