Job Description

The National Institute of Education invites suitable applications for the position of Research Assistant on a 12-month contract at the , Science of Learning in Education Centre.

Project Title: Understanding the Development and Drivers of Adolescents\xe2\x80\x99 Educational Pathways: The Singapore Longitudinal Cohort Study (Phase 1 of Year 1)

Lead Project Introduction: This study seeks primarily to understand (a) the nature of educational pathways made by students through secondary education, (b) the drivers of the decisions made about educational pathways through secondary education (especially self-identity and agency, school and career aspirations, and social and relational contexts), (c) the stability and change patterns of educational pathways as well as factors that may be associated with change. We expect the drivers of educational pathways to be interrelated, and (d) through retrospective investigation, the factors at early childhood and primary school that contribute to educational pathways. Furthermore, this study will allow focus on educational pathways of specific subgroups to understand the differential impact of educational pathways for (e) students with special educational needs (SEN) and (f) for students from financially disadvantaged environments.

Project 5 Introduction:

This study follows up on the earlier Singapore Kindergarten Impact Project (SKIP) and SKIP Follow-Up (SKIP-Up) cohorts into their secondary school phase. In SKIP, the development of children from ~80 kindergartens and childcare centers were tracked from Kindergarten 1 to Primary 1; SKIP-Up followed up on a subset of these children as well as their classmates near the end of primary school. The current study invites the participation of participants from the SKIP and SKIP-Up studies, to continue examining aspects of child development from early childhood through adolescents, including the influence of home- and school-related factors, and early and concurrent predictors. Findings from this study will provide unique and valuable insights to the factors and conditions that are important in influencing child development and outcomes in cognitive, socio-emotional, physical and mental health and well-being, in the context of Singapore homes and schools. The advertised position is for Year 1 of this longitudinal project intended to span the secondary years (Secondary 1 to 4 or 5).

Requirements

Essential

• A Bachelor\xe2\x80\x99s degree or above preferably in Psychology or in a relevant discipline (e.g., Sociology)
• Familiarity with the Singapore education system (mainstream / special education)
• Expertise in Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint) and SPSS
• Able to perform statistical analysis confidently (e.g., factor analysis, regression)
• Possess strong interpersonal communication skills and good analytical skills
• Possess good verbal and written communication skills
• Familiar with survey data collection and management
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Able to work cooperatively in both small (

3 pax) and large teams (
10 Pax) * Proactive, willing to learn, reliable and able to manage concurrent tasks in a timely manner

Preferred

• Proficient in statistical analyses software (i.e. SPSS and or R/Mplus)
• Experience in working with databases.
• Experience with Qualtrics
• Experience in working with adolescents.
• Fluency in Mandarin/Malay/Tamil as the research assistant may need to explain instructions to participants and conduct data collection in one of these languages.
• Familiar with major theories in educational social psychology (e.g., motivation, self and identity, social and cultural capital)
• Possess relevant experience in educational or psychological research.

Responsibilities

• Liaise with participating schools/parents/teachers and members of the research team
• Prepare for, and implement data collection
• Maintain records and document research progress
• Assist with data preparation, entry, processing, and analysis
• Assist in the administration and management of project related matters
• Conduct literature reviews
• Assist in writing of reports and papers for publication
• Other tasks as assigned by the Principal Investigator / Co-PIs

Application

Applicants (external and internal) will apply via Workday. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Please include your name in your CV file name.

Closing Date

Closing date for advertisements will be set to 14 calendar days from date of posting.

Other Information

NIE staff can take chartered buses at their own expense from or near their homes to the NIE campus. This is subject to availability of seats.

Hiring Institution: NIE

Nanyang Technological University