Stella Kazamia
About
Biography
Stella Kazamia graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science with Honours from the University of Surrey and then completed her PGCE in Post Compulsory Education and Training from Canterbury Christ Church University. She is an experienced educator in the field of Computer Science and over the past years, she has been recognised and awarded as an 'Outstanding' teacher and instructor.
In 2016, Stella re-joined the University of Surrey as a Teaching Fellow within the Department of Computer Science and her teaching focuses on Software Engineering and more specifically in object-oriented programming.
Stella is now a core member of the Computer Science’s teaching team who engages fully in all aspects of teaching. She has influenced the curriculum to include a variety of subjects that reflect all the future career opportunities that a Computer Science degree can offer. Stella is passionate about developing her students’ enthusiasm for the subject by involving them in the Department’s activities and consistently achieves high MEQ (Module Evaluation Questionnaire) scores.
In 2019, Stella was awarded the FEPS Early-Career Teacher of the Year award in recognition of her significant contribution to enhancing the students’ learning experience and quality of learning within her first three years of teaching. She was also a finalist for the Vice-Chancellor's Awards for the University Early-Career Teacher of the Year 2019.
The past few years, she has also been engaging with schools within Surrey, with the aim to inspire girls about technology and challenge the misconceptions around Computer Science and the Technology industry. Stella has impacted numerous individuals through her involvement in mentoring schemes, outreach and widening participation initiatives - and more recently she has taken on a more substantial role as the Director of Employability.
University roles and responsibilities
- Director of Employability
- Athena Swan Adviser
- Personal Tutor
Previous roles
Teaching
Teaching
- COM1027 - Programming Fundamentals (Module Leader)
- COM1028 - Software Engineering (Lab Coordinator)
- COM2027 - Software Engineering Project (Module Leader and Group Project Supervisor)
- COM3027 - Computer Science Education (Module Leader)
- COM3001 - Final Year Professional Project (Project Supervisor)
- COMP009 - Professional Training Year - UG (Module Leader)
- COMM057 - Data Science Professional Training Year - PGT (Module Leader)
- COMM060 - Cyber Security Professional Training Year - PGT (Module Leader)
Publications
Older adults are particularly vulnerable to phishing attacks. Gamification has been shown to be less effective to develop confidence in distinguishing between genuine and phishing emails in this demographic. To overcome this, we present our novel, open source interactive training platform, Phish&Tips, based on a simulated inbox. Our multi-analysis approach provides comprehensive data that enables us to compare participant's self-assessed competence with their performance on the training platform. We present results based on pre-and post-training surveys, focus groups and the analysis of the training platform data (N = 37). Over half the participants demonstrated an improved understanding of various detection strategies and an increase in confidence in being able to interpret emails. However, these results were not evident in the analysis of the platform data. This disparity between participants' perceived knowledge and their performance on the platform highlights the challenges of applying their knowledge effectively.