Dr Anesa Hosein
Academic and research departments
Biography
I am a senior lecturer in the Department of Higher Education at the University of Surrey.
I am passionate about my job role which is in developing and mentoring academic staff/ colleagues (i.e. my “students”) in academic practice through using evidence-based research for the higher education sector. My larger life role is to develop policy and practice that can make a difference in people's lives, particularly, those from disadvantaged or marginalised backgrounds.
I like to consider myself as a "wannabe polymath" but this is just a better name for being "Jack of all trades; Master of none".
I always have several favourite theories that I like to work with and currently, these are Bandura's social cognitive theory and Ryan and Deci's self-determination theory.
I also have several issues or causes that affect my thinking and the way I position myself. Currently, these issues are on academic mothers (being one myself); disadvantaged young people, mental health and wellbeing, homelessness and refugees.
Other relevant information
I started my career in higher education as a demonstrator and tutor in mathematics and physics whilst being involved in postgraduate studies. Following my PhD, I became a quantitative analyst/ research assistant on the ESRC Project, The Net Generation: Encountering E-Learning at University where we researched students' use of technology in their first year.
After my stint as a research assistant and before joining the department here in Surrey, I was at the Faculty of Education at Liverpool Hope University whereas a lecturer I was involved in a range of teaching as well as supervising masters and EdD students in areas of mathematics and technology education.
I hold a BSc in Physics from the University of Guyana, an MPhil in Industrial Engineering from the University of the West Indies, an MSc in Research Methods from the Open University and a PhD in Educational Technology, also from the Open University. My PhD focused on undergraduate students' metacognitive activities in understanding mathematics when using different modes of software.
I have taught a range of subjects at higher education during my career including physics, operations research/ management science, mathematics/ statistics, research methods, education studies, mathematics education and academic practice.
Random background fact
I was born in Trinidad and Tobago spent my early teenage life in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and transitioned into adult life whilst living in Guyana. Spent a brief time in Trinidad and Tobago as an adult before, coming to the UK - where I have been ever since.
Affiliations and memberships
News
In the media
Research
Research interests
My research is centred on the hidden and unhidden areas of marginalisation in higher education and its effect on employment and educational outcomes. Marginalisation occurs in higher education due to the intersectionality between individuals (teachers or students) or concepts (such as the approaches to teaching) and their contexts.
There are four areas of research that I have an interest in (with many of them having cross-overs):
Life outcomes of young people
Predominantly, using life course theories and longitudinal secondary data analysis, I explore how early life conditions can affect the later outcomes of young people. I recently looked at this when thinking about the reasons why young people pursue a STEM degree and have associated this with video gaming. I found that there was an association between teenage girl gamers and the likelihood of pursuing a physical sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (PSTEM) degree (girls who were heavy gamers were 3 times more likely to pursue a PSTEM degree).
Migrant Workers (Academics and Students)
In this series of work, I, together with Dr Namrata Rao, have explored the issues faced by migrant academics particularly around teaching as they transition between countries. Using personal narratives/ autoethnography, we have edited a book of the life stories of international academics as well as a series of research projects and papers. In general, migrant academics face the issue of being marginalised based because of their pedagogical knowledge and background. There has also been contributions to this work from Prof Ian Kinchin, Dr Chloe Shu Hua Yeh and Dr Will Mace.
Technology Use of Students and Academics
I am interested in how students and academics use technology for their learning (or teaching). For example, in 2010, as a research assistant on an ESRC grant (led by Prof Chris Jones), I investigated through the use of longitudinal surveys, how both learning and living technologies were being used by the so-called "net generation" students and those who were not. We found that the competencies in the use of learning technologies were not particularly different between these two types of cohorts.
Further, in my PhD, using quasi-experimental designs, with video and text analysis, I also investigated how students learn mathematics using different types of software - in particular, their conceptual and procedural knowledge.
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
This covers a wide range of areas and issues in higher education, but I am interested in using particularly socio-psychological theories to explore pedagogy (learning and teaching).
