Copyright © Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Department Vanderbilt University
All Rights Reserved
Required Textbooks:
Recommended Textbooks:
Making Use: Scenario Based Design of Human Computer Interaction, John Carroll, 2000.
Permission from instructor
Dr. Julie A. Adams
Jacobs Hall, Room 359
julie.a.adams@vanderbilt.edu
http://www.vuse.vanderbilt.ed/~adamsja
Course Materials: www.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/~adamsja/Courses/HCI07/index.html
Office Hours (subject to change): Monday 4:00 - 5:00, Wednesday 3:00 -
4:00
and by appointment.
| Component | Weight |
| Project Assignment | 45% |
| Quizzes | 45% |
| Class participation | 10% |
A substantive portion of the course is the team HCI design project. Most of the learning in the course will come from students recognizing they need knowledge to complete the parts of the project, reading and discussing in class to uncover that knowledge, and applying that knowledge to the project. Hopefully, you will all find this project to be fun as well as challenging – it is designed to prepare you to understand and apply the techniques you are reading about.
Students will choose a project from those available. Each project will have a specific client with whom the students are to work. Students will gather requirements, prototype, implement, and test an HCI application. Students may use any computer platform/software they are comfortable with and that meets the client's requirements. No programming languages will be taught in class.
Students are to form teams or two people. I recommend selecting your team by trying to aim for as broad a mix of skills as possible: e.g., a mix of skills in terms of programming skills, data analysis skills, English language communication skills, Human Factors knowledge. Success on the design project will rely on a large part to the seriousness with which group members complete the recommended reading assignments, and work together steadily throughout the semester. It is impossible to put this project off until the night before a deliverable is due, and produce a quality project.
Project Deliverables: Throughout the semester, as indicated on the course schedule, portions of the project will be due. The project deliverables include a number of written documents, a functional prototype, a final system implementation, and a final presentation. The project also requires students to conduct a full user evaluation of the developed system. A grade will be assigned for a grade will be assigned to each deliverable. All written work should meet standards for grammar and style as noted in published style guidelines (e.g., those of APA, Human Factors Society, etc.). Additional guidelines regarding project deliverables will be provided throughout the semester.
At the end of the project, a summary report (consisting primarily of reports already submitted, and modified and integrated as required) should be provided along with the working software.
Project Grades:
It is expected that all students in a team will contribute equally to the project deliverables in order to receive the team's assigned grade for a particular deliverable. Students who do not contribute will receive a lower grade. I also reserve the right to change previous deliverable grades if it is determined that an individual did not contribute to the deliverable.
Project Stages/Associated Weighting
|
Initial Project Definition and Plan |
10% |
|
Requirements document |
15% |
| Data Analysis report and prototyping plan | 15% |
| Initial Prototypes | 20% |
| Usability Test Plan | 15% |
| Project and Supporting Documentation Final Report | 20% |
| Group self-evaluations | 5% |
All assignments that require a written submission must include the honor code statement. If the submission is electronic, then the typed statement in your original submission will count as a signed statement. The honor pledge to be included is as follows:
I pledge my honor that I have neither given nor received aid on this work.
No late assignments will be accepted.
NOTE: I will stop answering Project questions at the conclusion of office hours on the day before the assignment is due. If an assignments is due on Tuesday, this means I will not respond to in person, email, phone, etc. to questions regarding the programming assignments after 6:00 PM on Monday. If you are unable to make the scheduled office hours, please set up an appointment with me prior to the end of office hours.
If an assignment is not due on a Tuesday or Thursday, I will answer questions up until 6:00PM the day before the assignment is due.
There will be ten quizzes throughout the semester as listed on the weekly schedule. The quizzes will be based upon the out of class lecture notes assigned for the day of the quiz. Each quiz will count equally towards the final grade.
A number of lecture days will be dedicated to in class activities. Students will work on their project focusing on the technique assigned for the day. Any student who misses an in-class activity day will receive a zero for that day's class participation grade. Any student who is late for class on in-class activity days by more than two minutes will receive a grade for the day between 50 and 75. The participation grade will also be adjusted based upon observed participation in the activities. In other words, be on time and participate during in-class activity days.
Your final grade is based strictly upon your actual numerical grade total calculated from your assignment grades with the percentages above. The table below provides the translation from a numerical grade to a letter grade.
| >= 98 | A+ |
| 93 <= X <=97 | A |
| 90 <= X <= 92 | A- |
| 88 <= X <=89 | B+ |
| 83 <= X <= 87 | B |
| 80 <= X <= 82 | B- |
| 78 <= X <= 79 | C+ |
| 73 <= X <= 77 | C |
| 70 <= X <= 72 | C- |
| 68 <= X <= 69 | D+ |
| 63 <= X <= 67 | D |
| 60 <= X <= 62 | D- |
| <60 | F |
You are always welcome at my office hours. If you are
unable to make my office hours, please contact me and we will make arrangements
to meet.
The following is my office hour rule: If there are 3 or more people waiting to see me, then the student in my office is
limited to 15 minutes of help. After 15 minutes, the person in my office will be required to go to the end of the line and wait for another turn.
Generally speaking I attempt to answer all student inquiries as soon as possible. That said, you should keep in mind the following facts.
1. You should not expect that I will answer email or phone calls after I leave campus, 6PM M - F. You will receive a reply at my first opportunity the next day.
2. As well, I am not guaranteed to answer email or phone calls over the weekend. If you leave a message from me over the weekend, you may not receive a reply until Monday.
3. If I will be away for an extended period, I will let you know my email availability prior to my departure.
It is a shame that this must be stated at all, but there are always a few students who do not abide by the rules of proper academic conduct. For the record:
Those who behave in a dishonest or unethical manner are subject to disciplinary action. Chapter 2 of Vanderbilt's Student handbook clearly specifies the University's Honor System. If you have any questions about what constitutes cheating beyond the specifics above please review the student handbook. You may also reference the Honor Council web page.
For most of you, such warnings are unnecessary. We have to mention this because otherwise some students would say, ``but you never said I couldn't just copy Johnny's work and turn it in as my own.''Some of the course topics are not addressed directly by the text book. You can expect class handouts on materials not covered in the texts.
We cannot stress strongly enough that you are expected to have read assigned portions of the text before class, as some of the material will not be covered in class unless questions arise. You are responsible for everything in the assigned readings whether covered in class or not, as well as lecture material whether covered in the readings or not. Pertinent questions are always welcome.
This course has been designed so that you can complete all the work in one semester. Thus incomplete grades will be given only in the most exceptional circumstances, and then only by prior arrangement. The professor has the final say in this matter.