Paul Toprac
Professor of Instruction

Paul Toprac, Associate Professor of Instruction and Director, Game Development and Design Program, and Principal Investigator of the Simulation and Game Applications (SAGA) Lab. Toprac's research interests are game design and development, particularly for learning, motivation, and behavioral change. Toprac holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering, a Master’s of Business Administration, and a Ph.D. in Learning Technologies from The University of Texas at Austin.
Research
Research Interests:
- Simulation and game design and development
- Mobile app development
- AR/VR/XR
- UI/UX
Current Research:
Dr. Toprac's research continues to involve the use of games, simulations, mobile apps, and XR to change emotion, motivation, learning, and behavior in individuals. Current and past projects and software publications can be found at sagalab.utexas.edu.
Research Labs & Affiliations:
- Game Development and Design
- Game Development Partnership Program
Select Publications
Kavita Radhakrishnan, Paul Toprac, Matt O'Hair, Randolph Bias, Miyong T Kim, Paul Bradley, Michael Mackert. December 1, 2016. Interactive Digital e-Health Game for Heart Failure Self-Management: A Feasibility Study. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.. 366-374.
Kavita Radhakrishnan, Paul Toprac, O’HAIR Matt, BIAS Randolph, Mike Mackert, XIE Bo, KIM Miyong, Paul Bradley. June 11, 2016. Perceptions of Older Adults with Heart Failure on Playing an Interactive Digital e-Health Game (IDEG) for Learning About Heart Failure (HF): Prototype Development and Usability Testing. NIH Public Access.
Paul Toprac. January 2013. Ctrl-Alt-Play: Essays on Control in Video Gaming. . McFarland and Company.
Min Liu, Timothy T Yuen, Lucas Horton, Jaejin Lee, Paul Toprac, Treavor Bogard. 2013. Designing technology-enriched cognitive tools to support young learners’ problem solving.
Min Liu, Lucas Horton, Paul Toprac, Timothy T Yuen. November 11, 2011. Educational media and technology yearbook. Springer. New York, NY.