Instructor : Dr. Sampath Jayarathna, Web: http://www.cs.odu.edu/~sampath/
Contact : Office: 3109, Email: sampath@cs.odu.edu , Phone: (757) 683-7787
Office Hours : Tuesday(Online), Thursday (Office), 3.00 PM – 4.00 PM, or email me for an appointment
Schedule : Tuesday, Room: CONST 2099, Time: 4.20 PM – 7.00 PM
Website : http://www.cs.odu.edu/~sampath/courses/s18/cs795/
Piazza : https://piazza.com/odu/spring2018/cs795/home
Blackboard : https://www.blackboard.odu.edu/
Prerequisites :
There are no specific course prerequisites for this course. But, I
expect you
to be comfortable
learning new programming
languages/tools/APIs.
This course is designed to introduce graduate students in computer science, topics to principles of and research methods in human-computer interaction (HCI), an interdisciplinary area concerned with the study of the interaction between humans and interactive computing systems. Research in HCI looks at major cognitive and social phenomena surrounding human use of computers with the goal of understanding their impact and creating guidelines for the design and evaluation of software and physical products and services in industry.
In this course, we'll study Human Computer Interaction (HCI) areas; including history and importance of HCI; design theories; modeling of computer users and interfaces; empirical techniques for task analysis and interface design; styles of interaction and future interaction techniques such as brain-computer interfacing (BCI).
We
will work on a semester-long team project (startup) to design,
implement and
evaluate a mainstream technology. This assignment helps foster an
entrepreneurial spirit, which is at the heart of blending computer
science,
interaction design and HCI.
Explain
characteristics of good and bad interaction design and use them to
evaluate
human computer interactions
Explain
characteristics of users that influence human computer interaction and
use them
inform interface development
Explain,
analyze and develop interaction evaluations including qualitative and
quantitative methods.
Explain
and develop requirements for interaction design
Constructs
interactions using evaluation-based iterative process for directing the
design
of user interfaces
Required textbook. No textbook is required. All the key course content will be documented in slides, which will be available in the course website after each lecture.
List of optional but recommended materials. You may find some of these optional textbooks helpful, though none are required
I have an
open-door policy i.e.,
office visits. My posted office hours are times when I will make
concerted
effort to be available. Occasionally administrative meetings or
emergencies may
interfere with these posted times. The open-door policy is: if my door
is open,
I am in and welcome walk-in visitations. I am committed to
supporting students with
disabilities. If you have challenges related to these issues or others
I want
to work with you to help you succeed. Please come and talk to me, since
only
you can properly communicate your situation to me.
Topics: The
tentative topics are as follows. Topics and specific course
activities may
change as needed. PowerPoint slides will
be available on the course web page after each lecture.
Week 1: (January 15) Syllabus and Introductions
Week 2: (January 22) Interaction Design
Week 3: (January 29) Cognitive Aspects of Design
Week 4: (February 05) Social and Emotional Interactions
Week 5: (February 12) User Interfaces
Week 6: (February 19) User Interfaces
Week 7: (February 26) Data Gathering and Analysis
Week 8: (March 05) Data Gathering and Analysis
Week 9: (March 12) Spring Break
Week 10: (March 19) Design and Prototyping
Week 11: (March 26) Brain Computer Interfacing
Week 12: (April 02) Usability Evaluations
Week 13: (April 09) Usability Evaluations
Week 14: (April 16) Group Presentations/Demo
Week 15: (April 23) Final Exam
It is extremely important for you to be engaged in the course. Otherwise, you will fall asleep and wonder what happened to your tuition dollars. So, I encourage you to ask questions during lecture and actively participate at the piazza forum. For the first few weeks, when asking a question at the class, state your name so that I know who you are.
Cell
phones and Tardiness:
You may have cell phones in class, but they must be on mute, or
airplane mode
and not answered until the end of class. You are expected to arrive on
time so
that you do not cause a disruption in the middle of class. I would like
to
start the class at the scheduled time. If you cannot make it on time or
want to
leave early for some reason, please let
me know. Persistent tardiness will
be noted. Do not talk among yourselves during the class -- even
if you think you are whispering, it is still distracting.
Piazza: All questions will be fielded through Piazza. The primary benefit is that for many questions everyone can see the answer and other students can answer as well. I will endorse good student responses. Additionally, I expect you to actively participate in online discussions at Piazza. You can post public or private messages that can only be seen by the instructor. You will be signed up with your odu email, but you may switch to another email.
Blackboard: Blackboard will be used primarily for grade dissemination.
Email: If you send
email to me, please be
sure to include your name and the course number in the body of the
e-mail. You
should also use an appropriate subject line that looks like “C795-HW1”
etc.
