688193 visits since 1/11/99.
We live in the cusp of time. The world is undergoing change in every area, and it is fun to be a part of it. As we are in the beginning of this new millennium, we have an awesome responsibility to help craft the designs and directions for the future as knowledge and technology propel us to our destiny. Unfortunately, we have not done a very good job in the past and users of technology are frustrated! The result: COMPUTER RAGE (Please visit this link and fill out the survey on computer rage.)
My interests are in cognitive psychology, human/computer interaction, and the design of electronic educational environments. I have been very interested in models of judgment and decision making and have applied these to the behavior of computer interfaces. Specifically, I have studied menu selection; and in 1991 published the first book on this topic: "The Psychology of Menu Selection: Designing Cognitive Control at the Human/Computer Interface,"
More recently I have been looking at the user interface design of electronic classrooms and of all electronic education in general. I am currently working on the design of HyperCourseware and the issue of human/computer interaction in the classroom and beyond. Most of this effort has emerged in the on-line book: "Teaching in the Switched on Classroom: An Introduction to Electronic Education and HyperCourseware"
This last semester will mark the 20th semester teaching in the AT&T Teaching Theater, the IBM-TQM Teaching Theater or the OITS Teaching Theater.
Now for a little of academic background. I received my undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas in 1969 and my Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1973. After Iowa I went to UCSD in La Jolla, California for post doctoral research on judgment and decision making. My first teaching position was at the University of Alabama. I came to the University of Maryland in 1975 to join the Quantitative Psychology program and have been here ever since. My complete vita is on-line.
On the personal side, I have been "very married" since 1979 to Karen who graduated that year with a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Maryland, Department of Art. In 1980, we had our first child, Kirk, who has now graduated from UMD in archeology and art history.
In the Fall of 1981, we visited the Oregon Research Institute for three months and then in the Spring of 1982 we went to Australia for seven months on my first sabbatical. In Australia, I helped to conduct a nationwide survey on the introduction of cable television and interactive services. Katryn was born in 1983.
Then in the Spring of 1986, we went on a Fulbright Fellowship to India for six months where I did research on attitudes about computers. In 1990, we went again on sabbatical, this time to Cambridge, England to work on hypermedia at the MRC-APU. Karitsa was born in 1991 and Kaleb was born in 1994. In the Spring of 1997, we spent my next sabbatical in Israel. During this time I worked with the Center for the Design of Distance Education Methodology at the Open University of Israel and collaborated on new methods of distance education on the WWW. (Israel was wonderful!)
Finally, in the Spring of this year (2004), I took a four month sabbatical to Rome, Italy where I visited the University of Rome, "La Sapienza", Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Informazione. While there, I also worked with the Sports Psychology Department in the L'Istituto Universitario di Scienze Motorie and the Cognitive Science Lab in the Dipartimento di Psicologia. (Rome the eternal city!)
I should also add that I like to windsurf at my parents-in-law's place on the Eastern Shore near St. Michaels. We are home schooling our youngest two children with the help of Cedar Brook Academy.
Life is an intricate cord of family, friends, travel, academics, and more.