Rate My Professor Ana Stojanov

Ana Stojanov is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Science Communication at the University of Otago. Originally from Macedonia, she earned an MPhil in Psychology and Education from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from the University of Otago in 2020. Her doctoral thesis, titled "Conspiracy theory beliefs: measurement and the role of perceived lack of control," investigated the psychological factors underlying conspiracy beliefs.

Stojanov's research applies experimental methods to examine human behavior related to misinformation, science denialism, and science communication. Her academic interests include science denialism, conspiracy beliefs and public trust, trust in scientists, correcting misinformation, the role of artificial intelligence in science literacy, crisis communication, unconventional beliefs, and scientific reasoning. She has published on diverse topics, such as people's responses to COVID-19 communications, psychological underpinnings of conspiracy beliefs, and the use of generative AI like ChatGPT as a science communicator for controversial issues. Key publications include "Learning with ChatGPT 3.5 as a more knowledgeable other: An autoethnographic study" (International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 2023), "The conspiracy mentality scale" (Social Psychology, 2019), "Does lack of control lead to conspiracy beliefs? A meta-analysis" (European Journal of Social Psychology, 2020), "University students’ self-reported reliance on ChatGPT for learning: A latent profile analysis" (Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 2024), "A decade of research into the application of big data and analytics in higher education: A systematic review of the literature" (Education and Information Technologies, 2024), and "Does Perceived Lack of Control Lead to Conspiracy Theory Beliefs? Findings from an online MTurk sample" (PLoS One, 2020). In 2020, Wiley recognized her research on conspiracy theories as the most cited and downloaded article. Stojanov teaches SCOM419 Special Topic: Key Voices in Science Communication, supervises PhD students including Yan Yang on "The Development and Validation of the Scale of Argumentation Competence," and contributes to public engagement through popular science articles, opinion pieces, podcasts, radio, and television interviews. Her publications have received substantial citations, reflecting her impact in psychology, higher education, and science communication.