Professor Paul van Schaik

National Teaching Fellow 2008 Professor Paul van Schaik is a teacher of psychological research methods and the psychology of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at the University of Teesside. He was educated at the University of Utrecht and the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Using computers to enhance his teaching, Paul has developed a suite of highly interactive computer-based psychological experiments to aid students learning of experimental methods in psychology, research design and data analysis. He also designed computer-based (electronic performance support) systems to help students to do their revision of research methods and to make more productive use of library resources. In his teaching of the psychology of HCI Paul used computers not only to teach students this subject, but also devised an innovative assessment. Here they had to demonstrate their application of psychological methods and models in an exciting project, developing a web site of entirely their own creation. Using the same approach as in his work with students, Paul worked with his colleagues to improve the process of collecting assessment results by developing an electronic performance support system for them. He has inspired others to develop electronic performance support systems for their students at Teeside and elsewhere. Through his work as a widely published researcher in HCI and computer-based learning, and as a reviewer and editor for academic journals, Paul has educated many colleagues around the world in these areas. He has been very keen to work with researchers from various backgrounds in applying the psychology of HCI in a range of domains, from medical decision-making to virtual reality-based rehabilitation and evidence-based practice in physiotherapy. As a member of the Social Futures Institute, Paul sees many exciting challenges ahead in this field, particularly the application of the psychology of HCI to multidisciplinary projects.