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Contents | | | Preface | | | Introduction | | | Definition | | | Courses | | | Programs | | | Issues | | | References | | | Resources |
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ACM SIGCHI Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction
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by
Hewett, Baecker, Card, Carey, Gasen, Mantei, Perlman, Strong
and
Verplank
Copyright © 1992,1996 ACM SIGCHI |
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Contents | | | Preface | | | Introduction | | | Definition | | | Courses | | | Programs | | | Issues | | | References | | | Resources |
Last updated: 2008-04-11 Accesses since 1997-04-17: 78,231
Tom Carey Dept. of Computing and Information Science University of Guelph
Table of Contents
All computer science students should be exposed to the issues and concerns of human-computer interaction as part of their fundamental courses. Those who have further interest in user interfaces will be served by course material focused specifically on methods and tools in human-computer interaction. There is a further specialization which requires a different approach. Some students will want to combine their computer science knowledge with equivalent expertise in "human sciences", to focus on bridging between users and technology. This requires that we build more effective curriculum bridges between the disciplines which contribute to our understanding of human-computer interaction.
Students who seek to combine the study of two disciplines can often opt for a joint major, offering a selection of courses in the two areas. This could be accomplished for human-computer interaction by majoring in computer science and cognitive science, for example.
There are two limitations with this approach. First, in practice, it is difficult to go beyond the two major disciplines to include other areas of importance to human-computer interaction, because of the breadth requirements within each of the twin majors. Second, the resulting program may be multidisciplinary, but it is not intentionally interdisciplinary. It is up to the student to bring together the material from the two disciplinary perspectives.
An interdisciplinary program in human-computer interaction therefore offers some unique opportunities. First, it reinforces the very nature of human-computer interaction as a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Secondly, an interdisciplinary program could produce graduates who are equally comfortable dealing with technological issues, the needs of individuals and the concerns of their organizations and workgroups. In addition, an interdisciplinary program could prepare students for leadership roles within the development process for interactive systems, integrating the skills and perspectives of a diverse development team.
Three key discipline areas would have to be included: 1) the technological perspective from computer science, 2) the ergonomics issues at an individual level, from cognitive science or human factors curricula, and 3) the "systemic" issues, from disciplines like organizational science, information systems, or sociology. It is the integration of these perspectives which a truly interdisciplinary program would provide.
An interdisciplinary program must be more than a smorgasbord of courses. The courses must be chosen so that students achieve a sense of mastery for each discipline's paradigms. Ideally, they would be able to "think like" software engineers, psychologists, etc., so that their communication with specialists from those disciplines does not flounder on conceptual or terminological differences.
This level of understanding is also necessary within the academic setting: we want the students in human-computer interaction to be respected by faculty from other areas of each disciplines (partly to insure that the study of human-computer interaction is also respected). For all these reasons, the program will have to include breadth within each discipline-although the depth may be restricted to the focus area of HCI.
What about all the other areas which are pertinent to designing effective user interfaces: graphics design, physical ergonomics, technical writing, education and training? Given that no program can cover everything, these will probably have to be treated in a cursory way through isolated electives. The program will focus on the aspects which have the largest design implications, in particular for determining the appropriate roles for users and systems and the information flows between them.
In practical terms, a new interdisciplinary program must be built largely out of existing courses in order to be viable. On the other hand, some integrating course seems necessary to bring together the perspectives and issues of the different disciplines. We have drawn up the following sample curriculum as an example of how existing courses can form the basis for an interdisciplinary perspective on human-computer interaction. It is based on a four year course of two semesters a year, with 5 courses per semester. The only new course is the "capstone" integration in the final semester-all the others were taken from a typical university calendar.
A typical mix of courses would be:
Computing and Information Science 11
Psychology 9
Sociology and Anthropology 8
Electives 12
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A concrete instantiation of this program is described at the end of this appendix, as a calendar listing from the University of Guelph in Canada. The program in Information Systems and Human Behaviour began there in the fall of 1989.
Many current students of human-computer interaction have expressed interest in such a program. There is also substantial interest from potential employers. It appears likely that some form of work-study option would be beneficial for all concerned. This might best take the form of a student internship between the third and fourth years of program. A number of industrial labs offer internships in this form, and a number of academic programs require it (especially in the U.K., where it is known as the "sandwich year").
Perhaps the largest obstacle to successfully mounting such a program is the existing image of computing in the entering student population. The students who have expressed interest in such a program did not enter university with that intent. Their experience of computing in high school sometimes divided the world into two opposing camps: technical wizards with little interest in interpersonal dynamics (a.k.a. nerds), and the rest of us who had to cope with the technology as best we could. The idea that computing careers were available to the "people-oriented" only became evident within their university programs, and often fairly late in the program at that. Integrating HCI concerns and techniques within the computer science curriculum can inform students who have entered a CS program. But we have a lot of work to do to inform students at the high school level, and encourage them with the prospect of nurturing their people skills while contributing to technological development.
As computers and communications play progressively more subtle and significant roles in society, this program of study brings together the elements of three disciplines to provide students an understanding of technical, behavioral and social aspects of the information technology. This program of study is a cooperative effort of the Department of Computing and Information Science, Department of Psychology and Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Students in this program will be counselled by the Academic Counsellor in the Department of Computing and Information Science.
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