I have, for example, investigated:
- how students' self-confidence affects their self-assessment as part of their self-regulation in mathematics;
- the use of reflective essays to help students' develop their researcher identity;
- the use of social networks to enable staff to have informal professional learning.
Research projects
With globalisation there has been an increase in cross-border travel of skilled workforces (including academics within Higher Education (HE). Nearly 28% of academics working in the UK HE sector come from other countries. The presence of immigrant academics may offer pedagogic opportunities and challenges not only for themselves but also for their students, colleagues, the HEIs and the HE sector in general. In spite of increased academic mobility, the challenges that may be faced by immigrant academics and adaptations that they may make in their new work environments have been relatively under-researched. Whilst there is a body of literature capturing the experiences of migrant/international students, the research on the experiences of international academics moving to work on a long-term/permanent basis has been limited. The immigrant academics in their new environment may encounter some differences in the pedagogic culture they have experienced in their own learning and teaching journeys in the countries they have been educated and the universities they teach in the UK. This may inhibit/influence their professional practice and development in their new pedagogic context. The study explores the factors which influence the pedagogic practice of immigrants in foreign contexts.
Related papers:
Hosein, A., & Rao, N. (2018). Migrant academics and their academic development training needs. Educational Developments, 19(1).
This SRHE-funded study addresses an important gap in the internationalisation of the higher education research - that of the pedagogic impact of international staff on the professional practice of the native academic in their host institutions who work alongside those migrant academics. Previous research on academic migration has largely focussed on the experiences of the migrant/ mobile academic and their acculturation. This research, on the contrary, focuses on the possible professional gains/non-gains of academic migration on the professional practice of the native academic in the host institutions.
The aim of this research was to investigate and assess the impact of the four guidance documents for higher education providers published by QAA in August 2013. The intention of the guidance (which was the product of extensive consultation with sector organisations) was to offer support to providers in making detailed and transparent information available to current and prospective students, particularly in relation to informing student choice.
The study examines how the online information differs, taking account of the following factors:
- discipline differences
- size of the institution
- students' perception of the programme quality (as denoted by Question 22 of the National Students' Survey (NSS).
The overarching research question, to be explored through the use of documentary surveys of 38 university websites and interviews with eight universities, was:
To what extent have various HEIs used the guidance documents to disseminate relevant information to prospective students?
The results revealed a variation in the extent of information present on class size, student workload and teaching qualifications, in relation to discipline differences, the size of the institution, and students' perception of the quality of the programmes.
Related papers
Rao, N., & Hosein, A. (2017). The limits of HEI websites as sources of learning and teaching information for prospective students: a survey of professional staff. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education. 21(1). pp. 4-10
Development of a prototype for building a Recommender System.
Recently, in the BBC, Sir James Dyson indicated that his company found it difficult to fill science and engineering posts with British graduates. The main reason for this is that students are not choosing to do a science, technology, engineering or
mathematics (STEM) degree. However, the choice of doing a STEM degree occurs earlier in a student’s life when they choose their GCSE and A-level subjects. The reasons for why a student chooses to do a STEM subject are unclear. One way of understanding these choices is to use data collected from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) which ran from 2004- 2010. The LSYPE recorded students’ subject choices and their reasons each year from the time they were 13-14 years old. Using students’ socioeconomic data such as gender, household income, school type; the study will model what factors influenced students’ choices. I will be working alongside Alice Sullivan from the Department of Quantitative Social Science at the Institute of Education who has expertise in analysing and modelling longitudinal data including LSPYE.
Related papers
Hosein, A. (2019). Girls' video gaming behaviour and undergraduate degree selection: A secondary data analysis approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 91, 226-235.
The aim of the research was to conduct a literature search and review academic sources such as course outlines, conference and course blogs, and conference presentations/publications that included information on the assessment of research methods at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The project sought to gather information on academic practice from around the world. Further, the project aimed to use a framework to evaluate the assessments in terms of their likely effectiveness and provide parameters for developing new approaches.
Indicators of esteem
Member of the ESRC Peer Review College
Supervision
Postgraduate research supervision
I am interested in supervising students from a range of higher education areas particularly on the themes I listed under my research. I have a particular interest in research that addresses marginalisation and diversity.