Failure to follow these guidelines may result in delayed
response. Again, email should only be used in rare
instances, I will probably point you back to Piazza if you have a
question
related to course materials and/or relevant to other students in the
class.
| 40% | Project: Individual Progress Presentations (10pts), Group Presentation/Demo (15pts), Final Report (15pts) |
| 25% | Final Exam (Final is comprehensive), Tuesday, April 23 from 5.00 pm to 7.00 PM |
| 30% | Homework Assignments |
| 5% | In-class activities/participation |
| +1% | Extra Credit Research Paper Report |
| 101% | Your Total Score for the class |
Project: This startup project is an opportunity to tackle a more challenging activity. Details, requirements and submission information will be on the course website later. For the project, you will work in teams (instructor provided project). Your scores on group work may be adjusted based on your contribution (peer-evaluation).
Final Exam: The final exam is comprehensive, closed books. You may bring one standard 8.5" by 11" piece of paper with any notes you deem appropriate or significant (front and back).
In Class Activities: Attendance in class and participation in the discussion are both important to your success in the course. As one crude measure of your participation and course preparation, we will have in class activities related to lecture topics to supplement the learning. I will ask you to bring a computing device (laptop, tablet).
Homework: We will have 6 homework assignments, each worth 5% of your overall grade.
Extra Credit: You
can get up to one point added to your final grade
through preparing a research paper summary. Note: Borderline grades
will not be
boosted if extra credit is not submitted.
Final course grades are based on the overall average. Overall class grade (not the individual grade) windows may be increased in size if the instructor finds it appropriate. Final score in % will be rounded to the nearest whole number.
A:
94-100, A-: 90-93, B+: 87-89, B: 84-86, B-: 80-83, C+: 77-79, C: 74-76,
C-:
70-73, F: 0-69
Grading corrections: Bring any assignment or exam grading correction requests to the instructor within 1 week of receiving the grade, or before the end of the quarter, whichever comes first. After that, your grade will not be adjusted. If you find a mistake in grading, please let the instructor know. Your grade will not be lowered.
There
is no separate grading scale for PhD students, but PhD students will
typically
be held to a higher standard.
All project reports, homework assignments, are due at the beginning of class in all required forms (e.g., paper and/or submit on blackboard) on the due date. Changes to a submission’s due dates will be avoided because they are unfair to those students who have organized their time to complete the assigned work. Individual accommodations will be discussed if you have a valid medical excuse.
Project due dates will be set to give ample time for completion of the project and will not be extended save for the unexpected and unlikely major, long-lived catastrophe. Start projects early--last minute computer malfunctions will not be accepted as a reason for delaying a project due date.
Unless otherwise specified by the instructor, final exam will be comprehensive, covering material from the entire course. Make-ups for the final exam is possible only with a valid written medical or university excuse. It is the student's responsibility to give the instructor the written excuse and to arrange for any makeup work to be done. A makeup exam may be different (and possibly more difficult) than the regularly scheduled exam. An exam missed without an acceptable excuse will be recorded as a grade of zero (0). Please also be aware that no electronic devices are allowed during the exam.
For
Homework assignments, each late
submission will incur a 5 points penalty per day. A missed submission
without
an acceptable excuse will be recorded as a grade of zero (0). No
submission
will be accepted after 5th day and will be recorded as a grade of zero
(0). There will be no
makeup for homework
assignments or class activities.
By attending Old Dominion University you have accepted the responsibility to abide by the honor code. If you are uncertain about how the honor code applies to any course activity, you should request clarification from the instructor. The honor pledge is as follows:
"I pledge to support the Honor System of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a member of the academic community, it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violators of the Honor Code. I will report to a hearing if summoned."
Scholarly
dishonesty, especially plagiarism, will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is
defined
as "Failing to credit sources used in a work product to pass off the
work
as one's own. Attempting to receive credit for work performed by
another,
including papers obtained in whole or in part from individuals or other
sources." Students found to have
engaged in plagiarism will be punished severely, typically earning an
automatic
F in the course and being reported to the Office of Student Conduct and
Academic
Integrity.
Homework
Assignments Collaboration Clarification: To clarify, your
homework assignment is yours alone
and you are expected to complete each independently. Your solution
should be
written by you without the direct aid or help of anyone else. However,
I
believe that collaboration and team work are important for facilitating
learning, so I encourage you to discuss problems and general problem
approaches
(but not actual solutions) with your classmates. If you do have a chat
with
another student about a problem, you must inform me by writing a note
on your
submission (e.g., Bob pointed me to the relevant section for problem
3). The
basic rule is that no student should explicitly share a solution with
another
student (and thereby circumvent the basic learning process), but it is
okay to
share general approaches, directions, and so on. If you feel like you
have an
issue that needs clarification, feel free to contact me.
In compliance with PL94-142 and more recent federal legislation affirming the rights of disabled individuals, provisions will be made for students with special needs on an individual basis. The student must have been identified as special needs by the university and an appropriate letter must be provided to the course instructor. Provision will be made based upon written guidelines from the University's https://www.odu.edu/educationalaccessibility . All students are expected to fulfill all course requirements.
Students
are encouraged to self-disclose disabilities that have been verified by
the Office
of Educational Accessibility by providing Accommodation Letters to
their
instructors early in the semester in order to start receiving
accommodations.
Accommodations will not be made until the Accommodation Letters are
provided to
instructors each semester.