Research Assistant (Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, Office of Education Research) [NIE]

The National Institute of Education invites suitable applications for the position of Research Assistant on a 9-month (renewable) contract at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice , Office of Education Research .

Project Title: SingaKids Pic2Speak: Multilingual AI Tutor – Uplifting Singapore’s Bilingual Edge

Project Introduction:

This project aims to develop and pilot SingaKids Pic2Speak, an AI (Artificial Intelligence)-powered multilingual virtual tutor designed for Singaporean students in primary 2 to enhance their oral skills in Mother Tongue Languages. SingaKids Pic2Speak utilises AI to generate question-answer pairs from images, providing teachers with a selection tailored to students' needs. These pairs can prompt spoken responses by presenting both the image and the question. The system evaluates responses based on content accuracy, grammatical correctness, and oral delivery (e.g., pronunciation, fluency), offering corresponding feedback. Additionally, the student's engagement level is assessed through speech signals. By considering both engagement and capability, we can provide recommendations and intervention strategies to enhance learning outcomes and interest.

            Led by a team from A*STAR, this project collaborates with sub-teams from various local institutions and organisations. The Research Assistant/Associate we are seeking will be part of the NIE sub-team for this project.

In the current recruitment cycle, we aim to hire one research assistant/associate proficient in Tamil Language .

Requirements

• Possessing a good Master or Bachelor degree, specialised in language learning or linguistics
• Good communication, organisation, writing, proof-reading and analytic skills
• Native or near-native proficiency of English AND Tamil
• Proactive and able to work independently
• Be a good team player

Responsibilities

• Conduct literature scans to support research
• Process the language corpuses to be used for developing SingaKids
• Coordinate school-based pilot studies
• Organise and analyse the research data
• Write/prepare research reports, publications and presentation materials independently
• Other research and project management tasks as assigned by the Principal Investigator (PI) or the co-PIs

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.

Other Information

NIE staff can take chartered buses at their own expense from or near their homes to the NIE campus. This is subject to availability of seats.

Hiring Institution: NIE