Syllabus for IST 331: The User

Please note, this is a live document. Changes announced in class and on the list server will be incorporated from time to time. Announcements in class and their mirror here are the definitive version.

1. COURSE OVERVIEW

This course provides students with data, theories, models, and analytic techniques regarding how users interact with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Basic concepts of use, tied to how humans process information, are developed through projects, cases studies, examples, reading, and discussion. The course also covers aspects of how small groups process and share information, use ICT, and interact. The course serves as a focused introduction to the concept that people are important in technology systems and has become either a co-requisite or prerequisite to all other 300 and 400 level IST courses.

We will explore these topics through in-class presentations, discussions, readings (from both text and on-line sources), exercises (done in groups assigned the first week), and exams.  

2. COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course provides a balance between theory and practice, which are tightly intertwined in this area. Basic and more advanced readings will introduce the student to current thinking about facts, theories, and ways to gather new data. The course objectives are:

• Provide an introduction to the idea that people are a core component in technical systems. Introduce Human Centered Design (HCD) for information systems.
• Provide real, descriptive information about those aspects of human behavior that influence the development, use, and accidents that will arise in such systems due to having people as part of the system.
• Understand a bit more about design and how to modify design to support users.
• Develop a little taste about information literacy, telling the difference between books, journals, conference papers, tech reports, etc.

A small group project, drawing on the different backgrounds students bring to the program, will support integrating these various types of knowledge and applying them to an illustrative interface or system. The teaching philosophy includes working in groups and presentations.

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define in a quantitative and qualitative way some of the most relavent aspects of user's behavior.
  
• Be familiar with theories, problems, and terms in the area of human-computer interaction.
• Be able to gather data in several ways to explore how people individually and as a group use an interface.
• Be able to prepare a report assessing a web site or other system providing concrete, objective support for good and bad aspects of the system, suggesting theory or data based changes to the design (not just opinion).

3. COURSE ORGANIZATION

3.1 The IST 331 Web Site.

This page. This is the active web page of the course that contains the syllabus, assignments, links to useful sites, and other valuable material (such as how to correctly prepare assignments, citation templates, and other academic and recreational information). This page can currently be found at acs.ist.psu.edu/ist331.

3.2 Mailing list.

Use L-ist331-1-SP12@lists.psu.edu to contact class members or to send grouped emails.

Please include "IST331" in the subject, as this will help filters bring your email to our attention.

3.3 Required Texts

(ABCS) Ritter, F. E., Churchill, E. F, & Baxter, G. D. (2012). The basics of human-system interaction: What system designers really need to know about people. Approx. 400 pages. Available from Lulu.com at cost, for less than $20 including shipping. These may also be available in class, at cost.

also see: www.frankritter.com/abcs for a draft web site to support the book.

3.4 Required readings (handed out in class or online)

The readings are linked below by class period. Some of these are password protected. The password will be sent out to the mailing list (save that email!), announced in class several times, and available from the instructor, TA, and LA(s).

The slides used in class mostly repeat what is covered in the book and readings, but do include material that is newer or that reacts to problems and queries that arise in class. They will be/are available in the slides directory.

3.5 Optional Texts and Interesting

• Agre on "Learning how to write"
  
• The Publication Manual of the APA as a guide to referencing, citing, and the formating of papers and manuscripts in general. Also see APA guide to online references, available online.
• Research Style & Usage: APA/MLA (SparkCharts) Available at bookstore.
• Writing mistakes that I hate     [and as google puts it]

Communities, professional organizations, and information portals:

• The ACM HCI Special Interest Group (SIGCHI) is a good general site. www.acm.org/sigchi and CHI Jobs, an archive of HCI- related jobs.
  
• The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society hfes.org
  
• An HCI bibilography and portal: www.hcibib.org/education
• Web of Science (links through PSU libraries to online journals, books, and book chapters)
  
• ergo.human.cornell.edu
  
• Usability First web site
• Bobby (www.cast.org/bobby), a site that provides working demo of tool that assesses the utility of web pages for people with disabilities

Another interesting book that gathers basic concepts of psychology for designing:

• Norman, D. (1988). The psychology of everyday things (PoETs). NY: Basic Books. (also available as The design of everyday things).
  

