Research Assistant (English Language and Literature Department) [NIE]

The National Institute of Education invites suitable applications for the position of Research Assistant on a 12-month contract at the English Language and Literature (ELL) Department .

Project Title: Enhancing Teacher–AI Collaboration with ALMA (AI Learning Multimodal Assistant)

Project Introduction:
ALMA (AI Learning Multimodal Assistant) is a video-based assistant with an interactive avatar that listens and speaks with students as they practice their presentations. It is grounded in Learning-as-Design and social semiotic perspectives on assessment. It analyses students' speech, gesture, gaze, facial expression, visuals and text to give real-time formative feedback, and it engages them in dialogue to assess their understanding.

ALMA responds to generative AI undermining written assessment, which has increased the need for authentic, process-sensitive alternatives. Oral assessment provides richer evidence of learning but is hard to scale. ALMA makes it more feasible by giving consistent, personalised and diagnostic feedback on features often overlooked, such as pacing, fluency, body language and how well slides match speech. Teachers keep the final judgement and pedagogical decisions.

Requirements:

- Bachelor’s Degree in Computing and Data Sciences

- Skilled in development of chatbots

- Interest in Generative AI and Learning

- Familiarity with large language models (LLMs), prompt engineering and API integration.

- Proficiency in Python; experience with frameworks such as LangChain/LangGraph and FastAPI.

- Familiarity with Office Tools (PowerPoint, Excel)

- Experience in academic research, such as conducting literature reviews, collecting and analysing data, and contributing to research papers or reports

Responsibilities:

- Develop ALMA (AI Learning Multimodal Assistant), a speaking and listening AI assistant

- Test, evaluate and refine the system with students and teachers based on user feedback and study needs.

- Liaise with students, teachers and team members to coordinate study activities and gather feedback

- Prepare technical documentation and support deployment of ALMA in classroom and research settings

- Analyze the research data from the study.

- Contribute to the dissemination of research findings: conduct literature reviews, prepare academic publications (e.g., conference presentation, paper, book) and research reports

- Perform other tasks as required by the Principal Investigators

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

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

Hiring Institution: NIE