Professor Michael Grove BSc MSc PhD NTF FIMA

• PhD, University of Birmingham
• MSc in Astrophysics, Queen Mary, University of London
• BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics, University of Birmingham
• National Teaching Fellow (2014)
• Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications

Prior to Michael becoming an academic member of staff within the School of Mathematics he was the inaugural Director of the University of Birmingham's STEM Education Centre. He is the former Director of the National HE STEM Programme, a three-year initiative which he co-developed and for which he secured funding totaling £21million from the Higher Education Funding Councils for England and Wales.

Between 2009-2012 the National HE STEM Programme had a remit to enhance the way in which universities recruited students and delivered programmes of study within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. He has been a key figure in supporting the STEM subjects deemed strategically important and vulnerable by government in 2005, when he worked to establish the More Maths Grads initiative (2006-2009), a £3.3million project designed to increase and widen participation within the mathematical sciences at university level. Previously he was Associate Director of the UK Maths, Stats & OR Network, a subject centre of the Higher Education Academy to enhance learning and teaching within the mathematical sciences at university-level.

A physicist by background, Michael works within the University of Birmingham and nationally on issues relating to learning and teaching within higher education. He established the University of Birmingham's Mathematics Support Centre in 2012 to ensure all undergraduate students have access to prompt support to aid their learning of mathematics within any discipline, and this forms one of his main research interests. He has made an international contribution to furthering mathematics support provision, and in recognition of his work in this area he was appointed Associate Director of the sigma Mathematics and Statistics Support Network which was first established through the National HE STEM Programme and then sustained by a further grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (2013-2016). Most recently he has been involved in re-establishing a national induction course and series of postgraduates teaching workshops for those new to teaching and learning mathematics and statistics within UK higher education in conjunction with the Isaac Newton Institute (INI), Cambridge, supporting colleagues to adapt their teaching for online delivery through the UK's TALMO initiative, and more widely through his work with the IMA, working to enhance learning and teaching policy and practice within the mathematical sciences in higher education.

His learning and teaching interests include supporting students at the transition to university, particularly in relation to non-specialist learning of mathematics; the teaching of mechanics, enhancing modeling and problem-solving skills, and helping mathematics students develop the graduate skills and abilities needed for a successful transition into the workplace. He supports the professional development of new academic members of staff and part-time teachers, and in 2005 established a national series of workshops (which have been now been adopted internationally) designed at aiding postgraduate students who are new to teaching mathematics at university – he has also written books and guides on this subject.

In 2010, Michael established a highly successful national programme of activity to promote and support scholarship, evaluation and research in learning and teaching within the STEM disciplines in higher education, and has published guides and resources for those who are looking to begin their activities in this area. Most recently he has been responsible, under the auspices of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, for establishing an annual mathematical sciences teaching and learning workshop series, raising the profile of disciplinary scholarship and educational research, and creating a new national University Teaching Award for the mathematical sciences (the IMA John Blake University Teaching Medal).

Semester 2

LC/LI Mathematical Modelling and Problem Solving

Research Themes

Michael's research interests are broad and include:

• Supporting mathematical learning at the transition to university.
• Supporting the specialist and more-able mathematics student.
• Mathematical modelling and problem solving.
• Developing graduate skills and attributes within the mathematical sciences.

Recently he has been working on:

• Mathematics support within higher education.
• Developing higher education curricula and enhancing teaching delivery within the mathematical sciences.
• Enhancing assessment and feedback within the mathematical sciences.
• Embedding sustainable innovation and enhancement activities within higher education and measuring their impact.

Michael has worked nationally and internationally on a range of learning and teaching activities including:

• Current member of the Mathcentre team, the UK’s online mathematics support centre.
• Current member of the Committee of the Heads of Departments of Mathematical Sciences.
• Current member of IMA (Institute of Mathematics and its Applications) Council and Executive Board.
• Editor of the Higher Education Academy funded book Transitions in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (2015).
• Former member of the Department for Children, Schools and Families/Department for Business, Innovation and Skills ‘STEM High Level Strategy Group’ and National STEM Centre ‘STEM Lead Organisations Group’.
• Member of 2007 QAA Subject Benchmark Group for Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research