Connectionists: Job opening: PhD "The Relationship between Engagement, Motivation, and Success in MOOCs"

[Menno van Zaanen]

The Tilburg center for Cognition and Communication (TiCC) has a
vacancy for a PhD candidate on the project "The Relationship between
Engagement, Motivation, and Success in MOOCs"

The Tilburg center for Cognition and Communication (TiCC), one of five
Centers of Excellence at Tilburg University, invites applications for
4 PhD positions, on the following projects:

1. Improving the Effectiveness of Web-based Health Interventions by
   Data-Driven Timely Feedback
2. Efects of Linguistic Cues on Impression Formation in Online Dating
3. Picture this! An interdisciplinary approach to examining how visual
   consumer-generated content shapes the persuasion process
4. The Relationship between Engagement, Motivation, and Success in
   MOOCs

These four projects were selected by an international assessment
committee.

Project 4: The Relationship between Engagement, Motivation, and
Success in MOOCs
---------------------------------------------------------------

This project will investigate the relationship between engagement,
motivation and success in the context of MOOCs (Massive Open Online
Courses).  We are interested in identifying measures that provide
insight in whether MOOC participants are motivated to finish the MOOC
and how this information is contained in participants' engagement with
the MOOC.  Engagement may be measured through user data, including
click rates, number of problems attempted, and completion rate.
Measuring motivation may require alternative means, such as heartbeat,
respiration rates, or changes in skin and body temperature, although
questionnaires may also provide insight.  The analysis of the wide
range of measurements will be done using data analysis, or data mining
techniques.
 
Requirements
------------

We seek enthusiastic candidates with a background in a relevant
discipline, including (in alphabetical order) Affective Science,
Cognitive Science, Communication & Information Sciences, Linguistics,
Psycholinguistics, Psychology, or a related area.

The successful candidates have a (Research) Master's degree in one of
the aforementioned areas, a strong interest in doing research,
excellent writing skills and a good command of English. In addition,
the candidates have proven experience with experimental research, and
are well-versed in modern statistical techniques. Given the
multidisciplinary nature of the research projects, the successful
candidate is willing and able to work across disciplinary boundaries.

Good skills in data mining, data handling and data analysis are
required. Experience with physiological measurements and/or developing
MOOCs are considered a plus.
 
Information
-----------

For more information on this specific project, please contact dr.
Menno van Zaanen (m.m.vanzaanen at tilburguniversity.edu). For general
information on the 4 positions, please contact prof.dr. Emiel Krahmer
(E.J.Krahmer at tilburguniversity.edu), scientific director of the
Tilburg center for Cognition and Communication (TiCC).

What we offer
-------------

Tilburg University is rated among the top Dutch employers, offering
excellent terms of employment. The collective labour agreement of
Tilburg University applies. The PhD project will be carried within the
Tilburg center for Cognition and Communication (TiCC), one of the five
centers of excellence at Tilburg University. TiCC combines two strong
research programs: Creative Computing (CC), including research in
Artificial Intelligence, Computational Linguistics, and Intelligent
Systems, and Language, Communication and Cognition (LCC), including
research in Cognitive Science, Communication and Discourse Studies.
The unique combination of these two research programs enables TiCC to
work on research projects in which computer-based techniques of
modelling and processing (big) data are combined with experimentally
elicited human data.

The PhD candidate will be ranked in the Dutch university job ranking
system (UFO) as a PhD-student (promovendus) with a starting salary of
€ 2.174.-- gross per month in the first year, up to € 2.779,-- in the
fourth year (amounts fulltime). The selected candidates will start
with a contract for one year, concluded by an evaluation. Upon a
positive outcome of the first-year evaluation, the candidate will be
offered an employment contract for the remaining three years. It is
also possible to work 80% instead of fulltime. The selected candidate
is expected to have written a PhD thesis by the end of the contract
(which may be based on articles).

Applications
------------

Applications should include:

- A cover letter,
- Curriculum Vitae,
- Copy of the university marks (grade list),
- Names of two references.

Applications should be sent before the application deadline of May 21,
2016. Starting dates are flexible.

You can apply online by following this link:
http://www.tilburguniversity.edu/about-tilburg-university/working-at/wp/

Via this link you can also find the 3 other PhD-vacancies.

Tilburg School of Humanities
----------------------------

Tilburg School of Humanities (TSH) conducts scientific research and
education in the fields of Communication and Information Sciences,
Philosophy, Religious studies and Language and Culture studies. The
School of Humanities features three departments, several research
institutes and a faculty office. Each year around 275 students
commence a Bachelor or (Pre) Master Program. The School has
approximately 1300 students and 250 employees.

Recruitment code
----------------

Tilburg University applies the recruitmentcode of the Dutch
Association for Personnel Management & Organization Development (NVP).

Disclaimer
----------

The text of this vacancy advertisement is copyright-protected property
of Tilburg University. Use, distribution and further disclosure of the
advertisement without express permission from Tilburg University is
not allowed, and this applies explicitly to use by recruitment and
selection agencies which do not act directly on the instructions of
Tilburg University. Responses resulting from recruitment by
non-contractors of Tilburg Universities will not be handled.

------------------------ Watch me wallabys feed mate.
- Menno van Zaanen     - Watch me wallabys feed.
- mvzaanen at uvt.nl      - They're a dangerous breed mate.
- ilk.uvt.nl/~mvzaanen - So watch me wallabys feed. 
------------------------                    -Rolf Harris