Job Description

Research Assistant


Early Years and Primary Education
[HEIF Mobile Apps Project]



The Institute of Education

The Institute of Education (IOE), a college of the University of London, is a world-
leading school for education and social science. Our location at the heart of the UKs
capital city reflects our position at the centre of education. We have trained more
than 10,000 teachers over the past decade, and currently offer professional
development and higher degrees to over 6,000 students from more than 100
countries.

Overall, our research attracts funding of over 25 million per year. In the last
Research Assessment Exercise, we topped the league tables for education
research, coming in the top ten of leading research universities across all subjects.
The findings of our research have influenced government activity and policy for
education, young people, health and gender equality.

Academic expertise at the IOE is provided by more than 80 world-class professors
and readers and 350 teaching and research staff, supported by professional staff
based in faculties, the registry, information services, marketing and development,
finance, estates and facilities, human resources, and research and consultancy
services. We work closely with our neighbouring University of London colleges in
Bloomsbury and with numerous other organisations including over 600 London
schools and colleges as well as national charities and museums, and universities
worldwide.

The Institute is committed to being an equal opportunities employer and education
provider, providing equality of opportunity for all staff. In seeking to create an open
and supportive environment which is free from discrimination, and which encourages
all staff and students to participate fully in Institute activities the Institute aims to
reach beyond legislative boundaries to provide equality of opportunity regardless of
gender, ethnicity, colour, disability, religion, family responsibility, age, occupation,
marital status or sexual orientation.


Human Resources




Early Years and Primary Education

Although located in the Department of Early Years and Primary Education, this is a
collaborative project between the Centre for Research in Autism Education, the
London Knowledge Lab and the Department of Early Years and Primary Education.

The Project

Developing Technology Industry links for medical- and education-related apps
via an IOE-SME collaboration on mobile tech for emotional regulation

Difficulties in social and communicative reciprocity and in adaptive, flexible regulation
of behaviours are the hallmark of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (American
Psychiatric Association 2000). . The HANDS project (Mintz et al. 2012; Mintz 2013)
developed a mobile cognitive support tool based on persuasive design principles,
which demonstrated the potential for this technology in helping young people deal
with difficulties in organizational skills and self regulation. The use of short
persuasive intervention sequences, individually tailored and mediated by an adult in
a caring role, working collaboratively with the young person, can be delivered at the
right time and place via the mobile application. HANDS also demonstrated the
potential for this type of software to develop capacity in emotional control, and this
proposed project will further operationalize and ethically commercialize the work
begun in HANDS in this area.
The project will do this specifically by designing, developing, implementing and
testing a mobile app for emotional regulation in ASD, including anxiety, sensory
stimulation and anger management.

The key target group for the mobile app will be young people with ASD aged 7-12,
who are verbal with an IQ > 60.
The app has been developed through and iterative process of user consultation and
design stages in 2013-2014 and will now be field tested in a small number of special
schools and evaluated in the 14/15 academic year.

The successful candidate will work on the field implementation of the app, the
administration of quantitative and some qualitative pre and post test measures and
assist with data analysis. The successful candidate will work closely with Dr Liz
Pellicano (Centre for Research in Autism Education, IOE), Dr Sara Price (London
Knowledge Lab), and Dr Joseph Mintz (PI).


The Role and its Responsibilities

1) Liaise with schools, teachers and teaching assistants in order to recruit research
participants.

2) Assist with the development of protocols for gatekeeper access at schools and
for data collection at schools.

3) Organise and carry out quantitative and qualitative assessment in childrens
schools and in some cases in home settings.

4) Contribute to the development of a dissemination video and to the development
of in app help materials.

5) Collect cognitive assessment data for the measurement of emotional regulation in
children with autism

6) Prepare materials for assessments.

7) Liaise with the project key academic team, including providing data and
presenting results.

8) Ensure that all project data are stored and used in accordance with IOE Data
Protection regulations and the requirements of the ethics committees approving
the project.

9) Become familiar with key literature supporting the project aims and research
questions. Contribute to the writing up of findings for publication.


You will be responsible to the Head of Department Early Years and Primary
Education and ultimately to the Director of the Institute.

