INSTRUCTOR: Valeri P. Scott, AC
IV, Room 457, (410) 455-3935, fax: (410) 455-1073
email: vscott@umbc7.umbc.edu
url: www.research.umbc.edu/~vscott
CLASS TIME & LOCATION: Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:00 - 9:10 p.m., AC IV, Room 006
TEXT: Preece and Rogers, Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, 2002, Wiley
PRE-REQUISITE: IFSM 202
COURSE OBJECTIVE: This course provides a survey of human-computer interaction and of all facets of human factors relevant to the design, development, and use of Information Systems. It describes the contributions of information systems, computer science, psychology, sociology, and engineering to human-computer interaction. Emphasis is placed on a total system approach; user-centered analysis and design; human factors theories; and the importance of research. usability and evaluation in the design and development of interfaces.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
The student is responsible
for all assigned text and supplemental readings and for all material and
information presented during the lecture.
Attendance and punctuality
are expected. Late arrivals are disruptive to the instructor and
students. The instructor reserves the right to close the door at
6:00 p.m. and allow no late entries should tardiness become abusive.
If you are unable to attend a class, it is your responsibility to get all
the assignments, handouts, and information for the class missed.
Cell phones, beepers and
pagers are to be turned off during class; if one of these is heard during
class, you will be asked to leave the room for the remainder of the class.
The course grade will be
comprised of several distinct written and oral assignments of varying worth,
for a total of 70 % of the course grade, and three exams valued at
a total of 30 % of the course grade.
Each assignment and its
value is indicated on the Course Calendar; this allows the student ample
time for clarification and questions. Questions regarding what is
expected of the student in completing an assignment will only be addressed
prior to the assignment due date. There are a variety of assignments,
some are to be word processed prior to class, others will be neatly hand
written in a journal and "stamped" at the beginning of class. Each
of these assignments will be due at the start of class (6:00 p.m.) and
must be completed on time or they will incur a late penalty of 1/4 point
for any time after 6:00 p.m. and 1/4 point for every 10 minutes thereafter.
Assignments that are "in the process of printing" at or after 6:00 p.m.
will be considered as late and their value will be determined as of the
time of their submission. There are assignments that will be accomplished
in class either individually or in an assigned group.
If you know you will miss
class, you may email your word processed assignment (whether it was originally
to be word processed or written in your journal) as an attachment; the
time/date stamp on the email will indicate the timeliness (early submissions
are accepted). If an "in class" assignment is scheduled for a day
you must miss, you will have until 6:00 p.m. of the following calendar
day to accomplish the assignment on your own and submit it as a word processed
attachment. The Group Work, at 1 % per class day, may not be made
up out of class; therefore, an absence will mean that this point is not
available to the student.
There will be neither reaccomplishments
nor extra credit offered. Make-up tests will be administered only
with written documentation/proof of an extenuating circumstance and will
be distinct from the test given in class.
Challenges to points
awarded on projects and tests are discouraged. A student seeking
reconsideration must justify and explain the correctness and compliance
of the omitted, incomplete or inaccurate item. Challenges to grades
based on a comparison with a fellow student must be accompanied by both
papers with justification for their remarkable similarity; there is no
guarantee that the grade of one will raised, the higher may be lowered.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS:
Chapter "Activities" refer to the gray-boxed "Activities"
within each chapter. For example, Activity 1.1 appears on page 5
of the text. The student is responsible for having read the chapter
material and prepared his or her response (opinion, thoughts, ideas, insights,
etc.) to all of the Activities in each chapter on the date shown on the
Course Calendar. Activities will be covered as part of an overall
class lecture/discussion or within groups.
Chapter "Dilemmas" appear within the chapter material
and appear as large gray boxes on the pages indicated on the Course Calendar.
For each Dilemma, the student is to prepare an outline or comprehensive
summary followed by a "personal opinion" section within the journal.
These will be used as the basis for class discussion and will be graded
at the end of the semester. These journal entries are due at the
beginning of class, and the instructor will "stamp" the outline to indicate
that it was completed prior to class. During discussion the student
is strongly encouraged to make annotations following the "stamp" based
on class or group discussion. Students are expected to be actively
engaged in the discussion of the dilemma topic during class.
"Interviews" appear throughout the text; the
pages, along with the dates the Interview material will be discussed are
indicated on the Course Calendar. This assignment will be very similar
to the Chapter "Dilemmas" in that the student is expected to have an outline
or comprehensive summary along with a "personal opinion" section completed
in the journal by the start of class, be prepared to engage in active discussion
during class, and add additional comments to the journal entry during class.
Chapter "Assignments" appear at the end of each chapter.
Some of these will be assigned as homework to be word processed and submitted
at the start of class, others will be assigned during class either as individual
or group assignments to be completed in class.
Journals will be collected on Monday, June 30th
and are valued at 20 % of the course grade. Individually accomplished
"out of class" Chapter Assignments will be of varying worth and will total
30 % of the course grade. Chapter Assignments accomplished during
class, either individually or in a group will account for 10 % of the course
grade. Group work, done during class, will be graded after the class
in which it was completed and will be valued at 1 % per day for a total
of 10 % of the course grade. Group work is designed so that no student's
grade is impacted, positively or negatively, by other group members.
COURSE GRADING: IFSM instructors
are expected to have evaluative instruments which result in a reasonable
distribution of letter grades. With respect to final letter grades,
the University's Undergraduate Catalogue states that, "A, indicates superior
achievement; B, good performance; C, adequate performance; D, minimal performance;
F, failure." There is specifically no mention of any numerical scores
associated with these letter grades. Consequently, there are no pre-defined
numerical demarcations that determine final letter grades; these can be
defined only at the end of the semester when all accumulated points are
tallied and compared. In accordance with the published University
grading policy, it is important to understand that final letter grades
reflect academic achievement and not effort. While mistakes in the
arithmetic computation of grades and grade recording errors will always
be corrected, it is important to understand that in all other situations,
final letter grades are not negotiable and challenges to final letter grades
are not entertained.
The total points for the semester will be 100 "course
points". Cumulative numeric scores will be curved to meet the following
ranges established by the IFSM Department grading policy:
15 - 20% = "A", however,
no "A" will be given for less than 90 course points
20 - 30% = "B", however,
no "B" will be given for less than 80 course points
35 - 50%= "C", however,
no "C" will be given for less than 70 course points
Students who drop the course
are considered below "C".
Students taking the course
on a Pass/Fail basis, must obtain a minimum of 70% for a "Pass".
STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC CONDUCT: By
enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of
an active participant in UMBC’s scholarly community in which everyone’s
academic work and behavior are held to the highest standards of honesty
and integrity. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and helping others
to commit these acts are all forms of academic dishonesty and they are
wrong. Academic misconduct will result in disciplinary action that
may include failure of the coure, suspension or dismissal.
Acts of Academic Misconduct are defined as the following:
- Cheating: Knowingly using or attempting to use unauthorized
material, information, or study aids in any academic exercise.
- Fabrication: Intentional and unauthorized falsification
or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.
- Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: Intentionally or knowingly
helping or attempting to help another commit an act of academic dishonesty.
- Plagiarism: Knowingly representing the words or ideas
of another as one’s own in any academic exercise, including works of art
and computer-generated information/images.
To read the full policy on academic integrity, consult the UMBC Student
Handbook, Faculty Handbook, or the UMBC Policies section of the UMBC Directory.
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