Martyn Broadhead

Dr Martyn Broadhead PhD, FHEA, QTLS, BSc (Hons), CertEd

Lecturer in Video Games Design & Development

Dr Martyn Broadhead is a Lecturer in Games Design and Development specialising in Motion Capture, 3D Animation and Character Control. He has over two decades of combined experience in the creative industries and higher education, contributing expertise that bridges professional practice, digital production and pedagogy. His career background includes community theatre, graphic design and social enterprise, leading to a sustained focus on integrating creative production with emerging technologies in teaching and learning.

Over the past thirteen years, Martyn has designed and led a range of undergraduate modules in Games Design, 3D Animation and Visual Effects. His teaching is informed by advanced technical knowledge of Autodesk Maya, Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Houdini, Unity and Unreal Engine. He is recognised for delivering high-quality inclusive teaching and for maintaining consistently strong student satisfaction, receiving the Accessible Education Award (2023) at the University of Greenwich Student-Led Teaching Awards.

His scholarly interests focus on inclusive and experiential learning within immersive and interactive environments. His doctoral research investigated the use of augmented reality to enhance literacy learning, contributing to wider discussions on accessibility, user experience and the pedagogical application of emerging technologies in creative education.

Games development

Responsibilities within the university

Module Leader

  • Research Methods for Games (RESE-1204)
  • Games Portfolio (COMP-1923)
  • Visual Effects for Games (COMP-1873)
  • Character Animation and Control (COMP-1866)
  • 3D Animation Techniques (COMP-1862)
  • 3D Modelling (COMP-1777)

Supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate projects

  • Final Year Projects (COMP-1682)
  • Final Year Individual Project (COMP-1870)

Other

  • Personal Tutor providing academic and pastoral support
  • Outreach and recruitment through Open Days and schools’ engagement

Awards
  • University of Greenwich Accessible Education Award, Student-Led Teaching Awards (2023)
  • School Prize for Outstanding Achievement, University of Greenwich (2011)

Recognition
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • Contributor to TIGA accreditation preparation (Games Industry Education Standards)

Research / Scholarly interests

Research focuses on the integration of emerging technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), in education, particularly for enhancing early literacy through phonics instruction. It examines how AR tools can support the teaching of systematic synthetic phonics by aligning technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. Recent work has investigated the development and usability of marker-based AR applications, such as Magic Spell Phonics (https://www.magic-spell-phonics.com/), to facilitate multisensory learning, phoneme-grapheme correspondence, and reading fluency. There is a particular interest in how these tools can be adapted to meet the needs of diverse learners and provide differentiated instruction in primary education.

The research also explores the application of video game technology in educational contexts. This includes investigating how game-based mechanics be leveraged to create more immersive and effective learning environments. The potential of video games to enhance motivation, provide real-time feedback, and promote deeper learning through experiential and problem-solving activities is of particular interest, especially in subjects not traditionally exposed to these technologies.

Recent publications

Rodney, Ross, Weinel, Jonathan and Broadhead, Martyn (2023) Retro stylistic transformations in games. In: Proceedings of EVA London 2023. BCS London 10th – 14th July 2023. Electronic Workshops in Computing . EVA London Electronic Visualisation and the Arts - BCS Learning and Development Ltd., Arts BCS London Office, London and Swindon, pp. 240-242. ISBN 978-1780176161 ISSN 1477-9358 (doi:https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/EVA2023.44)

Pyjas, Gabriela Maria, Weinel, Jonathan and Broadhead, Martyn (2022) Storytelling and VR: ιnducing emotions through AI characters. In: Proceedings of EVA (Electronic Visualisation & the Arts). EVA London 2022 (4th - 8th July 2022). Electronic Workshops in Computing . BCS Learning and Development Ltd., Swindon, pp. 194-204. ISBN 978-1780175942 ISSN 1477-9358 (doi:https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/EVA2022.37)

Tsjornaja, Anne, Weinel, Jonathan and Broadhead, Martyn (2022) Art(NET)work: visualising interconnected artwork data in VR. In: Proceedings of EVA (Electronic Visualisation & the Arts). EVA London 2022 (4th - 8th July 2022). Electronic Workshops in Computing . BCS Learning and Development Ltd., Swindon, pp. 250-251. ISBN 978-1780175942 ISSN 1477-9358 (doi:https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/EVA2022.47)

Broadhead, Martyn, Daylamani-Zad, Damon, MacKinnon, Lachlan and Bacon, Liz (2018) A multisensory 3D environment as intervention to aid reading in dyslexia: A proposed framework. In: 2018 10th International Conference on Virtual Worlds and Games for Serious Applications (VS-Games). IEEE, pp. 1-4. ISBN 978-1-5386-7124-5 ISSN 2474-0470 (Print), 2474-0489 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1109/VS-Games.2018.8493407)