Within the newly initiated graduate school on Engineering Education Research, Chalmers University of Technology is now looking for 3 PhD students within the areas described below. All positions will be placed within the Department of Applied IT, which hosts researchers from both Chalmers and University of Gothenburg.

Research into learning and communication is one specific strand of research at the department and the main areas of investigation are: Learning with IT, language and communication for academic and professional purposes, public learning and understanding of science, learning and sustainability, and higher education. This variation in research areas related to learning and communication is one of the department’s main strengths.

The three positions are part of an effort to provide strategic support to the development of teaching and learning activities at Chalmers through the newly initiated Chalmers Learning Centre. All three research projects are expected to be carried out in close cooperation with on-going activities at the university (including teacher education and related practices in secondary school), researching the practices when possible, and with the long-term development of university activities and competences as a major goal. Sustainability is a driver for all projects. Funding comes from Chalmers itself and from E.ON, and is channeled through Chalmers Learning Centre and Chalmers' UNESCO chair on education for sustainable development.

We are looking for one candidate (reference number 2010/163) within the area of mathematics education. Mathematical models influence how we think about the world, and consequently what conclusions we draw and what choices we make. But how do students, at secondary school level and university level, conceptualize the nature and role of mathematical models in science and engineering? And how can teachers help students to construct, analyze, and solve mathematical models representing complex real-world problems in science and engineering?

The second area (reference number 2010/164) is on educational methods that promote complex competences related to transformative learning. Transformative learning, including the ability to shift perspectives, is claimed to be best achieved when different perspectives are introduced in teaching and when also their underlying assumptions are challenged. This candidate will study whether case study courses and other pedagogical approaches can promote learning processes of transformative character and how such learning can be assessed. Link to this position.

A third candidate (reference number 2010/165) is sought on opportunities for improved learning in relation to knowledge clusters. In connection to Chalmers' eight areas of advance, such clusters may form around specific themes in collaboration with the public and private sectors, integrating education, research, and innovation. How can these clusters be utilized as platforms for improved education in terms of relevance of the education, both for the profession and for the desired societal change? And how can they be utilized for informing the university on future competence needs of both students and of engineers and other professionals? What other types of opportunities for improved learning emerge? Link to this position.

The basic qualification for admission to the doctoral programme in Engineering Education Research is a master’s degree in an area appropriate for the research task (degree on advanced level of at least 240 higher education credits). Equivalent knowledge acquired by other means will also count as qualification. Experience from earlier work within the described areas is an advantage.

Applicants from abroad who do not have English or a Scandinavian language as their mother tongue will be required to take an English language test, e.g. TOEFL 550 (paper-based)/TOEFL 213 (computer-based) before admission.

Urban Nulden, Head of the Department of Applied IT
Email: urban.nulden@ituniv.se
Phone: +46 31 786 27 63

Magdalena Svanström, director, Chalmers Learning Centre
Email: magdalena.svanstrom@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31 772 3001
 

• SACO: Jan Lindér
• ST: Marie Wenander
• SEKO: Johan Persson

All reachable via Chalmers exchange: +46 31 772 10 00