Course Content: Overview
This is a seminar class, and the work load will be focused on reading and analysis instead of programming. The workload in this course consists of five components: reading, participating in class discussion, writing reading responses, completing short assignments or “investigations”, and leading paper discussions. There are no exams or term projects.
Each piece of work in this class is relatively small, but you must take care to manage your time as the different pieces of work will be carried out simultaneously.
Reading
Readings will be taken from the two required texts as well as from recent literature. It is essential that you do the required reading for each class and come to class prepared to discuss it.
Reading Responses
After the first few weeks (in which we will cover basic topics in UI design), the reading assignments primarily will be research papers from recent conferences and journals. For each set of assigned research papers (there will be 13) except those that you present (see below) you will write a short (1 page or so) critical response to the reading. See the course schedule for dates that reading responses are due, and click on the link above for more information about how these responses should be completed.
In-Class Participation
You should come to class prepared to discuss the readings that have been assigned for that day. You will be expected to actively participate in the discussion, contributing thoughtful and original comments. Taking care in your reading and your reading responses will help you prepare for class discussion. If I find people are coming to class unprepared to discuss the reading, I will introduce reading quizzes that will be factored into your class participation grade.
Leading Class Discussion (aka "Paper Presentations")
Twice over the course of the semester you (together with a partner) will lead the class discussion of the assigned research papers. Leading discussion involves preparing a short presentation on the assigned readings, as well as steering the class discussion of these readings. You should expect to do some additional background reading and research to prepare to lead class discussion.
Investigations
Finally, there will be a number of (about 8) short assignments, that I will call “investigations”, that will ask you to experiment with or think more critically about the topics covered in each section of the course. Each assignment will be roughly the same length, but in the beginning of the course they will be assigned more frequently, as you will not be coping simultaneously with reading responses and paper presentations.
Expected Time Commitment
My expectation of the hours you will spend on this class is the following:
Reading: 3-4 hours/week
Responses: 1-2 hours/week
Assignments: 2-4 hours/week (more in the beginning of the class, less once we start reading research papers)
Presentations: 4-5 hours each
If you find you are spending significantly more time than this, please let me know!