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Dr Martin Braun

Profile summary

  • Regional Academic Staff
  • Staff Tutor in Physical Sciences
  • Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
  • School of Physical Sciences
  • martin.braun

Professional biography

After serving an apprenticeship as an electrical/electronics engineer at a machine factory in Germany and working in the industry for some years, Martin studied electrical engineering/electronics in Germany and the UK. This was followed by Chinese languages studies in Taiwan sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service. Following his return to Europe, Martin settled in England and worked as an Approvals and Production Engineer during which time his company sponsored his part-time MSc studies at the University of York. As circumstances changed Martin successfully transitioned into self-employment as a manufacturing improvement consultant, leading the implementation of Lean manufacturing in several companies. During this time Martin also found time to complete an MA in Chinese Studies (with merit).

In 2011 Martin won an M&S co-sponsored PhD place at the e-futures Doctorial Training Centre at the University of Sheffield. He transitioned into education after graduation, gaining a PGCE in 2017. Martin secured a position as Programme Manager at Leeds City College which saw him in charge of the engineering HE provision. Whilst at Leeds City College, Martin started working as an OU Associate Lecturer. He became a Staff Tutor at the Open University in 2021 and has also achieved the status of Senior Fellow from Advance HE.

Research interests

Martin’s current research interests in educational research particularly focusing on how to improve on-line instructional methods and how to embed sustainability related aspects into the curriculum. Furthermore, he is also interested in investigating how to teach electric power system engineering in an accessible way.

Publications

A literature review of online exams in HE in Physics and Maths (2024)
Braun, Martin
New Directions in the Teaching of Natural Sciences, 19(1)

Research skills modules for further education college based top-up degrees (2023)
Braun, Martin
Research in Education ((Early access))

A pilot study investigating further education engineering lecturers’ readiness for the shift in Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) assessment (2019-11)
Braun, Martin
Research in Education, 105(1) (pp. 42-59)

Illustrating the relationship between the coefficient of performance and the coefficient of system performance by means of an R404 supermarket refrigeration system (2016-10)
Braun, M.R.; Walton, P. and Beck, S.B.M.
International Journal of Refrigeration, 70 (pp. 225-234)

Estimating the impact of climate change and local operational procedures on the energy use in several supermarkets throughout Great Britain (2016-01)
Braun, M. R.; Beck, S. B. M.; Walton, P. and Mayfield, M.
Energy and Buildings, 111 (pp. 109-119)

Using regression analysis to predict the future energy consumption of a supermarket in the UK (2014-10)
Braun, M.R.; Altan, H. and Beck, S.B.M.
Applied Energy, 130 (pp. 305-313)

Developing reflective assessment tasks to engage physics students with the key sustainability competencies (2024)
Braun, Martin; Dawes, Anita; Jordan, Sally; Wood, Carlton; Andrianova, Olga; Nita, Maria; Gough, Georgina; Calder, Kathleen; Astles, Paul; Meade, Rosie; Cox, Teresa and Elliott, Anna
In : 13th eSTEeM Annual Conference (10-11 Apr 2024, Milton Keynes, UK)

Developing reflective assessment tasks to engage physics students with the key sustainability competencies (2024)
Braun, Martin; Dawes, Anita; Jordan, Sally; Wood, Carlton; Andrianova, Olga; Nita, Maria; Gough, Georgina; Calder, Kathleen; Astles, Paul; Meade, Rosie; Cox, Teresa and Elliott, Anna
In : Advance HE’s Teaching and Learning Conference 2024: Future-Focused Education: Innovation, Inclusion, and Impact (2-4 Jul 2024, Nottingham Trent University, UK)

Physics and maths online exams in HE – A literature review (2023)
Braun, M. R.
In : Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference (28-29 Jun 2023, Swansea University)

Investigating how to enhance the idea generation process for academic projects by engineering students (2022)
Braun, M. R.; Bates, I.; Carter, K.; Holford, J. and Kirk, K.
In : Teaching and Learning Conference: Teaching in the spotlight: Where next for enhancing student success? (5-7 Jul 2022, Northumbria University)

HE research skills for top-up degrees at Leeds City College – and is engineering any different? (2019)
Braun, M. R.
In : HE Research and Scholarship Conference (2019, Leeds City College, Leeds)

Are FE Engineering lecturers prepared for the paradigm shift in BTEC assessment? (2017)
Braun, M. R.
In : Subject Specialist Conference (2017, Huddersfield)

MET data for energy use modelling (2015)
Braun, M. R.
In : E-Futures Autumn Conference (2015, University of Sheffield, Sheffield)

Comparing COP Optimization with Maximizing the Coefficient of System Performance for Refrigeration Systems in Supermarkets (2014)
Braun, M. R.; Beck, S. B. M. and Altan, H.
In : 15th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference (2014, Purdue University, Purdue)

Using IBM SPSS Statistics to identify predictors of electricity consumption in a UK supermarket (2013)
Braun, M. R.; Altan, H. and Beck, S. B. M.
In : Energy and Sustainability 2013 (2013, The Wessex Institute of Technology, Bucharest)

Voltage optimisation and lighting technology (2013)
Braun, M. R.
In : Postgraduate symposium on household energy consumption, technology and efficiency 2012 (2013, University of Birmingham, Birmingham)