Research Assistant/Associate, 1 year contract

About The Job

The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) is seeking a Research Assistant / Research Associate (RA) to support the research evaluation of an Adaptive Learning System (ALS)-Enabled Community Academic Support Programme.

The project examines how community-based academic support and adaptive learning technology can support the learning and development of students, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.  Using a mixed-methods approach, the research examines students’ learning experiences and outcomes, including engagement, motivation, well-being, academic achievement, mastery of concepts and indicators of learning on the adaptive learning platform.

The RA will work closely with the Principal Investigator, and other members of the research team. We are looking for someone with strong qualitative research capabilities and experience in mixed-methods research, who is also highly organised, proactive and able to support the research, operational and administrative requirements of a large-scale, multi-partner research project.

What You Will Be Doing

• Support the planning and implementation of qualitative and quantitative research activities;
• Conduct and/or support interviews, focus groups, observations and other qualitative data collection activities;
• Prepare research instruments, interview protocols, surveys and other research materials;
• Manage, organise, clean and prepare qualitative and quantitative data for analysis;
• Conduct qualitative coding and thematic analysis
• Support quantitative data management and statistical analysis;
• Support the integration and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative findings;
• Conduct literature reviews and synthesise relevant research;
• Coordinate large-scale research activities and logistics, including participant recruitment, scheduling, data collection, tracking and documentation across multiple sites and stakeholder groups;
• Liaise and communicate effectively with community partners, research participants and other internal and external stakeholders;
• Maintain accurate project records, research documentation and data management processes;
• Support the preparation of research reports, presentations, manuscripts and other project deliverables;
• Provide research, project, operational and administrative support as required; and
• Undertake other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Job Requirements

• A Master’s degree in Education, Psychology or a related Social Science discipline;
• Prior research experience in education, psychology or a related field;
• Demonstrated experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methods;
• Strong experience in qualitative research, including conducting interviews and/or focus groups, qualitative coding and thematic analysis;
• Experience with quantitative data management and statistical analysis;
• Prior experience working with large-scale datasets, including data organisation, cleaning, management and analysis;
• Familiarity with qualitative analysis software such as NVivo and quantitative/statistical software such as SPSS, R or equivalent;
• Good understanding of mixed-methods research designs and approaches;
• Strong organisational and project coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, complex logistics and competing deadlines;
• Strong written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to communicate professionally and effectively with diverse stakeholders and project partners;
• A proactive approach to work, with strong initiative and resourcefulness, and the ability to anticipate needs, solve problems and follow through on tasks with minimal supervision; and
• A high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Experience conducting research with children and young people, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and/or community-based educational programmes would be an advantage.