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Developing University Courses to Enable Students to Specify and Solve Human—Computer Interaction Design Problems

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People and Computers XI
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Abstract

Aspiring practitioners must be taught to specify and to solve discipline problems. We begin by considering the gap between HCI research and system development, but particularly as it relates to teaching. The gap manifests itself through the dissatisfaction many system developers express with the adequacy of HCI teaching. We next suggest that one reason for the gap lies in the current tendency to teach HCI as a multidisciplinary applied science subject. This tendency results in incomplete and incoherent coverage, not well-suited to the needs of system development. We suggest that a top-down approach to the subject and stronger design orientation should ameliorate some of the weaknesses. We utilize a conception of HCI as a framework for specifying more effective HCI courses. We report the development of a course in the Human Factors of HCI which has exploited the conception, and we informally evaluate the conception as a partial solution to current inadequacies in HCI teaching.

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag London

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Life, M.A., Long, J. (1996). Developing University Courses to Enable Students to Specify and Solve Human—Computer Interaction Design Problems. In: Sasse, M.A., Cunningham, R.J., Winder, R.L. (eds) People and Computers XI. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3588-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3588-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-76069-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-3588-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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