Current doctoral researchers
- Esad Bodur: Effects of practical elements in teacher education programmes on students' Pedagogical Content Knowledge
- Yasmeen Malik: lnterprofessional academic across the curriculum: Exploring the perceptions of academic staff towards collaborative working to improve research confidence across the curriculum.
- Sinead Cameron (Liverpool Hope University): The impact of setting in comparison to mixed ability grouping in primary mathematics upon pupils’ mathematical attainment and mathematical self-perception.
- Jacob Solomon (The Open University): An investigation into the efficacy of online delivery of pre-university programs as exemplified by the Pamoja Education model.
Past doctoral researchers
- Joan Rigg (Liverpool Hope University): How is Year 4 pupils’ performance on three types of word problem influenced by their mathematical self-constructs, self-explanation and metacognitive behaviours?
Past Masters Researchers
- Victoria Anderson: Special Education Needs Children Learning Mathematics with ICT in Primary Schools.
- Alan McCarthy: Is a Facebook Friend a Real Friend?
My teaching
My teaching philosophy is based largely on educational psychology principles. I draw heavily from the work of Marton & Säljö (1976) who described students approaches to learning as being either deep (building and trying to relate concepts) or surface (memorising and reproducing work). My teaching, therefore, tends to involve trying to encourage students to take a deep approach to learning by building their conceptual knowledge or relational understanding (Skemp, 1986). I do this by encouraging students' to use metacognitive strategies such as self-explanations (Chi, Bassok, Lewis, Reimann, & Glaser, 1989) together with evaluative reflections.
References
Chi, M. T. H., Bassok, M., Lewis, M. W., Reimann, P., & Glaser, R. (1989). Self-explanations: how students study and use examples in learning to solve problems. Cognitive Science, 13(2), 145-182.
Marton, F., & Säljö, R. (1976). On qualitative differences in learning I. Outcome and process. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46(1), 4-11.
Skemp, R. R. (1986). The Psychology of Learning Mathematics (2nd Edition ed.). London, UK: Penguin Books Ltd.
Courses I teach on
Undergraduate
Postgraduate taught
My publications
Publications
Journal Articles
Rao, N. and Hosein, A. (2019). Towards a more active, embedded and professional approach to the internationalisation of academia. International Journal for Academic Development. Accepted
Rao, N., Mace, W., Hosein, A. and Kinchin, I. (2019). Pedagogic Democracy versus Pedagogic Supremacy: Migrant Academics’ Perspectives. Teaching in Higher Education. 24(5), 599-612
Hosein, A. (2019). Girls' video gaming behaviour and undergraduate degree selection: A secondary data analysis approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 91, 226-235.
Kinchin, I., Heron, M., Hosein, A., Lygo-Baker, S., Medland, E., Morley, D., & Winstone, N. (2018). Researcher-led academic development. International Journal for Academic Development, 23(4), 339-354.
Hosein, A and Harle, J. (2018). The relationship between students’ prior mathematical attainment, knowledge and confidence on their self-assessment accuracy. Studies in Educational Evaluation. 56(1) pp. 32-41
Hosein, A. and Rao, N. (2017). Pre-Professional Ideologies and Career Trajectories of the Allied Professional Undergraduate Student. Research in Post-Compulsory Education. 22(2) pp. 252-270
Rao, N., & Hosein, A. (2017). The limits of HEI websites as sources of learning and teaching information for prospective students: a survey of professional staff. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603108.2016.1227386 (Winner of the John Smith Essay Prize)
Hosein, A., & Rao, N. (2016). Students' reflective essays as insights into student-centred pedagogies within the undergraduate research methods curriculum. Teaching in Higher Education, 1-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1221804
Timus, N., Cebotari, V., & Hosein, A. (2016). Innovating Teaching and Learning of European Studies: Mapping Existing Provisions and Pathways. Journal of Contemporary European Research, 12(2). http://www.jcer.net/index.php/jcer/article/view/729
Rienties, B. and Hosein, A. (2015) 'Unpacking (in)formal learning in an academic development programme: A mixed method social network perspective'. International Journal for Academic Development, 20(2), p.163-177
Kinchin, I.M., Hosein, A., Medland, E., Lygo-Baker, S., Warburton, S., Gash, D., Rees, R., Loughlin, C., Woods, R., Price, S. and Usherwood, S. (2015) Mapping the development of a new MA programme in higher education: Comparing private perceptions of a public endeavour. Journal of Further and Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2015.1070398
Hosein, A., Ramanau, R. and Jones, C. (2010), "Learning and living technologies: a longitudinal study of first year students' frequency and competence in the use of ICT", Learning, Media and Technology, 35(4), pp. 403-418
Jones, C., & Hosein, A. (2010), "Profiling university students' use of technology: where is the net generation divide?", The International Journal of Technology Knowledge and Society, 6(3), pp. 43-58.
