IDIA 750.185 humans, computers, and cognition
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Humans, Computers, and Cognition

This course introduces students to concepts, theories, and methods that support the study of human-computer interaction and user-centered system design. Major approaches to machine-mediated learning and understanding are surveyed, with an emphasis on problem solving, knowledge representation, structure of knowledge systems, and problems of interface design. This course prepares students to understand and analyze research based on empirical study of human behavior and on models of learning and understanding.


Required Texts:
The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman
Information Visualization: Perceptions for Design, Colin Ware
The Design of Children’s Technology, Alison Druin, ed.
Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, John Creswell

Articles and selected chapters:
“Cooperative Inquiry: Developing New Technologies For Children With Children” Alison Druin, et al.
The Humane Interface, Jeff Raskin
Things That Make Us Smart, Donald Norman
Contextual Design, Beyer and Holtzblatt
Designing the Visual Interface, Mullet and Sano
Visual Language, Richard Horn
Metaphors We Live By, Richard Lanham
Information Anxiety, Richard Saul Wurman

Assignments:
Class research presentation on selected readings topic 25%
Research project design 40%
Class participation & reading responses 35%

 Announcements

10/24
Class on Tuesday, 10/29, is cancelled. Please read Norman ch 3-7 and Ware ch 8-9 for Tuesday, 11/5.

P.S. Remember that your topic for your final research design project is due on Nov 5.

9/18
Look for possible research articles in the following online indexes:

  • PsychInfo
  • SSI
  • SS Abstracts
You can also do a CarlWeb search on human computer interaction.

9/17
Your topic for the research presentation will be due on Sep 24. Include a one-page, single-spaced description of what your topic is, what resources you anticipate using, and how it relates to interface or interaction design.


©2002 Kathryn Summers overviewcalendarassignmentsresourcesclass list