Dr. James Brunton

Working within DCU’s School of Psychology, in the Faculty of Science and Health, James’ research centers on two main areas, Identity Studies and Open Approaches to Digital Transformation. Much of his research relates to the psychology of technology, education, and society, with a focus on improving equity, access, and inclusion in higher education, through online learning, open education, and open research. Previous research has examined the psychology of identity, identity formation, and identity management processes, socialisation/orientation processes for ‘off-campus’ higher education students, online learning design, open pedagogy, and critical digital pedagogy. James is available to supervise doctoral students in any of these areas of research interest. 

James has been the principal investigator/DCU principal investigator on a number of locally and EU funded projects, including ENGAGED (Co-Creating Ireland's Public Involvement in Open Research Roadmap) the Opengame (Promoting Open Education through Gamification) project and BUKA (Advancing Equity and Access to Higher Education through Open and Distance Learning) project. 

James' research has been published in journals such as Postdigital Science and Education, Distance Education,  Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, Open Praxis, Educational Media International, Frontiers in Psychology, Research in Learning Technology, and Studies in Higher Education.

James’ main teaching interests are in Social and Organisational Psychology, Qualitative Research Methods, and the undergraduate psychology research project process. With over 15 years of experience teaching in online learning/open education modules, using a model specifically developed for the off-campus context, he has established expertise in online learning design, digital assessment, open pedagogical practices, and the use of educational technology.