Course Syllabus for IRLS475/575 Human Factors in Information
Systems
- Course Name, Number, and Prerequisites
- Course Description
- Course Objectives
- Required Course Materials
- Course Requirements
- Course Policies
- Grading
- Contacting the Instructor
Fall 2004 Instructor: Martin Frické
COURSE NAME, NUMBER, AND PREREQUISITES
Human Factors in Information Systems.IRLS475/575 Section 791
This course is an elective, and there are no course prerequisites.
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
"Online instructional course on Human Factors in Information Systems, Human Computer Interface, and Web Site Design and Evaluation." (3 credit hours)
General overview
-
Although Human Factors in Information Systems is the official title of the course, the actual content of the course deals primarily with Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Web Site evaluation and design.
- HCI itself addresses the problem of designing composite systems, of humans and computers, which are both safe and efficient.
- This is an extremely important problem these days because everybody is a User. [30 years ago, computers could have all sorts of interface shortcomings because only experts used them and the experts could use their skills to overcome the difficulties. But now we are all Users, and we don't want difficulties!]
- When looking at HCI, four considerations, and their interactions, are prominent
- human capabilities. These include physical and cognitive issues: what folk can do with their hands, eyes, and brains. Humans are highly variable, and have cognitive strengths and weaknesses (for example, humans have poor memories yet good abilities to recognize patterns in a visual scene).
- the technical features of the computing machines. Principally what the computer presents, and receives by way of input and output; and the style of the interaction between the User and the computer. For example, an older computer might be able to take input only from a keyboard, and give output only to a printer-- in which case, human-computer interaction would be similar to a dialog or conversation (these days the possibilities are far richer with, for example, mice for input and sophisticated visual displays for output).
- the tasks being undertaken. For example, there is a world of difference between typing in a document for word processing, and producing some architectural drawings using a CAD/CAM package. Additionally, a modern trend is that of moving from the single user-- single interface to group working and multitasking (for example, computers are used extensively now in the cockpits of commercial aircraft and in that setting there is a team of humans interacting with several computers).
- the environment. What is the work, or task, setting? What are its physical and socio-cultural characteristics? (For example, it is unwise to use sound input or output in a noisy setting; another example, it is unwise to expect children to spell keywords perfectly for a Search in an Online Public Access Catalog in a library.)
The academic backdrop
Many academic disciplines have a role to play in the theories
behind HCI and Web Site design and evaluation, including:
Cognitive psychology
- knowledge about what users can and cannot be expected to do
- identify and explain the nature and causes of some of the problems that Users encounter
- supply modelling tools and methods to help build interfaces that are easy to use
Social psychology (social knowledge)
- knowledge of context of use
- identify and explain how people work together and what computer systems are needed to support collaborative working
- frameworks for social interaction and conversation that can form the basis of HCI frameworks
Organizational psychology (organizational knowledge)
- provide models of processes and structures in organizations
- identify 'trouble spots' in organizations which stop computers being used optimally
- supply methods for design and evaluation of new technologies that are being introducedinto the work settings
Computer Science
- transforming the information from the input devices into input that the computer can make use of (both software and hardware)
- tranforming the output from the computer into a form suitable for the output devices (both software and hardware)
- producing the computing environments to host the favoured interaction style (both software and hardware)
Ergonomics
- matching the physical characteristics of the devices with the physiological characteristics of the User
- special considerations for Users with disabilities (eg. what kind of mouse is suitable for a User with arthritis)
- safety issues connected with the Users being injured (RSI etc.)
Linguistics
- understanding language issues
- designing syntactically simple, yet semantically powerful and unambiguous, language fragments
- help with iconic or diagrammatic languages
Artificial intelligence
- leverage the abilities of both the User and the computer
- agents, knowbots, wizards
- intelligent help systems
- intelligent interfaces
Philosophy
- helps with most academic disciplines, due to its dispassionate, deep, and clear analysis of problems
Sociology
- how different people, of different cultures, behave, individually and in groups, when carrying out tasks using computers
Anthropology.
