Rate My Professor Miguel Morales

Miguel Morales is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering within the College of Engineering at the University of Canterbury. He holds the position of Director of Studies in Software Engineering and serves as an academic member and contributor to the Software Engineering Research and Applications Lab, which focuses on improving software development practices, including requirements engineering, architecture, processes, and empirical software engineering. Morales earned his PhD in Computer Science from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 2015, a master's degree in Software Engineering and Databases in 2010, and a BSc in Computer Sciences in 2007, all from the same institution. His research specializations encompass software engineering, software processes, software quality, agile software development, process improvement, database analysis, requirements analysis, IT project management, and computer science education.

Before joining the University of Canterbury in 2017 as a Lecturer, later promoted to Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor, Morales served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico from February 2011 to December 2017 and as a Researcher there from August 2010 to December 2017. In parallel, he accumulated substantial industry experience as a Business Analyst, Software Quality Assurance specialist, Project and Product Manager, and founded and directed a software startup until 2017. Morales received the University of Canterbury's 2021 Teaching Excellence Award for early-career academics in the College of Engineering, recognizing his innovative, student-centered pedagogies such as gamified applications for programming and test anxiety reduction, and the KUALI-Brick LEGO-based activity for teaching software process improvement and quality assurance concepts. These methods enhance student motivation, engagement, academic performance, work-readiness skills, and understanding of ethical and social impacts. He supervises undergraduate, Master's, and PhD students and has garnered international interest in his empirical teaching studies. Additionally, Morales contributes to the field through membership in the Object Management Group and the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 Software and Systems Engineering subcommittee. Key publications include 'Gamification and SQL: an empirical study on student performance and engagement' (2020), 'Learning Software Quality Assurance with Bricks' (2021), 'A Systematic Mapping Study on Privacy by Design in Software Engineering' (2019), 'Information needs in bug reports for web applications' (2024), 'Risktionary: Drawing and Guessing for Learning about Risk Management' (2025), and 'Artificial Intelligence Learning Paradox: How Over Reliance on it Undermines Mastery in Agile Software Project Management' (2026). His Google Scholar profile reports over 450 citations.