Research Interests

I study learning and teaching in complex and interactive technology-enhanced learning environments, which integrate technology to organize learning activities into meaningful and relevant contexts. Cognitive and socio-cultural theories of learning and the design-based research paradigm inform much of my scholarship.

One contribution of my research is the conceptual, methodological, and empirical foundation for the use of neuroscience methods and tools in the study of learning. I was one of the first educational researchers to use Electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cognitive dynamics in an authentic learning task involving hypertext. As evidenced by the recent emphasis on the study of the brain (e.g., President Obama’s BRAIN initiative), neuroimaging methods like EEG have great potential for advancing our understanding of cognition and learning. To realize this potential, however, much work needs to be done to translate the frameworks, methods, and findings from cognitive neuroscience into useful and usable implications for research in education.

  • Learning Technologies

    Technological growth has far outstripped the abilities of research to keep pace with its application. Much remains to be done in terms of translating research in learning sciences into useful and usable designs of learning technologies. To address this issue, I have engaged in experimental and design-based research of technology-enhanced environments for formal and informal learning.

    Related Publications
  • Educational Neuroscience

    Recent discoveries in cognitive, social, and affective neuroscience have important implications for the design and study of learning environments. Much of my recent research attempts to translate the important conceptual frameworks, methods, and seminal findings in neuroscience for educational research. The neurotechnology that I have most expertise with Electroencephalography (EEG).

    Related Publications
  • Learning Analytics

    My personal philosophy regarding analytics is that learning analytics must be designed not just for instructors or researchers (which is business as usual) but, more importantly, for learners – to serve as motivational, (meta)cognitive, and collaborative scaffolds. I have designed and studied learning analytics (and, more recently, collaboration analytics) in online learning environments.

    Related Publications

A Word Cloud of My Publications

interests
pashaResearch Interests