My name is Chris Martin, I’m a researcher in applied computing working in the School of Computing, University of Dundee, Scotland. I’m involved in research, teaching and outreach in the School of Computing.

As well as the conventional computing of programming on a variety of platforms I’m interested in how we make technology fit the people its crafted for. Utilizing tools such as focus groups, live theatre and ethnographic techniques , I’m not surprised to discover that the richness and complexity of the people we work and design for far outweigh the complexity of the technology we seek to construct.

In particular and the focus of my ongoing PhD research is an interest in computer programing and how programers support themselves in solving problems. Where a programmer may be a senior analyst in large software development company or a Primary school child first discovering that sequence, decision and repetition can make a robot dance. Can grounding the abstract components of a computer program in a physical device improve success in programming...?