James Waters, Ph.D., joined the Cabrini faculty in 2009 because he was attracted to the Cabrinian philosophy of addressing crucial issues of social justice, the dedicated faculty, and also to what he describes as the “frankly stunning campus.”
Waters teaches all course-levels in information science and technology. Through his constructivist/reflective teaching philosophy, Waters believes that students learn by doing.
From in-class skills practice to analyzing complex interconnected systems, students need to have both abstract and knowledge-in-action.
Waters’ research focuses on how to make the online learning experience more effective. He investigates student engagement in online learning environments, with a focus on understanding the role played by peer-learning behaviors.
“Early findings suggest an alternative model for constructivist learning to that proposed by Dewey, focused on the active encouragement of student ‘thought‑leaders,’” Waters says.
In analyzing data, Waters draws on models of collaborative learning, knowledge construction, and social networks. He then applies his findings to designing a framework for online learning environments.
Waters has authored and co-authored many peer-reviewed research papers, including “Thought-Leaders in Asynchronous Online Learning Environments” in the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, “Distributed Knowledge Construction in an Online Community of Inquiry” for the Hawai`i International Conference on System Sciences, and “Design and Evaluation of a Shoulder-Surfing Resistant Graphical Password Scheme” for the Advanced Visual Interfaces International Working Conference.
His conference presence includes presentations at
- The International Conference on Information Systems
- The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
- The 32nd Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
- Drexel University’s 7th Annual E-Learning Conference
Waters earned doctoral and master’s degrees in information science from Drexel University, a master’s in occupational psychology from the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, and a bachelor of arts in psychology from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom.
Waters’ hometown is Darlington, County Durham, U.K. He enjoys classical music, horror/sci-fi movies and walking his two dogs.
Contact Information:
James Waters, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Information Science and Technology
Iadarola Center, Room 122
610-902-1072
james.waters@cabrini.edu
http://pages.cabrini.edu/jw649