Information technologies, universities and the Internet society. ITUNS

In the Information technologies, universities and the Internet society (ITUNS) group research, we offer one PhD place.

"Follow-up research of on-line undergraduate and graduate students"

Thesis supervisors: Prof. Josep M. Duart and Prof. Teresa Sancho

Description of the line of research
Virtual universities as UOC require much more analysis by researchers, not only in terms of what students learn, but how employers regard the degrees from such universities, and the relative pay of students graduating with virtual university degrees. Surprisingly, little is known about the economic value of distance university degrees. The main benefit to individuals and to society is probably that people can work while “attending” university, thereby reducing the cost of attaining a degree. One of the expected features of virtual universities would be lower costs per students while simultaneously achieving equal or better academic results than traditional higher education.

The results of the research that we are doing, which will analyze UOC Undergraduate and Graduate students, should be able to analyze questions such as:

Do on-line courses contribute to higher incomes for those who enroll in them, whether they get degrees?

Are some on-line courses and degrees more economically valuable to students than others?

Are some disciplines more effective than others in bringing students to completion? Is this related to the economic value of those degree programs? Is it related to the type of students who tend to enroll in those courses?

How effective is an on-line university as a whole in helping students earn more and get better jobs in the labor market?

Academic profile
We are looking for a Ph.D. student with any previous degree, knowledge of the application of modern statistical techniques to a variety of problems and the ability to use a range of computational tools and packages (SPSS among them). Experience in problem solving in a variety of environments would be advisable. English reading and writing skills are also desirable.

Additional information
This research is associated with the project that analyzes the value of the UOC’s grades in the job market from the follow-up of the work trajectory of the graduates. This project is funded by the UOC and is being developed by the ITUNS research group with the collaboration of the prof. Teresa Sancho (June 2008 - June 2010). The research project related with this PhD position will be carried out through the co-supervision of Prof. Martin Carnoy, specialist in Economics of Education, School of Education of Stanford University