University of Eindhoven. Deadline: until positions are filled.
Short Description
Are you passionate about motivating young engineering students to learn ethics via hands-on projects? We look for two teachers on cases of “brain on chip” and “attention economy and AI”. Are you an interested philosopher with an interest in the cases, or engineer with interest in ethics, or high school ethics teacher? Please apply!
Job Description
TU/e innovates its education with Challenge-Based Learning, a pedagogical method in which students provide a solution to the socio-technical challenges of an external stakeholder (see the short video1 and video2 as examples).
We are looking for two motivated full-time teachers. One teacher will focus on “brain-on-chip”, another one on “attention economy and AI”.
Some practicalities:
– Contract will be 4 months. Starting date can be 1st or 15th of April 2023.
– In the week of 17-21 April, we have an introduction day (date tbd based on calendars).
– Contact moments with students take place from April 24 to June 23. During this period, you are expected to be on campus in Eindhoven on Monday and Tuesday mornings (8:45 to 12:30) and Thursday and Friday afternoons (13:30 to 17:15), except for the national holidays (April 27 and 28; May 5, 18, 19, and 29). You are also expected to have a few coordination meetings, but these will be aligned with your calendar.
– You will be responsible for 2 groups of 60 students. You will work together with an ethics teaching-assistant and a data-analytics teaching assistant.
– The two groups work on an open, complex project. But one group gets a strongly structured approach. The other group will get a very open, but well-teacher-scaffolded approach. You will be expected to provide both.
– We are aware that this is quite a challenge, but we will support you in this. “We” is a principal teacher (Gunter Bombaerts) and three educational researchers.
– This course is part of educational research. You will be involved in the research: you will be interviewed, asked for improvements, etc. Co-authorship in a publication is a possibility, but not a requirement.
Job Requirements
We are looking for a good teacher for this job, and are in the first place interested in your competencies and enthusiasm.
- So you could be (not exhaustive): a philosopher or ethicist with an interest in one of the cases; or an engineer with strong interest in ethics; or a high school ethics teacher excited to teach such a course. A Phd is a plus, but not mandatory if you can show the necessary competencies.
- Being excited about teaching and coaching open educational projects. You believe in learning by doing: students can learn by themselves and you can coach them to get more out of the course.
- You have a feeling for group dynamics of large (60 students) and small (5 students) groups.
- You can and are willing to teach both approaches. You understand and agree with the research objective to compare the structured and the open-scaffolding approach.
- You have excellent (written and verbal) proficiency in English, as the teaching is in English. You have good communication and leadership skills, as you have to manage a small team of teaching assistants.
- You can quickly become acquainted with the learning management system (CANVAS).
- You can cope with an experimental set-up. Most aspects of this experimental course will happen as expected. However, some will not and solutions might have to be found in collaboration “on the spot”.
- You are a team player who loves working in a dynamic, interdisciplinary team.
Conditions of Employment
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 4 months.
- Salary in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
- High-quality training programs on general skills, didactics and topics related to research and valorization.
- An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children’s day care and sports facilities.
Information and application
About us
The Philosophy & Ethics group connects philosophy and ethics to technology and innovation. We believe the design, use, and regulation of technologies is enriched by ethical and philosophical analysis. In turn, philosophy must be informed by science, innovation, and technological developments. Interdisciplinary cooperation is vital for our research, which often involves direct engagement with the natural, engineering and social sciences.
Eindhoven University of Technology is an internationally top-ranking university in the Netherlands that combines scientific curiosity with a hands-on attitude. Our spirit of collaboration translates into an open culture and a top-five position in collaborating with advanced industries. Fundamental knowledge enables us to design solutions for the highly complex problems of today and tomorrow.
Information
Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more?
This is a pre-announcement of the formal vacancy, which still has to be formally approved. However, due to time constraints, you can already send your CV and motivation letter to g.bombaerts[a_t]tue.nl. If the project gets approved, Gunter Bombaerts will get back to you.
We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled.
