Alexander Vaniev
email: a.vaniev.1@research.gla.ac.uk
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673
Research title: Exploring sociomaterial practices and core (f)actors contributing to early career academic teacher development: an actor-network theory perspective
Research Summary
In the context of the UK higher education, my PhD study explores:
- How early career academics (ECAs), namely graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and recently employed lecturers, experience and navigate "becoming a university teacher",
- How academic developers' professional practices and initiatives translate into this becoming (if they do).
I look at the ECA teaching development from an actor-network theory perspective to better understand the sociomateriality of this phenomenon and how an interplay of both humans and non-humans brings into being the "becoming a university teacher".
Thus, I explore two main research questions:
- RQ1. How is teaching development of early career academics enacted, experienced, and practised in the UK higher education context?
- RQ2. What are the core sociomaterial (f)actors contributing to the teaching development of UK-based early career academics, and how do they relate to each other?
Publications
2025
Vaniev, Alexander 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673
(2025)
Exploring the sociomaterial practices of graduate teaching assistant development through actor-network theory: an autoethnographic study.
Postgraduate Pedagogies, 5(1),
pp. 59-82.
Ross, Micky ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1418-4384, Raymond, Tom, Marren, Aneta ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0379-7726 and Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673
(2025)
Staff Perspective of Student Voice and its (In)Authenticity in Reflective Writing for Summative Assessment.
BALEAP Conference 2025, Plymouth, UK, 14-17 April 2025.
Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673 and Malt-Cullen, Michael
(2025)
Mapping pedagogies of education for sustainable development in Scottish higher education institutions.
Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 31(1),
pp. 211-231.
(doi: 10.1177/14779714241260528)
2024
Ross, Micky ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1418-4384, Marren, Aneta ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0379-7726, Bohlmann, Julia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0724-6671, Dickson, Nic ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0084-605X, Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673 and Raymond, Tom
(2024)
The Reflective Writing Survey and Resource: investigating the practice of reflective writing for summative assessment at the University of Glasgow.
17th Annual University of Glasgow Learning & Teaching Conference, Glasgow, UK, 09 Apr 2024.
2023
Drugova, Elena A. and Vaniev, Alexander I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673
(2023)
Learning design using the four-component instructional design model (4C/ID) in higher education: review of studies.
RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics, 20(4),
pp. 747-771.
Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673 and Malt-Cullen, Michael
(2023)
Introducting Pedagogy to SDGs in Higher Education: An Actor-network Theory Perspective.
HER 2023 | Sustainable Development Goals: Their potential and relevance for higher education policy and reform, University of Glasgow, 21-23 June 2023.
(doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.21400.37126)
Articles
Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673
(2025)
Exploring the sociomaterial practices of graduate teaching assistant development through actor-network theory: an autoethnographic study.
Postgraduate Pedagogies, 5(1),
pp. 59-82.
Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673 and Malt-Cullen, Michael
(2025)
Mapping pedagogies of education for sustainable development in Scottish higher education institutions.
Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 31(1),
pp. 211-231.
(doi: 10.1177/14779714241260528)
Drugova, Elena A. and Vaniev, Alexander I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673
(2023)
Learning design using the four-component instructional design model (4C/ID) in higher education: review of studies.
RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics, 20(4),
pp. 747-771.
Conference or Workshop Item
Ross, Micky ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1418-4384, Raymond, Tom, Marren, Aneta ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0379-7726 and Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673
(2025)
Staff Perspective of Student Voice and its (In)Authenticity in Reflective Writing for Summative Assessment.
BALEAP Conference 2025, Plymouth, UK, 14-17 April 2025.
Ross, Micky ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1418-4384, Marren, Aneta ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0379-7726, Bohlmann, Julia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0724-6671, Dickson, Nic ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0084-605X, Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673 and Raymond, Tom
(2024)
The Reflective Writing Survey and Resource: investigating the practice of reflective writing for summative assessment at the University of Glasgow.
17th Annual University of Glasgow Learning & Teaching Conference, Glasgow, UK, 09 Apr 2024.
Vaniev, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3673 and Malt-Cullen, Michael
(2023)
Introducting Pedagogy to SDGs in Higher Education: An Actor-network Theory Perspective.
HER 2023 | Sustainable Development Goals: Their potential and relevance for higher education policy and reform, University of Glasgow, 21-23 June 2023.
(doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.21400.37126)
Supervisors
Grants
- College of Social Sciences (CoSS) PhD scholarship, October 2022.
- UofG Team Award Rewarding Contribution for Research Culture and Researcher Development, December 2024.
Conferences
- Vaniev A., Malt-Cullen M. (2024, November 27-29). Mapping the sociomaterial: Towards new research possibilities through the lens of Actor-Network Theory and Social Network Analysis [Conference presentation]. Scottish Educational Research Association Conference, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. https://www.sera.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/11/SERA-2024-Conference-booklet-final.pdf
- Vaniev A. (2024, December 4-6). Exploring sociomaterial practices and forms of resistance in early career academic teacher development: an actor-network theory perspective [Conference presentation]. Society for Research in Higher Education Conference, Nottingham, United Kingdom. https://srhe.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Programme-22.11.2024.pdf
- Vaniev A. (2024, June 5). What contributes to ‘becoming’ an educational researcher? Untangling the web of (f)actors [Conference presentation]. British Educational Research Association event: "The ECR Journey: At Crossroads of Becoming", Leeds, United Kingdom. https://www.bera.ac.uk/event/the-ecr-journey-at-crossroads-of-becoming-2024
- Vaniev A. (2023, October 11). Becoming an international PhD parent [Conference presentation]. This UofG PhD Life conference, October 2024, online. https://youtu.be/6zxob8Et8K4
Teaching
- GTA and Dissertation support @ Education for Sustainable Future MSc programme
- GTA @ Student Learning Development
Additional Information
- Creator and curator of padlet resource for UofG PGR parents, October 2024.
- UofG PGR Development Events & Comms Intern at Research Culture and Researcher Development (RCRD) team, 2023-2024.
- Curated playlists "How to navigate PhD Life" on the RCRD YT channel.