Pun, K.F. and Hosein, A. (2007), “Identification of performance indicators for poultry agribusiness operations”, The Asian Journal on Quality, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp.11-22
Hosein, A. and Pun, K.F. (2004), "Sustaining performance improvement in the poultry industry in Trinidad and Tobago: a decision support paradigm", West Indian Journal of Engineering, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp.45-54
Reports
Kinchin, I., Hosein, A., Rao, N., & Mace, M. W. (2018). Migrant Academics and Professional Learning Gains: Perspectives of the Native Academic. SRHE. London.
Hosein, A., & Rao, N. (2015). An impact study of the guidance documents for higher education providers published by QAA in 2013. Gloucester: Quality Assurance Agency.
Hosein, A., & Rao, N. (2014). The role of assessment in teaching research methods: A literature review. York, UK: Higher Education Academy.
Books
Hosein, A., Rao, N., Shu-Hua Yeh, C., & Kinchin, I. M. (2018). Academics’ International Teaching Journeys: Personal Narratives of Transitions in Higher Education. Bloomsbury.
Medland, E., Watermeyer, R., Hosein, A., Kinchin, I.M. and Lygo-Baker, S. (Eds) (2018). Pedagogical Peculiarities – Conversation at the Edge of University Teaching and Learning. Brill (Sense) Publishers. Leiden, Netherlands.
Book Chapters
Hosein, A. and Rao, N. (2020). The acculturation and engagement of undergraduate students in scientific thinking through research methods. In M. Murtonen, M and Balloo, K.: Redefining Scientific Thinking for Higher Education (pp-157-175). Palgrave Macmillan.
Hosein, A. and Rao, N. (2019). International Student Voice (s)–Where and What are They?. In S. Lygo-Baker et al: Engaging Student Voices in Higher Education (pp. 71-87). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Rao, N., Yeh, C. S. H., Hosein, A., & Kinchin, I. (2018). Academics’ International Teaching Journeys: An Introduction. In A. Hosein et al: Academics’ International Teaching Journeys: Personal Narratives of Transitions in Higher Education, 1-12. Bloomsbury
Hosein, A. (2018). Examining Pedagogical Autonomy in International Higher Education Systems. In A. Hosein et al: Academics’ International Teaching Journeys: Personal Narratives of Transitions in Higher Education, 93-108. Bloomsbury
Hosein, A., & Harle, J. (2018). The Vulnerability of a Small Discipline and its Search for Appropriate Pedagogy: The Case of Medical Physics. In E. Medland et al: Pedagogical Peculiarities (pp. 69-85). Brill Sense.
Hosein, A. (2017). Pedagogic Frailty and the Research-Teaching Nexus. In I.M. Kinchin and N.E. Winstone (Eds): Pedagogic Frailty and Resilience in the University (pp. 135-149). Sense Publishers.
Rao, N. and Hosein, A. (2013). Comparative education. In Curtis, W., Ward, S., Sharp, J., & Hankin, L. (Eds.). Education Studies: An Issue Based Approach. Learning Matters.
Professional Journals
Hosein, A., & Rao, N. (2018). Migrant academics and their academic development training needs. Educational Developments, 19(1).
Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings
Rienties, B. and Hosein, A. (2014) "A need to look beyond the boundaries of professional development - a SNA perspective", EARLI
Rigg, J., Hosein, A. and Psycharis, S. (2014), "Researching children's 'self' constructs and their success at solving word problems: a pilot study", In Pope S. (Ed) Proceedings of the 8th British Congress of Mathematics Education, Nottingham, pp.287-294
Hosein, A. and Rao, N. (2012), “Students' conceptions of research and research methods”, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference in Education, July 5-7, Samos, Greece
Rao, N. and Hosein, A. (2012), “Opportunities and complexities of two synchronous distance research supervision modes”, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference in Education, July 5-7, Samos, Greece
Ramanau, R., Hosein, A. and Jones, C. (2011), “ Net generation distance learners and patterns of their digital technology use”, In M.B. Nunes and McPherson, M. (Eds) Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on E-Learning, Rome, Italy, July 20-23, pp. 21-27
Ferguson, R., Clough, G. and Hosein, A. (2010), “Shifting themes, shifting roles: the development of research blogs”, In: 'Into Something Rich and Strange' - Making Sense of the Sea-Change. The 17th Association for Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C 2010), 7-9 September 2010, Nottingham, UK, pp.111-117.
Hosein, A., Ramanau, R., and Jones, C.R. (2010), “Are all net generation students the same? The frequency of technology use at university”, Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on e-Learning, Frieburg, Germany, 26th-29th July, 2010, Vol. 1, pp.340-348.
Ramanau, R., Hosein, A. and Jones, C.R. (2010)., “Learning and living technologies: A longitudinal study of first-year students' expectations and experiences in the use of ICT”, In Dirckinck-Holmfeld L, Hodgson V, Jones C, McConnell D & Ryberg T. (Eds) Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning, Aalborg 3-4th May 2010.
Hosein, A., Aczel, J., Clow, D., & Richardson, J. T. E. (2008), “Comparison of black-box, glass-box and open-box software for aiding conceptual understanding”, In Figueras, O., Cortina, J., Alatorre, S., Rojano, T. and Sepúlveda, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 32nd annual conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME 32), Vol. 3, Morelia, Mexico, pp. 185-192
Hosein, A., Aczel, J., Clow, D., & Richardson, J. T. E. (2008), “Mathematical thinking of undergraduate students when using three types of software”, Proceedings of the International Congress on Mathematics Education, Monterrey, Mexico, http://tsg.icme11.org/document/get/531
Hosein, A., Aczel, J., Clow, D., & Richardson, J. T. E. (2007), “An illustration of student's engagement with mathematical software using remote observation”, In Woo, J.-H., Lew, H.-C., 2. Park, K.-S. & Seo, D.-Y. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 31st annual conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME 31), Vol. 3, Seoul, Korea, pp. 49-56
Ferguson, R., Clough, G. and Hosein, A. (2007), “Postgraduate blogs: beyond the ordinary research journal”, In Wheeler, S. and Whitton, N. (Eds.), Beyond Control: Learning Technology for the Social Network Generation, Research Proceedings of the 14th Association for Learning Technology Conference ALT-C Conference 2007, 4-6 September 2007, Nottingham University, England, UK, pp. 179-189.
Hosein, A., Aczel, J. and Clow, D. (2006), "The teaching of linear programming in different disciplines and in different countries", Proceedings of the International Conference on the Teaching of Mathematics - at the Undergraduate Level, 30th Jun - 5th Jul, Istanbul, Turkey
Pun, K.F. and Hosein A. (2003), "Improving performance of agribusiness operations and production in Trinidad and Tobago - a research agenda for the poultry industry", Proceedings of the APETT Annual Technical Conference, 19th-20th Mar, 2003, pp. 132-141
Pun, K.F. and Hosein, A., (2003), "Development of a journal information system for engineering research studies”, Proceedings of the 2003 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, no.2003-1588, June (CD version), 11 pages
Hosein, A. and DeFreitas J. (1999), "The feasibility of using bsi bsi (Cyperus articulatus) as a textile fibre", Proceedings of the Caribbean Academy of Science, Paramaribo, Suriname, 7th-9th October