The Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia invites applications for Graduate Research Assistant.  This position supports a curriculum enhancement project that includes incorporating pedagogical tools and flexible learning strategies into a series of courses LFC I, II and III.

Background / Context

The Land, Food, and Community (LFC) Core Series courses in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems integrate community engaged scholarship approaches, community-based experiential learning (CBEL) and community-based action research (CBAR) with flexible learning strategies to enhance student learning, including the application of theoretical knowledge in hands-on activities. The project will incorporate flexible learning strategies into the core series (LFS 100, 150, 250, 350 and 450) to deepen and increase CBEL and CBAR initiatives, as well as develop flipped classroom approaches that both foster interactions among students and instructors and enhance skill development. The project team will integrate the experience of ongoing flexible learning initiatives in the faculty, incorporate community partner feedback, blend current flexible learning strategies from online to face-to-face versions of courses, and create online repositories of resources for the Core Series. This will be the first year (grant funded) of an expected three-year project (pending future successful grant applications).

The Position

We seek a part-time Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) for a total of350 hours (approximately 8-10 hours/week for 9 months, starting in August). The successful candidate for this grant-funded position will assist the LFC Flexible Learning Initiative research, design, create, and maintain the architecture for a web-based communication platform. Rate of pay will be $850 monthly, which includes 4% vacation pay.

Organizational Status

The successful candidate will report to the LFC Series Coordinator, Will Valley and the Assistant Dean of Learning Technologies, Dr. Cyprien Lomas.

Work Performed

• Research, design, create, update and maintain the architecture for a web-based communication platform for students, instructional team, and/or community stakeholders
• Research, identify, and create resources to support Core series courses
• Work in collaboration with Core Coordinator as well as Core series instructors, CBEL Officer and other stakeholders
• Work independently to search for and identify recent peer-reviewed journal articles, secondary and tertiary references, online videos and other material
• Carry out other duties as required in keeping with the qualifications and requirements of the positions in this classification.

Specific Skills

• Experience using UBC WordPress blog  or similar web-based platforms
• Experience in fields of digital media and communications design
• Experience using content management systems such as Connect
• Experience with basic multimedia tools such as video production and photo/graphics editing

To Apply

Please submit a resume of relevant skills and experience and a cover email explaining your interest in the position to Will Valley (wcvall@mail.ubc.ca) and Dr. Cyprien Lomas (cyprien.lomas@ubc.ca) with the subject heading ‘GRA LFC Core Series ’ by July 10, 2014.

Include the names, phone numbers and email addresses of 2-3 references who can speak to your experience in the above-described kinds of work.

UBC hires on the basis of merit and is strongly committed to equity and diversity within its community. We especially welcome applications from visible minority group members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, and others with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities.