BSc (Hons), PGCE, PhD
Lecturer
- About
-
- Email Address
- h.martin@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 274769
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Education
Biography
Helen Martin is a Lecturer in Mathematics Education where she specialises in developing pedagogical design capacity and supporting professionally informed ethical decision-making. Her research and teaching are based on the design principles ‘valuing diversity, developing flexibility and making connections’ with an emphasis on how others make sense of doing mathematics, becoming and being mathematicians within a community. Helen has led collaborative projects across universities around E-Formative Assessment, online study sessions for primary pre-service teachers and Multiplicative and Algebraic Reasoning across Scottish schools as well as continuing to work at a National level with the Scottish Government, Scottish Mathematical Council, Edinburgh Mathematical Society and the Joint Mathematical Council of the UK.
An important part of encouraging more young people to recognise themselves as mathematicians involves supporting enrichment opportunities for children and young people including the Royal Institution Maths Masterclasses from way back as a tutor with Prof. Edward Patterson, Stem in the Pipeline, UKMT Team Maths challenges, Scottish Maths Challenge (now in its 50th year) and the Primary Enterprising Maths Challenge (nearing it's 25th anniversary) started here in Aberdeen with events now running across Scotland.
She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the international open access Education in the North journal (now in its 60th year) which supports researchers at every stage of their careers across the Arctic and beyond where she works closely with UArctic Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education thematic network and The Centre for the North. The design principles 'valuing diversity, developing flexibility and making connections' are now used alongside the extensive editorial expertise to support early career researchers as programme director of the MEd Professional Education, EdD course coordinator and REF impact lead.
Qualifications
- PhD Mathematics Education2014 - University of Aberdeen
- PGCE Secondary Mathematics1990 - University of Edinburgh
- BSc (Hons) Mathematics1989 - University of St Andrews
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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University Court elected member Nov 2020 - present
Finance and Resource Committee (FRC) Sept 2023 - present
Govenance and Nominations Committee (GNN) Feb 2021 - Sept 2023
Leadership & Governance workstream (ACS) Feb 2026 - present
Senate elected member Oct 2017 - Sept 2020
Senate Business Committee (SBC) member Sept 2018 - Sept 2020
Senate Effectiveness Review group elected member 2019/20, 2020/21
UOA Ref Impact Leads School REF Impact Lead Sept 2024 - present
School Research Committee Sept 2021- present
School EDI Committee Chair (Feb 2023 - Oct 2025); member 2023 - present
Education in the North Chair and Editor-in-chief May 2020 - Present; Book Review Editor 2015-2020
The Centre for the North board member
- External Memberships
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Edinburgh Mathematical Society, Joint Chair of the Education Committee and member of Council, Sept 25 - present
Joint Mathematical Council of the UK, member Apr 2026 - present
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM) member of Higher Education Mathematics Group
PRIMES: Pedagogy and Practice in Mathematics Education Scotland Member
Scottish Mathematical Challenge (MC) Committee
Scottish Mathematical Council (SMC) Member Sept 2015- 2018 and trustee Nov 2016 - Sept 2018
Education Scotland member of Curriculum Improvement Cycle Mathematics Collaboration Group and National Numeracy Network
UArctic Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education Arctic Futures
New Northern Pedagogies Group Sept 23 - present
Prizes and Awards
Senior Fellow, Advance HE (formerly HEA) 2021
First Scottish Academic journal to gain the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) seal 2021
- Research
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Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Education.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Current Research
Assessment in Higher Education Mathematics
Learning and Teaching Mathematics in Higher Education
How choice might be actualised within classrooms
Collaborations
UK Prosperity Funded ‘Multiply’ project with Aberdeen City Council
UK Prosperity Funded ‘Multiply’ project with Aberdeenshire Council
Dyscalculia Working Group with Aberdeen City Council
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Education.
Current supervisions
PhD: Transitions from Secondary to Post-Secondary Mathematics in Malta
EdD: Ethical Leadership
Previous supervisions
PhD: Teaching mathematics with Saudi Arabian English Language Learners
PhD: Vulnerable young people in Scotland: tacking food and health inequalities
Funding and Grants
New Northern Pedagogies Group (NNPG): Co-PI funded by Scottish Government Arctic Connections (£7795) with co-investigators from Universities of Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Highlands & Islands, and Lapland.
