£50,450
Centre for Research in Engineering and Materials Education
Funded Research Projects
The following are current funded research projects taking place within the research centre:
History for Inclusion & Diversity in Mathematics (HIDIM) NetworkPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Isobel Falconer (St Andrews), Troy Astrate (Swansea), Ilaria Bussoli (Bath), Gemma Crowe (Manchester), Ciaran Mac an Bhaird (Maynooth) and Peter Rowlett (Sheffield Hallam) Funding source: Isaac Newton Institute and Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research Start: 01-09-2026 / End: 01-09-2028 Amount: £5,500 The purpose of the HIDIM network is to grow the national discussion around equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the mathematics curriculum in UK Higher Education, and develop material based on current research that is accessible and relevant to the needs of those teaching mathematics, to support effective interventions.Through shared activities, HIDIM will build educators’ confidence in addressing EDI issues in the curriculum. Doing so is a widespread concern in the mathematics education community, but it requires a culture shift and the development of significant expertise. Despite the stress that QAA benchmarks and the National Academy for Mathematical Sciences place on inclusivity, it is seldom obvious how to teach mathematics in a way that addresses EDI, let alone improves inclusion. Careful use of History of Mathematics (HoM) within the mathematics curriculum is often proposed as one way of promoting EDI . However, the interacting factors in doing so effectively are not yet understood, and staff lack confidence in using it. Thus, HIDIM’s purposes are to: • Support mathematicians in using HoM in mainstream teaching to address EDI issues while promoting mathematical understanding • Empower students in co-creating inclusive mathematics resources drawing on HoM examples • Bring together and share previously isolated local examples of use of HoM in mathematics teaching • Promote collaborative, cross-institutional projects and funding applications among members • Develop and share insight on how the impact on student experience of such initiatives is best evaluated and demonstrated** |
Visiting Professor in Inclusive Engineering Education and Professional Skill DevelopmentPrincipal Investigator: Folashade AKINMOLAYAN TAIWO Funding source: Royal Academy of Engineering Start: 01-10-2025 / End: 28-08-2028 Amount: £30,000 In 2022, QMUL was recognised for social mobility, supporting its Strategy 2030 goal to become the most inclusive university. With a diverse student body, QMUL emphasizes the need for visible role models to guide students, especially from underrepresented groups. Dr Nike Folayan’s expertise will be invaluable in facilitating conversations around diversity, equality, and inclusion, addressing how these issues manifest in engineering practice and education. She will engage the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) through a multifaceted programme aimed at fostering cultural competence, broadening global perspectives, and enhancing employability skills for students. This programme aligns with SEMS’s strategic goals of promoting diversity and inclusion by exposing students to a successful professional from an underrepresented group in engineering, which will inspire and break down barriers to entry in the field. The legacy of this programme will be establishing a framework for staff and student development around diversity and inclusion, ensuring that faculty continue to incorporate cultural competence into their teaching.** |
Co-creating a Python toolkit to develop students’ programming proficiencyPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Muhie Sultan Faisal Al Haimus (SEMS undergraduate) , Yash Vaghela (SEMS undergraduate), Ilanthiraiyan Sivagnanamoorthy (SEMS undergraduate) and Silvia Santafe (SEMS postgraduate) Funding source: Start: 01-07-2024 / End: 30-09-2027 In response to student feedback from previous runs of the first-year undergraduate SEMS mathematics module, Dr. Rehan Shah, in conjunction with three former students (Mr Muhie Sultan Faisal Al Haimus, Mr Yash Vaghela and Mr Ilanthiraiyan Sivagnanamoorthy) from his undergraduate mathematics modules, have co-created a Python Common Errors and Practice Questions toolkit guide to help new incoming first-year students, who may need additional guidance and support with Python within their mathematics modules, particularly those with no previous programming experience. The Common Errors toolkit serves as a supplementary resource for students to use alongside their existing Python tutorials on Jupyterhub and documents the standard errors that students most often make, along with ways to rectify these. This is supplemented by a set of additional practice questions and Python exercises to give students a chance to hone and refine their basic programming skills.** |
