Role
Professor Mary McAlinden is Deputy Dean of the School of Science and Technology at Nottingham Trent University where she leads on Teaching and Learning and the Student Experience across the School.
Career overview
Mary joined Nottingham Trent University in 2020, having worked previously at the University of Greenwich where she held several leadership roles including Head of the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Before this she spent three years on secondment to the Higher Education Academy as Discipline Lead for Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research. In this role she developed and led a high impact sector-wide programme of teaching and learning activity, which included professional development for academic staff and discipline specific training for teaching for lecturers and postgraduates new to teaching in higher education.
Research areas
Mary has a specialist interest in the role of Mathematics for the transition to higher education across disciplines. She was Project Lead for the Higher Education Academy project Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in the Disciplines and Tackling Transition and has organised and led many discussion events across the UK designed to facilitate cross-sector dialogue about the mathematical and statistical needs of disciplines within higher education.
Mary has considerable experience of leading and serving on conference organising committees and was the Chair of the Organising Committee for the Royal Society ACME Mathematics Education Policy Conference (2018).
She was wide ranging interests in teaching and learning in the Mathematical Sciences and beyond and has carried out many professional body accreditations.
External activity
Mary is the elected Chair of the Heads of Departments of Mathematical Sciences in the UK (HoDoMS) and has also served on the HoDoMS Committee in the role of elected Secretary. She has also served on many other prestigious Committees including the Royal Society's Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education and the Office for Students Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Natural Sciences Panel, as a Mathematics subject specialist. She is a member of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications Higher Education Committee and was a member of the Review Panel for the QAA Subject Benchmark for Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research.
She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Chartered Mathematician, a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and a Member of the London Mathematical Society.
Publications
McAlinden, M. and Noyes, A. (2019) Mathematics in the disciplines at the transition to university. Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, 38 (2), 61-73. Available from: doi: 10.1093/teamat/hry004.
McAlinden, M. and Noyes, A. (2018) Mathematics for the reformed science A-levels: Implications for science teaching. In: Golding, J., Bretscher, N., Crisan, C., Geraniou, E., Hodgen J. and C. Morgan (Eds). Research Proceedings of the 9th British Congress on Mathematics Education (3-6 April 2018, University of Warwick, UK), pp. 127-134.
McAlinden, M. and Noyes, A. (2017) Assessing mathematics within advanced school science qualifications. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. DOI: 10.1080/0969594X.2017.1321524.
Hodgen, J., McAlinden, M., and Tomei, A. (2014) Mathematical transitions: A report on the mathematical and statistical needs of students undertaking undergraduate studies in various disciplines. York: Higher Education Academy.
Press expertise
- Mathematics
- Teaching and Learning