4. EVALUATION

You earn your grade but it will be assigned by me. The criteria for each assignment will be discussed in detail, as will the grading scheme. Each written assignment will be evaluated on how well it addresses the questions posed, the clarity of thinking, the organization and presentation of the material, the quality of writing, and its timeliness. 

Your grade will be based on 100 possible points. You earn points with each assignment (see below). As a maximum scale (i.e., cutoffs may be lowered): A: [100-94], A-: (93-90], B+ (89-87], B: (86-84], B-: (83-80], C+: (79-77], C: (76-70], D: (69-60], F: (59-0].  (The cutoffs for each grade is the lower number, without rounding.)

Class attendance is expected, or a valid justification for absence should be sent to me or the TA the day before. Points for attendance are noted below.

Your learning will be assessed in several ways. Please consult the schedule to see when papers / assignments are due and exams scheduled. You will receive more written instructions for each assignment well in advance of the due date. Here is a brief summary of each:
   

Assignment	Weight		Due Date
Labs Marking scheme Comments on writing up labs Ethics in running participants	30%	You will do 5 labs. Each lab writeup is worth 10 points, making a total of 50 points, There will be several extra credit points and the initial 1 point project writeup, making the total available at least 56. 50 points is the maximum lab grade (i.e., you can miss 6 points and get a perfect score). This score may be modified/moderated/adjusted by Ritter based on team evaluations. Two paper copies required of each lab, one for TA/Teacher, one for peer comments. Print them before coming to class. Each section must have an author or authors. Each lab/project needs this form included or a contract on file. [notes on generating a contract] Each lab needs an introduction, the method, the results, and a discussion. There should be at least 2 relevant references (examples and example uses in the book). It should include authors, group, page numbers, and date. Figures and tables should be prepared correctly but be inline. It is useful to read and follow the APA guidelines. Examples on the web site are approximate. There is an example report as an appendix in the book.	Typically Mondays, as below
Lab extra credit	(up to 6 points added to lab grade)	Resource talk Your group may find an additional resource that addresses or relies upon topics covered that week in class. In one page or less, you will comment on how that resource relates to the class. You may be offered an opportunity for participating in a study for extra credit; details will be announced after studies are approved. If you become IRB qualified, you can have a bonus point. Search the PSU web and learn the background to it. It takes about an hour.	Once, varies by group Varies
Mid-Term Exam	20%	In class, taken individually	b4 break
Project Marking scheme Comments on writing Example RTF template:	30%	Final web site analysis, including a table of suggestions Example projects (26 of them, password protected)	April
Second Exam	10%	This will be an exam on social effects, taken individually.	April
Class participation	10%	Based on attendance and in-class quizes.
Total	100%

Each semester each group does a useful project. There must be the possibility that your report can have impact, and most reports will (see the examples). Here are several examples of places that will have impact but have not been done or could be done again. My connection or interest is (shown). You should do a project on this list, or a better project. Local social clubs usually will not have enough impact, PSU clubs have enough but you can usually do better. You are expected to share your results with the target site in compensation for your interations with them.

ITS systems at Penn State: faculty research portal + 3 others (Gindhart, user, faculty member)

The computer science Department at the University of Iowa (contact there)

Apple iPhone Application development Kit Build an application for the iPhone, using the iPhone emulator if you don't have an iPhone.

http://grey.colorado.edu/shortgut/index.php/Main_Page (colleague)

AISB and Cognitive Science web sites (member)

Emacs speaks statistics (former developer of this software, user)

ACLU of PA (advocate for constitutional rights)

www.psu.edu (user)

Numbering of rooms in the IST building

Virtualtrials.com (online patient help system for brain tumors)

System for notifying teachers when students drop a PSU course (so teams can be informed) (teacher)

Instructional Stategies storehouse (collaborator with author)

Examples are available, and a larger example of this type of work is available in the following report:

Ritter, F. E., Freed, A. R., & Haskett, O. L. (2002). Discovering user information needs: The case of university department websites (Tech. Report No. 2002-3). Applied Cognitive Science Lab, School of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State. acs.ist.psu.edu/acs-lab/reports/ritterFH02.pdf. Later published as: Ritter, F. E., Freed, A., & Haskett, O. (2005). User information needs: The case of university department web sites. ACM interactions. 12(5). 19-27.