Designing mathematics and mechanics revision workbooks for assessment preparationPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Abul Hassan Mohamed Ibrahim (SEMS undergraduate) and Xiaoyi MIN Funding source: Start: 03-03-2025 / End: 30-09-2027 In response to student feedback asking for more practice questions to prepare for the final exam, Dr. Rehan Shah, in conjunction with five of his former students of this course, has co-created mathematics and mechanics revision workbooks focusing on different sections of the content from the two first-year mathematics modules. These revision guides contain a brief summary of each of the topics, followed by a comprehensive bank of solved example problems and practice questions (with answers) for students to work through to gain further confidence, as they prepare for their final exam assessments.** |
Embedding ethics and sustainability in mathematics coursesPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Malmi Hirushima Mahagamage (SEMS undergraduate), Meherun Soud (SEMS undergraduate), Maurice Chiodo (Cambridge) and Dennis Mueller (Cambridge) Funding source: Start: 01-10-2024 / End: 30-09-2027 For the last 20 years it has become increasingly obvious, and increasingly pressing, that mathematicians should be taught some ethical and sustainability awareness so as to realise the impact of their work. This extends even to those more highly trained, ranging from graduate students to academic staff. But what should we be teaching mathematicians and how should we do it? This project is dedicated to understanding the need for the consideration of wider societal aspects within mathematics and to outlining some of the ways in which we can incorporate the teaching of ethics and sustainability within mathematics courses at university. The aim is to design and compile a teaching resource toolkit, to be published as an open-access book, containing a set of varied mathematical problems across different topics with key ethical and sustainability aspects embedded within them for use by lecturers. Education Toolkit Resources: an introductory handout designed for students and staff that explains why there is a need for ethics in mathematics a comprehensive teaching booklet featuring exercises, projects and handouts for embedding ethics in mathematics-based modules within STEM disciplines an sustainability introductory handout (PDF) designed for students and staff that explains why there is a need for sustainability in mathematics a set of sample 'ethics in mathematics' exercise problems (with guided solutions) a guidance article on embedding sustainability in mathematics modules (featuring 3 example problems and solution comments) 'Embedding Ethics and Sustainability in Mathematics Teaching: Rationale, Methods, Exercises, Projects' book (coming soon)** |
Empowering students by making STEM curricula more inclusivePrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Ava Dahlia Belfatone (SEMS undergraduate), Allegra Celesia (SEMS undergraduate), Brigitte Stenhouse (OU), Amelia Stringfellow (SEMS undergraduate) and Nilah Holmer (SEMS undergraduate) Funding source: Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) and SEMS CREME Scholarship Funding Start: 11-04-2024 / End: 30-09-2027 Amount: £1,100 STEM disciplines have traditionally been taught as an exercise in memorisation and repetitive application of formulae, with the historical aspects often confined to the contributions made by white male European mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. As a result of this, very few students can relate to these mathematical figures, which consequently contributes to the stigma that studying STEM subjects is esoteric, inaccessible, and extremely difficult for them. To rectify this, there is a strong need for increasing students’ awareness of diverse representation within STEM disciplines; not just through exposure to mathematicians, scientists, and engineers from diverse and under-represented backgrounds (including those identifying as female, disabled, and queer), but also those applying their skills within academia and industry through non-traditional pathways. This project aims to co-design (with students) teaching toolkit materials featuring short biographies of past and present mathematicians, scientists and engineers from under-represented minority groups to embed within undergraduate STEM courses. It also seeks to provide opportunities for students to gain exposure to diverse STEM role models by inviting currently active, diverse STEM professionals, compile links to multimedia resources to highlight their contributions and produce a diversity and inclusion agenda to inform future EDI initiatives in STEM curriculum design.** |
