Learning Engineering Intern

About the Role

The SEI at Carnegie Mellon University advances software engineering principles and practices, serving as a national resource in software engineering, computer security, and process improvement. The SEI collaborates with defense and government organizations, industry, and academia to improve software-intensive systems, helping organizations enhance software engineering capabilities and acquire software defect-free, within budget, and on time.

This internship is within the Cyber Mission Readiness Directorate at CERT, focusing on developing training, exercises, and assessments to improve cyber mission readiness.

Internship Duration: Fall 2026, with the option to continue through Spring 2027.

Location: Pittsburgh, PA (fully onsite, part-time).

Key Responsibilities

• Assist in applying learning science to the design, delivery, and evaluation of hands-on cybersecurity courses.
• Connect mission tasks to learning objectives, practice activities, and performance-based assessments.
• Use learner data to measure whether training produces observable skills.
• Evaluate and help improve AI-assisted curriculum development workflows, ensuring content accuracy, alignment to objectives, and subject matter expert review.
• Contribute to learning experience and assessment design.
• Contribute to learning analytics and xAPI/cmi5 instrumentation.
• Contribute to AI-assisted curriculum development and quality review.
• Contribute to training effectiveness evaluation.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Enrolled in a degree-granting program.
• Willingness to travel to various locations to support the SEI’s overall mission, including within the SEI and CMU community.
• Subject to a background check.
• Must be eligible to work in the United States without Visa sponsorship.
• Familiarity with a scripting language or data analysis tool, such as Python, R, or SQL.
• Familiarity with learning science principles, such as active learning, deliberate practice, and feedback.
• Experience with learning management systems, xAPI, cmi5, or learning analytics.
• Experience using generative AI tools to create or evaluate educational content.
• Cybersecurity coursework or hands-on experience (e.g., capture-the-flag competitions).
• Coursework or experience in instructional design, learning sciences, or human-computer interaction.

Qualifications

• Ability to critically think and problem-solve.
• Ability to write measurable learning objectives and align them with instruction and assessments.
• Ability to collaborate internally and externally with professional engineers, instructional designers, and subject matter experts.
• Willingness to learn new technologies with cross-functional teams.
• Must be organized, detail-oriented, and have the capacity to clearly document and communicate any findings.

Job Function Breakdown

• Design and align learning objectives, practice activities, and performance-based assessments: 30%
• Instrument learning experiences and analyze learner data (xAPI/cmi5) to evaluate training effectiveness: 25%
• Evaluate and refine AI-assisted curriculum workflows and the content they produce: 25%
• Document findings and present recommendations to instructors, developers, and stakeholders: 20%