Malcolm is the former Deputy Dean and Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment at Deakin University, Australia. He held the position of ADTL from 2003 through to 2019 and Deputy Dean from 2012 to 2020. In these roles he led the Faculty in developing teaching and learning outcomes for students and staff and enhancing the curriculum. Key projects have been Chair of the University Teaching and Learning Committee, Change Manager and Chair of the Implementation Team for the University Learning Management System, and project lead for the Faculty course enhancement process. In 2010 Malcolm was awarded an Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) national citation for his leadership of teaching and learning.

Find out more about Malcolm's leadership here.

The heart of my teaching lies in software development and human-computer interaction. Beginning in 1985, I have taught within this discipline for over 35 years. My teaching spans software development using a variety of languages and paradigms, relational database design and development, operating systems, information systems, text retrieval systems and web systems. All of these activities are underpinned by human-computer interaction understanding and thinking.

Examples of my work can be found here.

Over the years I have completed a number of projects that set the direction of teaching and learning within my faculty or across the university. Many of these projects have resulted in the development of frameworks for action.

Examples of my work can be found here.

As a keen, yet amateur photographer, I enjoy the hunt of that perfect landscape image. I have created a number of photo walls that highlight my work set out in a number of themes.

• Canada & Alaska - 2014 : Photo Wall
• Europe - 2016 : Photo Wall
• How to Make Bread - 2020 Video

In recent years I have found an interest in searching my family history. I have trawled through hundreds of old photos and searched through online databases and filled in many gaps that were unknown to even my mother. Still, there are many parts of my family history that will be impossible to discover such as the careers that my family had and how they went about work. For example, I know that my great-great-grandfather, William Muir, was a school principal in Truganina, but how did he become a teacher? I know that my grandmother was a seamstress but yearned to be an actress. Why? I never knew either of my grandfathers, and although I know their occupations, I have heard no stories about their work and their colleagues.

My motivation for documenting my career is to put down my story for my grandchildren and great grandchildren should they, one day, want to search for their family history. It is there for them, so they can understand what I did and what it meant to me. As I write this, I have spent half my life at one institution. My career as an academic has sustained me and engaged me with such a passion, that I felt there was no need to move elsewhere. I have been a learner for all of my life and I am still learning — I love to teach myself new things. So, when people ask me what I do, I simply say that I am a teacher.

My career is documented here.

In the TV series NCIS, the protagonist Gibbs brings a code of practice to his team — something to live by — with his set of rules. I have often wondered what my rules or lessons would be?

On reflection, they are encapsulated in the stories and discussions I have had, and still have, with my family around the dinner table.

My life’s lessons can be found here.