Identifying and recognising threshold concepts in undergraduate mathematicsPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Manish Malik (Canterbury Christ Church University) Funding source: London Mathematical Society (LMS) and SEMS Start: 19-12-2023 / End: 27-09-2027 Amount: £750 This scoping study project, aided by a systematic literature review, aims at identifying and recognising key threshold concepts inherent within undergraduate mathematics-based courses at university. Following this, it seeks to examine the pedagogical implications that knowledge and awareness of these concepts can lead to for teachers and educators, both with regard to curriculum development and assessment design. This will also be supported through findings obtained from a one-day workshop organised featuring discussions and interactions between internal and external academics and colleagues from various UK universities on identifying and recognising the implications of threshold concepts in the teaching of undergraduate mathematics . The discussions will enable lecturers to understand what key threshold concepts exist in mathematics-based modules and to identify/recognise such concepts in order to facilitate the development of students’ understanding within their own modules.** |
Nonlinear mechanics of rods subject to surface constraintsPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Funding source: Quaterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics Fund (QJMAM) Start: 16-10-2024 / End: 31-07-2027 Amount: £3,200 Slender, elastic rod-like structures on or inside constrained rigid surfaces are prevalent in a wide range of engineering (drill strings in borewells, pipelines under the seabed, ocean cables), medical (stents in angioplasty of arteries), biological (DNA toroidal condensates, bacterial flagella), electronic (carbon nanotubes) and robotic (soft robots for in-pipe inspection) applications. This project seeks to employ a comprehensive variational theory of elastic two-strand braids to investigate the post-buckling behaviour of elastic rods lying on rigid tubular surfaces. Methods comprising the calculus of variations and Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics are utilised to procure more general types of solutions to various nonlinear boundary value problems, using both analytical and numerical approaches. Journal Paper Publications: Shah R and van der Heijden GHM (2024). Buckling and lift-off of a heavy rod compressed into a cylinder. Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Elsevier vol. 182, 105464-105464. Shah R and van der Heijden GHM (2023). Static friction models for a rod deforming on a cylinder. Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Elsevier vol. 173, 105224-105224.** |
Transitions, digital advances and collaborative innovation: four decades of BSRLM research in university mathematics educationPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Elena Nardi (East Anglia), Paola Iannone (Edinburgh) and Athina Thoma (Southampton) Funding source: Start: 01-05-2025 / End: 31-03-2027 Rapid growth of University Mathematics Education (UME) research in the last 40 years – including specialist conferences, journals and books – signals a trajectory away from the margins of Mathematics Education research, nationally and internationally. This growth is reflected well in the number and range of British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM) Proceedings papers too as well as the UME related BSRLM Working Groups over the years. Furthermore, UK-based UME research has been growing steadily and alongside international developments in this area (typically reported in the INDRUM conferences since 2016, the RUME conferences in the US since 2002, the southern-hemisphere focused Delta conferences since 1997 and UME-focused publication outlets such as IJRUME, TMA and PRIMUS). This chapter consolidates forty years of works (1985-2025) presented at BSRLM Day Conferences and aims to be a useful companion alongside the volumes produced by these conferences and journals. The range of research topics presented at BSRLM conferences is broad and increasingly diverse. This trajectory is illustrated in the following areas: teaching and learning of specific topics in university mathematics (including calculus, algebra, number theory, discrete mathematics, and proof); mathematics in other disciplines (such as physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and economics); transition to, across and from university mathematics; curricular and institutional issues; novel teaching approaches; digital resources; assessment practices; professional development of university mathematics teachers; and affect, gender, and equity, diversity and inclusion. ** |
