Excited researchers and projects

Excited researchers and projects


Aamna Rais Ahmed

Photo of Aamna Rais Ahmed. Photo
Photo: Aamna Rais Ahmed/NORD University

Profile

 

Aamna Rais Ahmed

Role in Excited: PhD Candidate

Aamna Rais Ahmed joined Excited in 2023 as a Doctoral Research Fellow. Her expertise is in blended and digital pedagogies. She has seven years of working experience with the British Council to transform public libraries into third spaces and with UNICEF Pakistan on implementing the Learning Passport in South Asia, particularly in Pakistan, India, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The highlights of her profession are the projects where she implemented an accelerated curriculum in South Asia to bridge the learning gaps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in K-12 education.

Her PhD project focuses on exploring Blended Learning in project-based courses in higher computing education. Through an exploratory sequential mixed-method research design, the project aims to conceptualize blended learning in project-based courses, and analyze experiences of various stakeholders, including students, teachers, and industry representatives who are engaged in project-based courses in blended learning environment. Through the administration of a large quantitative survey, she will also analyze the complex relationships among various factors influencing stakeholders' experiences and how these experiences are formed and nurtured in a blended learning environment. The results of her PhD project could support teachers in designing technology-mediated learning activities and evaluating learning experiences.

Aparna Chirumamilla

Photo of Aparna Chirumamilla. Photo
Photo: Aparna Chirumamilla/NTNU

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Publications

 

Aparna Chirumamilla

Role in Excited: Postdoc

Area of Research:

  • Computing Education Research (CER)
  • Higher Education
  • Learning outcomes and structure
  • Non-technical skills development and assessment
  • Active Learning
  • Pedagogical Approaches

Aparna Chirumamilla's research focuses on developing comprehensive learning outcomes and a structured curriculum for software engineering education, integrating the assessment of essential non-technical skills such as communication, teamwork, and critical thinking. Her work involves analyzing existing curricular frameworks and assessment methodologies through systematic literature reviews and empirical studies, aiming to align educational objectives with industry needs. The goal of her research is to create a curriculum structure that combines technical and soft skills with the support of AI tools, enhancing the readiness of graduates for the workforce.

 

Izabella Jedel

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Photo: Izabella Jedel/NORD University

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Publications

 

Izabella Jedel

Role in Excited: PhD Candidate

Area of Research:

  • Gamification
  • Higher Education
  • Design Research
  • Need Supportive Learning Environments

Izabella Jedel's research focuses on gamification, the application of game elements in non-game contexts. More specifically, her work explores how to design gamification in higher education to support students' basic psychological needs for autonomy—enhancing their sense of volition—and competence—fostering experiences of effectiveness—while promoting intrinsic motivation.

 

Attiqa Rehman

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Photo: Attiqa Rehman/NTNU

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Publications

 

Attiqa Rehman

Role in Excited: Postdoc

Attiqa Rehman's research focuses on integrating sustainability competencies into Software Engineering (SE) curricula by redesigning Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) to align with sustainable development principles. Recognizing the critical role of technology in shaping modern society, her work emphasizes the need for future software engineers to develop not only technical expertise but also an understanding of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Her research explores how sustainability competencies—such as ethical responsibility, resource efficiency, and long-term impact assessment—can be systematically embedded within SE education.

By leveraging Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) and pedagogical strategies, she aims to develop a curriculum framework that fosters sustainability awareness and decision-making skills among students. Additionally, her work examines the role of scheduling, load balancing, and fault tolerance in heterogeneous multiprocessor environments to optimize resource usage in sustainable computing. Through this interdisciplinary approach, her research seeks to bridge the gap between SE education and global sustainability goals, preparing graduates for responsible and future-ready engineering practices.

 

Somayeh Bayat Esfandani

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Photo: Somayeh Bayat Esfandani/NTNU

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Publications

 

Somayeh Bayat Esfandani

Role in Excited: PhD candidate

Area of Research:

  • Technology-enhanced learning
  • Computing education
  • Human-Computer Interaction

Somayeh is a PhD candidate who began her PhD in August 2023. She has a background in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and several years of industry experience. Her research focuses on developing peer assessment tools to enhance learning in computing education within higher education. She is particularly interested in designing AI-powered tools to improve various phases of peer assessment. Currently, she is investigating the impact of AI-driven automatic summarization of multi-peer feedback on feedback implementation in programming courses. The findings of her research can inform further studies in this area and contribute to the development of more effective peer assessment tools.

Bashira Jaradat

Photo of Bashira Jaradat. Photo
Photo: Bashira Jaradat/NTNU

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Publications

 

Bashira Jaradat

Role in Excited: PhD Candidate

Area of Research:

  • Sustainability in computing education

Bashira Jaradat's research focuses on integrating sustainability cases into higher computing education, with a particular emphasis on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) education. Her work explores the implementation of sustainability cases and sustainability analysis within HCI courses, examining relevant pedagogical approaches and the challenges associated with integrating sustainability into the curriculum. Additionally, her research investigates the effects of this integration on both the design process and the learning experience, aiming to equip students with the necessary skills for sustainability consideration in HCI design.