For your day-to-day work, you will be responsible to Dr Joseph Mintz.

You are welcome to contact Dr Joseph Mintz at j.mintz@ioe.ac.uk if you would like
further details about the role.



Selection Criteria

Essential

1) A good degree in psychology (2.1 or higher), education or related discipline.

2) Knowledge and experience of working with school age children and
capacity/confidence to work with children with autism in a school setting.

3) An ability to communicate effectively with children, parents and school staff and
other professionals.

4) Excellent organisational skills, an ability to meet deadlines, co-ordinate the work
of a team, manage concurrent tasks and prioritise.

5) Some basic experience of quantitative methods, including the analysis of Likert
scale descriptive statistics.

6) Flexibility in testing children at different times and travelling across London.

7) An ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively as part of a team.

8) Computer literacy and familiarity with Microsoft Office applications.

9) A commitment to IOEs policy of equal opportunity and the ability to work
harmoniously with colleagues and students of all cultures and backgrounds.

10) An ability to use statistical packages, including SPSS.

Desirable

11) Further experience in quantitative methods in psychology e.g. the analysis of
randomized control trial data and/or the use of standardized tools for baseline
measurement in ASD would be desirable but is not essential.

12) Experience in the acquisition and manipulation of data.

13) Experience in presenting to professional audiences.



The Appointment

In view of the nature of the work involved, any offer of appointment will be conditional
on a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
The appointment will be 15 days and is immediately available until 31
st
July 2015.

Salary will be on the Grade 6 scale, in the range 25,513 to 30,434 pro-rata plus
2,323 London Allowance pro-rata per annum.

Your Application and the Application Procedure

Please send your CV along with a statement supporting your application. The
statement should not be longer than one page. The supporting statement section
should set out how your qualifications, experience and training fit each of the
selection criteria. Applications should be sent to j.mintz@ioe.ac.uk by Monday 29
th

September 2014.


September 2014


Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders


As an organisation using the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosure
service to assess applicants suitability for positions of trust, the Institute of
Education complies fully with the DBS Code of Practice and undertakes to treat all
applicants for positions fairly. It undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against any
subject of a Disclosure on the basis of a conviction or other information revealed.

The Institute of Education is committed to the fair treatment of its staff, potential staff
or users of its services, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation,
responsibilities for dependants, age, physical/mental disability or offending
background.

We have a written policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders, which is made available
to all Disclosure applicants at the outset of the recruitment process.

We actively promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talents, skills
and potential and welcome applications from a wide range of candidates, including
those with criminal records. We select all candidates for interview based on their
skills, qualifications and experience.

A Disclosure is only requested after a thorough risk assessment has indicated that
one is both proportionate and relevant to the position concerned. For those positions
where a Disclosure is required, job advertisements and recruitment packs will
contain a statement that a Disclosure will be requested in the event of the individual
being offered the position.

Where a Disclosure is to form part of the recruitment process, we encourage all
applicants called for interview to provide details of their criminal record at an early
stage in the application process. We request that this information is sent under
separate, confidential cover, to a designated person within the Institute of Education
and we guarantee that this information will only be seen by those who need to see it
as part of the recruitment process.

We ensure that all those in the Institute of Education who are involved in the
recruitment process have been suitably trained to identify and assess the relevance
and circumstances of offences. We also ensure that they have received appropriate
guidance and training in the relevant legislation relating to the employment of ex-
offenders, eg the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

At interview, or in a separate discussion, we ensure that an open and measured
discussion takes place on the subject of any offences or other matter that might be
relevant to the position. Failure to reveal information that is directly relevant to the
position sought could lead to withdrawal of an offer of employment.
Human Resources



We make every subject of a DBS Disclosure aware of the existence of the DBS
Code of Practice and make a copy available on request.

We undertake to discuss any matter revealed in a Disclosure with the person
seeking the position before withdrawing a conditional offer of employment.

Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working with us.
This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances and background
of your offences.

We have a policy on the secure storage, use, retention and disposal of Disclosures
and Disclosure information and a copy of this policy is available on request.


1 December 05