Conducting literature reviews in engineering education researchPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Andrew Gillen (Northeastern University), Nathaniel Hunsu (University of Georgia) and Julia Sundman (Aalto University) Funding source: Start: 01-01-2025 / End: 31-12-2026 This book chapter, part of the International Handbook of Engineering Education Research Methods, is motivated by the critical role literature review plays in the building of knowledge within engineering education research. Literature review is not a monolith, and this chapter details several key approaches most relevant to the field. These include narrative reviews such as what is commonly found in background sections, scoping reviews to plan other reviews or assess availability of related works, systematic reviews to cover topics exhaustively, and meta-analyses to yield new, cross-study statistical findings. By providing examples and exploring these approaches' strengths and limitations, this chapter provides criteria for researchers to select the appropriate methods for their study and context. Lastly, a discussion of future work outlines opportunities to develop this key component of engineering education research.** |
Development of an AI-motivated cross-national mathematical reasoning skills inventory for engineersPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Ilanthiraiyan Sivagnanamoorthy (SEMS undergraduate), Alexandra Werth (Cornell) and Gabriella Grandville (Cornell postgraduate) Funding source: QMUL, Cornell University and London Mathematical Society (LMS) Start: 19-03-2025 / End: 31-12-2026 Amount: £8,400 Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on engineering. To stay at the forefront of these changes, higher education institutions are increasingly embedding AI-oriented instruction into engineering programs to ensure curricula remain relevant. As AI reshapes the engineering landscape, an important question emerges: are engineering students adequately equipped with the mathematical foundations and competencies necessary to effectively develop, fine-tune, deploy, and evaluate AI models? This project develops a framework for a skills-based mathematical assessment instrument that bridges the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical AI-oriented,engineering applications. Through this funded QMUL-Cornell Global Hubs Research Seed Grant project, this will be achieved through establishling a firm, lasting and synergistic collaboration between Dr Werth at Cornell and Dr Shah at QMUL through mutual research visits, joint data collection, and analysis involving student researchers from both institutions. The project will culminate in peer-reviewed journal publications, applications for external grant funding, and a proof-of-concept framework for a cross-national mathematical skills inventory for engineers. This inventory will aim to address the skills-based challenges encountered in the context of mathematics within first- and second-year engineering programs. This has been supported through findings obtained from a UK-wide one-day workshop led by Dr Shah (funded through an Interdisciplinary Collaboration grant by the London Mathematical Society) that featured discussions and interactions between 25 internal and external academics and colleagues from various UK universities on designing assessment questions around key mathematical proficiencies to inform the development of skills-based concept inventories in undergraduate STEM disciplines. Formulating assessment questions centred around critical mathematical proficiencies for specific concepts will also enhance mathematics lecturers’ understanding of assessment design and provide them with a solid foundation to make effective use of existing concept inventories as well as develop new ones to address skill deficits and enhance their students’ conceptual understanding.** |
Exploring mathematical anxiety in undergraduate higher education studentsPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Ric Crossman (Durham) and Lucy Katesmark (Durham graduate) Funding source: Start: 02-03-2026 / End: 30-10-2026 Mathematics anxiety (MA) is a well-known and extensively studied issue within the discipline of mathematics education . Studies have shown MA affects UK children from as young as five and continues to be present among students in the UK at the HE level. One area in which MA has not been commonly considered is UK mathematics degrees. Intuitively, we might think those choosing to study mathematics at university would be immune to MA, but recent work suggests it may exist in around 25% of newly-arrived UK 1st year UG maths students. This anxiety may persist throughout an undergraduate degree and be associated with reduced academic performance, and may become exacerbated due to the increased difficulty of mathematics at the university level (this relates to the concept of mathematical resilience). These results need further exploration in the UK context. In particular, the possibility of increased MA over time, as students lose their earlier comfort with and sense of achievement in maths and they potentially fall into cycles of suboptimal academic practice, requires study. This project involves conducting a landscape review into exploring mathematical anxeity among mathematics university students, how what has been found relates to mathematical resilience, disengagement, and suboptimal academic practice, and map out a route for further work in this space.** |