Improving Children’s Mathematical Reasoning (ICMR): Principal Investigator funded by The Carnegie Trust Larger Collaborative Grant (£40000) with co-investigators from Universities of Glasgow and King’s College London alongside Education Scotland and Scottish Government.
Online Mathematics Assessment for Primary Teachers (MAPT): Principal Investigator funded by Education Scotland (£12000) with co-investigators from Universities of Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow alongside Education Scotland and HMIE.
- Teaching
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Programmes
- Postgraduate, 1 , October start
Course Coordinator
- Postgraduate, 1 , January start
Programme Director
- Postgraduate, 1 year, August start
- Subject selector (Mathematics)
- Curricular tutor (Mathematics)
- School experience visiting tutor
- Undergraduate, 4 year, September start
Courses
- Master Project/Dissertation (ED506A)
- Master Project/Dissertation (ED556A)
Teaching Responsibilities
Current Teaching
Programme Director
Masters in Professional Education
Course Coordinator
ED6002 EdD Identifying and Articulating Issues in Professional Practice
ED506A(2025-26): Master Project/Dissertation
ED556A(2025-26): Master Project/Dissertation
PGDE(S) Mathematics Education
ED1008 Radical Reconstructions of Mathematics
- Publications
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Page 1 of 17 Results 1 to 25 of 418
Smart successful networks: research as social practice
Education in the North, vol. 14, pp. 8-14Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAdvancing social equity through teacher well-being: TCM in Finnish elementary schools
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 84-99Contributions to Journals: ArticlesArctic art education in collaboration - creating dialogues for learning
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 287-316Contributions to Journals: ArticlesArctic Futures - innovations in education for social justice and sustainability
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 1-3Contributions to Journals: EditorialsArt history techniques and Sámi pedagogy in Norway: connecting art history, tradition and nature
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 268-286Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBook Review: Reimagining Literacy in the Age of AI: Theory and Practice
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 358-359Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesBridging global ideals and local realities: navigating the complex path to inclusive education in the Faroe Islands
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 60-83Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBridging the divide: immersive virtual spaces for hybrid learning in remote teacher education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 24-38Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCo-teaching improves assessment competences - perceptions of Finnish novice university teachers' assessment in higher education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 4-23Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDeveloping place-attentive teaching and learning in initial teacher education in Scotland through the pillars of Arctic pedagogy
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesFelted Futures: crafting transformative learning experiences in the Arctic
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 204-227Contributions to Journals: ArticlesImproving teacher retention in rural Alaska: an experiential place-based model
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesIntercultural competence: Finnish teachers' reflections on addressing diversities
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 121-136Contributions to Journals: Articles"I thought that this would be a noble act that we helped the child" - ethical tensions in early childhood education teacher's work
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 228-248Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMultiliteracies, Multimodality, and Learning by Design in Second Language Learning and Teacher Education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 356-357Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesPlay smartly - group intervention: changes in parental reports of child behaviour
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 249-267Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPupils' perspective on education outside the classroom in Greenland: experiences from an action research project
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 178-203Contributions to Journals: ArticlesRievdan - new genre arctic art education building cultural resilience in a time of global change
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 100-120Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTeachers' language-, culture- and worldview-inclusive pedagogical competencies in Finnish early childhood education
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 137-159Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTeachers' obligations to address threats to students' well-being in Finland: educational and legal insights into preservice teachers' conceptions
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 39-59Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTeaching sustainability and climate change in Canada and Norway
Education in the North, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 160-177Contributions to Journals: ArticlesTowards more positive conceptions and sustainability for teacher profession in Finland
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesWatch, watch, do: a discussion of the conflict between assessment and learning within Inuit Nunangat
Contributions to Journals: Features100 voices, 100 years: an ode to joy
Contributions to Journals: FeaturesA journey to purposeful play through a lesson study in Scotland
Contributions to Journals: Features