 

Working as a PhD candidate in SFU Excited

Working as a PhD candidate in SFU Excited

We believe that working in a research Centre like SFU Excited brings a lot of benefits. Not only are there ample opportunities to grow, learn and share with fellow experts within your field, but it is a great opportunity to network and increase your opportunities later in your career.

We got a hold of 5 Excited’s PhD candidates and asked for their perspectives on what it means to be a PhD student in the Centre.

The added value of working in a Centre

We know that students with a robust social network tend to thrive more in their academic pursuits than students that are lacking in this regard.

“Community”, one of the PhD students exclaim when being asked what the added values of being part of Excited is. “Work as a researcher can be lonely if you’re not part of a Centre like this. I think it’s great that we have a place to discuss, exchange ideas and support each other” she adds.

The student in question is Justyna Szynkiewicz, one of seven PhD candidates in SFU Excited. Along with her are four of her fellow students, Vojislav Vujošević, Madeleine Lorås, Abdullah Bahmani, Gunhild Marie Lundberg and Hege Annette Olstad.

The Centre is divided in five projects, as are the PhD candidates. Justyna works in project 3, “Learning through construction”. She is researching project-based learning and how students are affected by it.

Through and through there is a genuinely positive attitude towards working in the Centre. The students especially highlight the social and comradery benefits. “We’re not just PhD students. We are like colleagues, working in an organization and supporting each other. We have monthly seminars where we share, learn, ask questions and plan activities. There is a lot of value in that.” says Abdullah Bahmani, who works in project four, “Sharing and diversity”.

“I travel and attend a lot of conferences for work. Going to conferences alone could feel intimidating and kind of scary. I found that being part of a Centre helped me, both in confidence through support and companionship, but also in getting a stronger sense of representing something. I know that even if I do horrible at a talk or presentation somewhere, my team will be there to clap or laugh at my jokes. That is the kind of support that I don’t think all PhDs get”, Madeleine Lorås points out with a smile and a nod to her fellow students at the table. Madeleine works in project 2, “Projects of Becoming”, where she measures first year computing student’s learning curve.

The PhDs all agree that being in the same Centre, working on similar cases towards a common goal bares many benefits. Especially when compared to past experiences working in solitude. Throughout our conversation with the PhDs it becomes increasingly apparent that their reflections and experiences match the Centre’s overall vision. Through close collaboration with project leaders and a shared goal of improving education, they seem to have gathered a plethora of positive experiences and helpful lessons.

The safety net of a research Centre

When asked for specifics on what value working in a Centre brings, the candidates all agree that financial security and a solid backbone of available project leaders and professors are major keys in allowing them to focus on their work.

“Having talked with some of my colleagues who aren’t part of a Centre like Excited, I see I’m very privileged in the financial security and opportunities the Centre brings”, Justyna explains.

Abdullah agrees. “We don’t have to worry about the same stuff that other PhDs worry about. As an example, we can always ask our project leader questions and get feedback, which is a very comfortable situation.”

They all talk warmly about the administrative coordinator at Excited, Ida Sortland who helps out in a myriad of ways, like suggesting professors to talk to, providing feedback and helpful tips for their projects.

“The centre coordinator is very open to discussion and helping out. We don’t use as much time on practicalities, which allows us to focus on the important stuff”, says Vojislav Vujosevic, who works in project one “Informed Decision”. “We always have someone to ask, that’s what a Centre is - that is the main benefit for me”, Hege Annette Olstad from project five “Career Readiness” adds.

The universal language of teamwork

Gunhild Marie Lundberg started out on her own, one month before the Centre was established.

“I worked as a PhD outside of SFU Excited for about half a year.” She is currently part of project 5, researching the transition from higher education to employment for IT students.

“Being the only PhD in my department was rather lonely, I felt like no one really understood what I was working on. Being included in Excited changed all that.”

Gunhild is currently writing a paper with Justyna. They both share their experiences on working on the same topic, coming from widely different backgrounds.

“Even though we are working on the same concept, it’s a lot of fun to see how differently we think. It creates lots of interesting discussions”, Gunhild shares.

“Coming in with a different mindset and having a different vocabulary from each other makes it so that we have to think twice about the words we use. One word for me can mean something entirely different for Gunhild. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to learn how to communicate and collaborate effectively.”

The team laughs as they think of examples where varied backgrounds and different perspectives have been sources to discussion, new paths, strain, fun and great opportunities.

“Sometimes simple questions can trigger something big in your mind that fundamentally changes the roadmap for your project. If we were too like-minded, questions like these might not have come up at all” Abdullah concludes.


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