Patricia Boechler

Patricia Boechler

Associate Professor; Coordinator, MEd Technology in Education Specialization

Educational Psychology
patricia.boechler@ualberta.ca

Research and Interests

Dr. Patricia Boechler's general research interests include cognition, memory, learning and developmental psychology. For the last ten years her research has been centered around the study of cognition and learning in educational technology, particularly in investigating cognitive and educational frameworks that can inform our use of these technologies. Dr. Boechler is interested in understanding how various technologies (websites, on-line communication applications, video games, virtual reality applications) can be optimized for educational purposes. Below is a list of her current and ongoing projects: 

  • designing and testing a virtual world (Second Life) communications skills program  for health science students and student orientation
  • using video game creation in the classroom for teaching and learning
  • video game use and its effects on attributions of aggression and cognitive reasoning.
  • implicit processing of information in educational websites and its relation to cognitive styles, literacy and spatial skills. 
  • a series of studies on older adults and computer use focusing on correlations between various cognitive skills and perceptual abilities, and performance on computer tasks.

Representative Publications

King, S, Greidanus, E, Carbonaro, M, Drummond, J, Boechler, P, & Kahlke, R (2010). Synchronous Problem-Based e-learning (ePBL) in Interprofessional Health Science Education. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 9 (2), 133-150.

Boechler, P, Mrazik, M, Watchorn, R, Georgiou, R, & Dragon, K (2010). Video Game Violence and Interactivity: Good News for the Classroom. Proceedings of Ed-Media 2010, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (pp. 2307-2312). Chesapeake, Virginia: Association for Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

Chodos, D, Stroulia, E, Boechler, P, King, S, Kuras, P, Carbonaro, M, & deJong, E (2010). Healthcare Education with Virtual-World Simulations. Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Software Engineering in Health Care, SEHC 2010 (pp. 89-99). Washington DC, USA: The IEEE Computer Society.

Boechler, P.M., King, S., Stroulia, E., & Carbonaro, M. (2009). Using Virtual Environments for an Interprofessional Communications Skills Instructional Program for Health Science Education. Proceedings of Ed-Media 2009, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications, Honolulu, USA.

Boechler, P.M., Krol, A., Raso, J., & Blois, T. (2009). Virtual reality interventions for rehabilitation: Considerations for developing protocols. In B.K. Wiederhold & G. Riva (Eds.) The Annual Review Of Cybertherapy and Cybermedicine 2009. Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press.

Boechler, P. M. (2008). Aging and On-line Learning. In P. Rogers, G. Berg, J. Boettcher, C. Howard, L. Justice & K. Schenk (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Distance and Online Learning (2nd ed.). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Boechler, P.M., Leenaars, L., & Levner, I. (2008). Recreational vs. educational computer experience: Predicting explicit and implicit learning outcomes in a website search. Proceedings of the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (SITE 2008). Las Vegas, Nevada: AACE.

Boechler, P. M. (2007). Understanding cognitive processes in educational hypermedia. In L. Tomei (Ed.). Online and Distance Learning: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.

Boechler, P.M., Foth, D. & Watchorn, R. (2007). Educational technology research with older adults: Adjustments in protocol, materials and procedures. Educational Gerontology.

Dawson, M.R.W., & Boechler, P.M. (2007).  Coarse coding of compass directions: Representing an intrinsically nonmetric space in an artificial neural network. The International Journal of Cognitive Informatics & Natural Intelligence.

Boechler, P.M., Levner, I., Leenaars, L, & Steffler, D. (2006). Navigation and learning in educational hypermedia: Are poor readers at a disadvantage? Proceedings Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA) 2006,  Barcelona, Spain.: AACE

Boechler, P. M. (2005). Understanding cognitive processes in educational hypermedia. In C. Ghaoui (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.

Dawson, M.R.W., Boechler, P.M. & Orsten, J. (2005). Allocentric coding of direction to represent distances between locations in a metric space. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 5,1, 29-68. 

Boechler, P.M, & Dawson, M.R.W. (2005). The effects of spatial layout on relationships between performance, path patterns and mental representation in a hypermedia information search task. International Journal of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 2, 1, 31- 46.

Boechler, P.M. & Dawson, M.R.W. (2002) The effects of navigation tool information on hypertext navigation behavior: A configural analysis of page-transition data. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 11, 2, 95-115.

Boechler, P.M. (2001). How spatial is Hyperspace? Interacting with hypertext documents: Cognitive processes and concepts, Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 4, 1, 23-46.

Courses Taught

EDIT 486 – Interactive Multimedia – Video Games for Teaching and Learning
EDU 575 – Theory and Practice in Educational Technology
EDPY 497 – Psychological Theory and Technology in Education
EDPY 597 – The Psychology of Technology-based Learning
EDPY 509 – Child Development: Theories and Issues
EDPY 402 – Child Development for Educators
EDU 510 –  Fundamentals of Educational Research