Rate My Professor James Goulding

Dr. James Goulding is a Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, within the College of Human and Social Futures. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Sydney. His research focuses on the social practices surrounding technology use in educational settings, with particular emphasis on online information literacy and micro-credentials. Goulding aims to support open, honest, and democratic deliberation online. His fields of research include learning sciences (50%), work-integrated learning (including internships) (25%), and humanities and social sciences curriculum and pedagogy (excluding economics, business, and management) (25%). Keywords associated with his work are online information literacy, micro-credentials, sociocultural theory, digital literacies, educational psychology, and sociocultural theory.

As an early-career researcher, Goulding has attracted more than $231,000 in competitive grant funding, contributing to total grants of $427,611 across four projects. He led the Additional Routes to Success: Digital Badges (ARTS-DB) project ($182,955, NCFE, 2022), served as an investigator on Fair, inclusive learning dashboards: Student, educator, industry and legal perspectives ($221,080, Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success, 2025-2026), obtained funding for an Eye Tracking Wearable ($13,576, CAPEX, University of Newcastle, 2024), and the 2024 Pilot Research Scheme – SOUTHGATE ($10,000, College of Human and Social Futures, 2024). His publication record includes four peer-reviewed journal articles, two scholarly book chapters, and thirteen peer-reviewed conference papers in leading outlets such as Higher Education Research & Development (2024), Journal of the Learning Sciences (2021), and Teaching and Teacher Education (2021). Key publications are 'Historical thinking online: An analysis of expert and non-expert readings of historical websites' (2021), 'Awarding digital badges: research from a first-year university course' (2024), 'Australian teachers' perceptions of effectiveness in a performative culture' (2021), 'Approaches to Historical Learning' (2021), and 'Using Websites to Develop Historical Thinking' (2019). Goulding coordinates EDUC1038 Foundations of Secondary Education, supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds, has co-supervised one completed PhD, and previously served as Chief Investigator on a $186,000 project for digital credentialling. At the University of Sydney, he received the Dean’s Citation for Excellence in Tutorial Teaching with Distinction and Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy for inclusive assessment practices.