Embedding visualisation and spatial ability skills in engineering educationPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Natalie Al Kakoun (American University of Beirut) and Ilanthiraiyan Sivagnanamoorthy (SEMS undergraduate) Funding source: Start: 01-11-2024 / End: 30-09-2026 Visualisation skills in engineering education encompass the ability to construct, interpret, and mentally manipulate ideas using drawings, diagrams, digital resources, and other visual media. These skills are anchored in the cognitive capacity known as spatial ability, which, while demonstrably trainable, hinges not only on curricular design but also on learners’ cognitive flexibility. In this upcoming book chapter, soon to be published as part of the SEFI Handbook on Transferable Competencies and Skills in Engineering Education, visualisation is examined from two perspectives: spatial ability as the foundational cognitive skillset, and representational literacy as the means by which individuals externalise and communicate their thinking through visual media. It explores the underlying cognitive processes and connections to creativity, flexibility, conceptual understanding, mental models, and affective dispositions such as perfectionism. Drawing on research and practical case studies, the chapter presents evidence-based strategies for embedding visualisation skills into engineering courses, including concept mapping, digital tools, and targeted spatial ability training, and offers practical recommendations to help educators cultivate these essential, transferable skills for modern engineering practice in light of cognitive rigidity and perfectionism .** |
SEED-AI: Social Enterprise Education Design with AI – A student–community partnership projectPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Anne Preston (UCL), Sara Hamandi (SEMS undergraduate), Craig Martin (UCL) and Liza Fletcher (E17 Films) Funding source: Researching, Advancing and Inspiring Student Engagement (RAISE) Network Start: 05-01-2026 / End: 31-08-2026 Amount: £500 This project focuses on the co-design of a new, shared social entrepreneurship module featuring students working with an E17 Films, a local East London community organisation to develop socially driven entrepreneurial ideas using ethical and creative applications of Generative AI. Our team comprising a student co-researcher, a community partner, a subject librarian and two academic staff members, will employ a participatory design methodology to collaboratively design the module structure, assessment, and GenAI learning activities. Our work builds on existing student–community engagement work at QMUL and UCL East and responds to student interest in learning that is locally relevant, socially impactful, and future-focused. By co-creating the curriculum with students and communities, we aim to model a more democratic and socially responsible approach to educational design. The final module/short course framework will provide a transferable model that other institutions can adopt to support student partnership, ethical GenAI use, and community-engaged curriculum development. ** |
‘AI in Academia’: An audit of educational developers’ use of, and attitude towards, Generative AI in higher and further educationPrincipal Investigator: Rehan SHAH Co-investigator(s): Matthew Cole (Hartpury), Noleen Chikowore (Leeds), Leonie Faulker (SEMS undergraduate) and Maneeha Siddiki (SEMS undergraduate) Funding source: Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) Start: 01-05-2025 / End: 31-08-2026 Amount: £1,000 The rise of Generative AI has led some institutions to provide student guidance on appropriate use, while a small number of studies have explored student perceptions of AI in Higher Education. However, there is limited research on AI usage and perceptions among educational developers. While some larger universities have started offering general AI guidance to their staff, a gap remains in understanding how educational developers, especially from small and specialist institutions, currently engage with AI. This project aims to audit educational developers across 3 UK institutions to shape future AI guidance and contribute to ongoing research, including the 2024 SEDA-funded study on multimodal learning and AI. By leveraging a diverse team across multiple institutions, the project will provide a broad, interdisciplinary perspective. Research questions will involve examining how AI is currently used in practice by educational developers, what their attitudes towards AI integration in education are and what the existing gaps in their knowledge, competence, and confidence of AI use are. The study will employ a multi-phase, iterative approach to review literature to scope AI applications in educational development, survey staff to audit AI usage across the three institutions and conduct focus groups to gather qualitative insights on their attitudes and behaviours. The output resources will benefit educational developers across HE and FE sectors and serve as a valuable platform for the development of guidance for learner developers’ AI use in the future. ** |