Dr Margaret Marshman is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Physics Education for the School of Education and Tertiary Access. She has been associated with the university since 2011.
As a teacher educator and researcher, Margaret is uniquely positioned with high level qualifications and experience in both mathematics and science, and expertise in teacher education in these fields, allowing her to navigate the boundary between these two fields. Margaret is passionate about mathematics teacher education and the need for mathematics teachers who can inspire students. She wants everyone to see the beauty, wonder, and usefulness of mathematics and for some to overcome their sometimes-debilitating fear of mathematics. Margaret promotes this philosophy through pre-service and in-service teacher education using evidence from current classroom research.
Margaret’s research centres around the formation of identity among mathematics teacher educators, drawing insights from preservice teachers' experiences and the tensions they encounter between how they are taught mathematics and how they are taught to teach mathematics. Additionally, her research is driven by industry engagement and the aim to enhance problem-solving, inquiry-based teaching, and curriculum development in STEM and statistics education.
Margaret’s teacher education strengths involve secondary mathematics and science and education research for post-graduate students as a pathway to higher degree study.
Margaret’s research focused on the impact of student beliefs on their mathematical learning and shifted towards investigating teacher beliefs. Currently, her research centres around the formation of identity among mathematics teacher educators, drawing insights from preservice teachers' experiences. Additionally, her research aims to enhance problem-solving, inquiry-based teaching, and curriculum development in STEM and statistics education.
Aware of the need to translate research for the practicing teachers Margaret co-authored Mathematics, Affect and Learning: Middle school students’ beliefs and attitudes about mathematics education (Grootenboer & Marshman, 2016) and was editor of The Australian Mathematics Teacher and (2018) and Australian Mathematics Education Journal (AMEJ) (2019-2022).
| Grant/Project Name | Investigators | Funding Body & Amount | Years |
| Curriculum reform in school mathematics: Building capacity for mathematics teacher professional learning | S.Dole, M. Goos, E. Ross, M. Marshman, A. Bennison |
Independent Schools Queensland $20,000 |
2022 - 2023 |
Research areas
- Mathematics Education
- Science Education
Teaching areas
- Secondary Mathematics Curriculum and Pedagogy
- Secondary Science Curriculum and Pedagogy
- Education Research
Program coordinator
Margaret's area of expertise includes: mathematics, science education, literacy and numeracy, education research.