5. IST 331 CLASS SCHEDULE (subject to revision)

IST 331-1 Spring 2012 Calender

6. Labs for IST 331

The laboratory portion of IST 331 provides students with the chance to become familiar with using the concepts and data about how people behave with respect to computers. It is absolutely essential for understanding the material and will be useful for passing the exams.

You have been put into small groups to do your labs because we believe this generally leads to better learning. Just one example, it leads to clearer writing and presumably clearer thinking [Murphy, 2000]. That means that you must turn in one lab report per group, that in this case conferring within your group is not a violation of academic policy or of ethics on the lab section of this course, and that conferring with other groups *is* a violation of academic policy and ethics if it results in reports that are noticeably similar without citation.

The best way is to work on the lab and then meet to discuss and proofread the report. The worst way is to have each member of the group do (and thus learn) one of the sections. This will result in a noticeably inferior product. We suggest that you trade who leads the preparation of each write-up.

As we explore these topics, we will also practice skills in working together, analytical skills, and information problem-solving approaches. 

7. COURSE CONDUCT

• Classes will start on time and end as scheduled. Please take your seat prior to the start of class.
• You should attend each class and actively participate in the discussions during class. University policy on class attendance is applied.
• If you are uncomfortable with public speaking, or if English is not your native language, we must meet in the first two weeks of school to establish ways to make you more comfortable in speaking and interacting with your peers. I am happy to do this, as I have been not a native speaker myself.
• For every hour of lecture, I anticipate that you will need to budget about 3 hours of out-of-class time. This implies that you need to budget about 140 hours of out-of-class time over the course of the semester. This time estimate is a guide and you may need to budget more or less. For example, if the material is new to you or difficult to comprehend, it will require more of your time. 
• You are responsible for all the readings, even if the material is not explicitly covered in class. You should read the class materials prior to class and be prepared to discuss and ask questions about the readings and assignments. You should also re-read the material after class as not every topic will be covered during class time. Many passages in the text may need to be read several times to gain clarity. Also, taking notes on the material you are reading and reflecting on the reading and these notes will help you better understand the issues, concepts and techniques that are being presented.
• All work must be completed and turned in at the start of class on the assigned date. No late work will be accepted. Late means after the class has begun. Note that a computer's failure is not an excuse (it represents poor planning on your part). If you miss a deadline, a written explanation of a university recognized excuse and written request must be handed to me at the end of a lecture.
  Assignments that are simply late are very welcome to be turned in for feedback but 0 marks.
• All assignment should be double-spaced (or 1.5 spaced where appropriate), on 8.5"x 11" or A4 paper. All pages should have 1" margins. Papers should be stapled and collated. Please do not use report covers; they will not be returned. Your group number and names should be on the cover, as well as an abstract (where appropriate).
• Proofread your work. Mistakes include spelling, grammatical errors, and other typos. You should assume that your reader is about as smart as you, not smarter. You must also show your work, even if you just note 'by inspection'. The marker will want to know that you know how to get the answer.
• I expect group work should be just that -- from all of the group. If I become aware that you are not contributing to your group equally, I will intervene. I expect individual work should be just that -- it should be done by you, alone. For more help, see this site and university policy.
• Students who participate in University-sanctioned events (such as athletics) must make prior arrangements and give ample notice, but will be supported.
• The official language of this course is English (e.g., you cannot turn the homework in here in translation for advanced language courses).
• Requests for regrading must be turned in with this form.

8. Relevant University Policies