Teaching Philosophy

I seek to deliver a student learning experience that promotes intellectual curiosity. My epistemic beliefs reflect a dominant constructivist perspective and the pedagogy that I deploy supports student agency through innovative Assessment for Learning activities (i.e. Flipped Learning / Book Jigsaw / Rich Pictures/ Vlogging for reflection).

As a Senior Teaching Fellow I have directed my efforts to creating reciprocal knowledge exchange between students and employers. This has resulted in significant ‘time in kind’ and direct financial contributions by employers for undergraduate curriculum & co-curriculum activities:

Graduate Mentoring 3^rd year Students 2010-2023. As of May 2023, 1066 student mentees have participated, 80 employers have assisted and 265 industry mentors have providing guidance to the mentees.

Constructionarium (ConStructEd Scotland) 2010-2023. Co-curricular 5 day summer camp (experiential learning) since where student teams project manage and build replica structures. As of May 2023 this has resulted in 255 undergraduates participating and this has created circa 102,000 hrs. of voluntary student CPD and circa £150,000 of industrial sponsor support through materials, construction plant and management costs.

Civil Engineering 4 Real (CE4R 2012-2023) co-curricular problem based workshops facilitate peer (voluntary attendance, N=533) learning across all five years of the undergraduate course. As of May 2023, 124 workshops have been delivered by 201 engineers representing 72 employers. 2282 student attendances has resulted in 4564 hrs. of student CPD.

My pedagogy has been commended by the Quinqennial Review Panel (2015 & 2021) and recognized by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) Accreditation panels 2010, 2015, 2020; External Examiners Report 2020, and is explicitly referenced in the annual National Student Survey (NSS) free-text positive responses.

Teaching Awards

18/05/2023: Short Listed (Going the Extra Mile) Strathclyde Student Union Teaching Excellence Awards

08/06/2021: Winner- Faculty of Engineering Excellence in Teaching Awards.-Excellence in Supporting Students during the 2020-21 academic year.

30/04/2019: Nominated (Long Listed) Most Enthusiastic Teacher. “It was great to have you as my teacher Mike. You are definitely one of the most enthusiastic lecturers I have ever known or will ever know, probably”.

11/05/2018: Most Innovative University Teacher  & Shortlisted Best Teacher in Faculty of Engineering- “ The amount of different ways this man has found to engage students with the wider Civil Engineering community is too long to list and I hope he finally gets the recognition he deserves”.

17/05/2017: Shortlisted Best Teacher in Faculty of Engineering “He goes above and beyond his role as a lecturer. Mike encourages students to take part in further reading and broaden their education with site visits and workshops. His passion for the course and genuine interest in the industry really encourages students to have ambition whilst pursuing their career”.

14/05/2015: Shortlisted Best Overall University Teacher “I feel I owe an incredible amount to him. He has built relationships with companies, organises site visits and forwards job advertisement to us”…“He makes such an effort for his students, and I think he should be recognised for this”.

07/05/2014: Best Teacher in Faculty-Engineering “He has such enthusiasm and ensures his students know what working life is like”.

15/05/2013: In Recognition of Teaching Excellence “Not a week goes by when he doesn’t go beyond the call of duty as a lecturer to try to introduce something extra or new, not just to us students but to the department as a whole. He inspires us to set our goals high and engages with students as equals”.

 24/03/2010: Award in Recognition of Outstanding Teaching “Mike Murray is one of the best lecturers I have met so far, and has helped immensely in my learning in the department”.

I joined Strathclyde in January 1998 (EPSRC Grant Research Assistant) and secured a lectureship post in 2000. I gained a PhD in 2003 and this brought to a close a 23 year educational journey of part-time and full-time studies. On leaving secondary school with no formal qualifications (1980) I embarked on a 4 year apprenticeship as a plumbing and heating engineer and subsequently worked for a further two years applying my craft in domestic and industrial settings. Thereupon, I lectured (plumbing and building studies) in three Further Education colleges (1986-1992) before embarking on full time studies in construction management (BSc (Hons) 1^st Class, Napier University, 1992) and (MSc, Heriot Watt University, 1996). Between 1996 and starting at Strathclyde in 1998 I lectured at the Robert Gordon University and Fife College.

I am currently a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering).I completed a Certificate in Education (Cert-Ed) in 1992 and a PG Certificate Learning and Teaching in HE (PGCLTHE) in 2016. I have been a Senior Fellow of the HEA (PR234083) since 2021.

Since 2013 I have been an active in pedagogical research and have published in several journals (i.e. Teaching in Higher Education; European Journal of Engineering Education, Higher Education Pedagogies; Industry & Higher Education) and have disseminated my scholarship and research  through the Strathclyde  Sharing Practice in Effective Learning & teaching (SPELT) webpage (https://spelt.strath.ac.uk/display/SPELT/Faculty+of+Engineering) and at QAA Scotland; Advance HE, and Engineering Education conferences:

Murray, M. (2022). An Industry-Student Mentoring Scheme 2010-2022, Engineering Professors Council Crucible Project, 16^th February, Session 1: Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Video3470518334, http://epc.ac.uk/recent-events/    & Toolkit available (Members Portal) @  http://epc.ac.uk/crucible-project-toolkit/

Murray, M., Hendry, G, & McQuade, R. (2019). Workplace Experience: Co-curricular Learning for Undergraduates 2012-2019. In, New approaches to engineering higher education in practice, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and Engineering Professors’ Council (EPC). pp 36-39, http://epc.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/New-Approaches-Proceedings-Nov19.pdf

I am proposer and co-chair for an International Symposium of Engineering Education (ISEE), to be held 1-2nd September 2022 at Strathclyde, https://www.strath.ac.uk/engineering/iseeconference/

External Examiner

University College of Estate Management: External Examiner, MSc Construction Management programme, October 2020- October 2024.

Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland: External Examiner, BSc (Hons) Construction Project Management, Faculty of Engineering & Science, 2012-2016

University of Central England, Birmingham: External Examiner MSc Construction Project Management, School of Property, Construction and Planning, 2006-2009

Member of external Course Validation Panel: MSc Construction Project Management, School of the Built Environment, Napier University, Edinburgh, June 2004

Peer Reviewer (Journals)

• European Journal of Engineering Education, 2016 onward.
• Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems, 2017 onward.
• Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 2017 onward.
• International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education- 2018 onward.
• Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning-2018 onward.

My PhD studies and early publications have focused on construction management topics. However, since 2010, I have found a comfortable home within what I would consider to be ‘active’ pedagogical studies, grounded through my immersion in teaching and learning activities. My personal ontological (reality is subjective) and epistemological (knowledge creation is socially constructed) beliefs shape my approach to learning, teaching and research activities. Recent Publications:

Murray, M., Pytharouli, S & Douglas, J. (2022).  Opportunities for the Development of Professional Skills for Undergraduate Civil and Environmental Engineers, European Journal of Engineering Education DOI/MS ID: 10.1080/03043797.2022.2031897 / 210690459

Murray, M. (2022). An Industry-Student Mentoring Scheme 2010-2022, Engineering Professors Council Crucible Project, 16^th February, Session 1: Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Video3470518334, http://epc.ac.uk/recent-events/    & Toolkit available (Members Portal) @ http://epc.ac.uk/crucible-project-toolkit/

Pilcher, N., Galbrun, L., Craig, N., Murray, M., Forster, A., Tennant, S. (2021).'Role requirements in Academic Recruitment for Construction & Engineering’ European Journal of Engineering Education, 46(2):247-265.https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2020.1725451.