- how different people, of different cultures, behave, individually and in groups, when carrying out tasks using computers
HCI, in sum
HCI is a multi-disciplinary field encompassing cognitive psychology, social and organizational psychology, computer science, ergonomics, linguistics, artificial intelligence, philosophy, sociology and anthropology.
HCI is concerned with the design, evaluation, and
implementation of interactive computer systems and study of major
phenomena surrounding their use.
How this course will be taught
This is an online course taught virtually at a distance using the
Web. The course is conceived of as discussions on 15 (or so) topics. A
lecture course in the University of Arizona amounts to 37 1/2 hours of
instruction spread through a semester. Our 'discussions' will be the
virtual counterpart of 30 (or so) one and a quarter hour lectures,
delivered at a rate of two a week. There will be notes, readings,
discussion groups, chat, and (of course) assignments.
Almost all interactions will be asynchronous. That is, students can log on whenever they wish, and read material and post replies on timetables that suits their individual needs. A student will typically need to log on about 5 times a week. (An analog here is email-- most folk check their email at least five times a week.)
The students will also be placed in groups of about 4 students and there will be some groupwork. (There are two main reasons here. One central problem for distance education is the 'sense of isolation' that students can feel-- being a member of a small group is one counter to this. Second, the course itself in part studies groups using computer technologies to achieve group goals-- course groupwork gives a student direct experience of this task.)
WebCT is used as the instructional and course management environment. Students who enrol in the course will be given an account. Then, by using Student Link, they will be able to log in to their account. WebCT has facilities for internal email, and this will be one way to contact the Instructor or the Graduate Assistant Teacher (GAT).
Students are expected to log on reasonably regularly, to read and study the Notes and references, to participate in the online discussions, to interact by email (and other means) with their fellow students, to write (or otherwise answer) the assignments, to download and upload files (this will be taught), and to carry out various other activities. It is hard to anticipate accurately how much time all these course related activities will take in total (and such a figure would vary from student to student and from week to week), but seven hours a week is a rough order of magnitude estimate.
The course will start in earnest a few days after the start of the semester. The WebCT software can detect when students log on, and when most of the students have shown that the are present by logging on, the Instructor will get the course underway.
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COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the completion of this course, you will:- know the cognitive capabilities of humans, in individuals and groups, as they relate to interacting with computers
- know the typical input, output, and interaction-style features of computer systems
- know how human-computer systems are designed and evaluated
- be able to evaluate Web sites that have the goal of presenting
information
- be able to design the organization, information architecture,
and layout for such Web sites
- have experienced the presentation of information by many common systems for the computer mediated communication of information
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REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS
Students need online access, either by way of their own computers
and Internet connection or by public access means (such as those
provided in Public Libraries or in on campus labs).
There is no set text for the course. And online materials are
available either directly on the Web or through password protected
electronic reserves at the library (http://eres.library.arizona.edu
with password xxx)
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
The course requirements are
- coursework
- participation
- groupwork (assessed for the IRLS575 students only)
- final examination.
The coursework requirement will be, by default, two papers, one due about 4 weeks and the other 8 weeks into the course, at times to be announced in class. The intention, though, is that this course will in part be doing interface and web site design, rather than just talking about design. In which case, approved practical projects or group presentations would be welcome substitutes for one or both papers.
The participation requirement is that you contribute to the online discussion groups or forums. You can meet this requirement by posting at least 5 times during the semester. We do not want these forums to be cluttered up by folk posting when they have nothing to say. But you should have something to say from time to time, and we would like to hear it.
Some groupwork will be set. These will be small projects undertaken by you working in teams. Each of you needs to do some team work.
The final examination will be a take-home exam, of three hours duration for the IRLS575 students and of two hours duration for the IRLS475 students. It will be distributed electronically about December 5th and has to be returned by December 12th.
For IRLS575 students, the coursework will count for 40% of the final grade, the participation 10%, the groupwork 10%, and the final exam for 40% of the grade.
For IRLS475 students, the coursework will count for 50% of the final grade, the participation 10%, and the final exam for 40% of the grade.