CMSC 434 - Sections 0101 and 0301
Spring 2021
Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction

Syllabus

Instructor: Evan Golub (egolub@glue.umd.edu)

Office Hours: After Zoom class meetings in Zoom breakout rooms, and by appointment, and I'll monitor my Slack DM channel as well as the public channels for questions on a regular basis.

ELMS class space: umd.instructure.com/courses/1297598

Draft Status Until First Day Of Class


Student Goals: Many!
For example:
• understand what is meant by "good design" and the complexities of users and their tasks
• know guidelines and models as well as how they can be applied to interface design
• know and have applied a variety of methods for involving the user in the design process
• have experienced building applications through various methods and systems
• know and have applied methods to evaluate interface effectiveness and quality
• have sufficient background to apply your training in future classes and industry

Assessment and Grading
The following is the default grading plan. If changes are needed due to the circumstances of the semester they will be well-announced and designed as best as possible to not "hurt" anyone's grade as compared to this posted plan.
Team Project: 35%
Projects will be done in groups of 4 students and have multiple graded phases and sub-phases. As each phase is assigned, its value towards the whole will be published as well. Phase 2 will be a serious implementation phase, and be worth more, for example. Phases will have peer assessment that can impact individual student grades.

The anticipated phase and sub-phase due dates can be seen in the high-level overview of this semester-long team project
Exams: 45%
There will be five "smaller" semester exams. Four held online during class time on the Tuesdays listed below, and one held online during the course common-final date which is Monday, May 17th at 6:30pm.

The anticipated semester exam dates are Feb 16th, Mar 9th, Apr 6th, Apr 27th at your lecture time (though as needed, any Tuesday might be an exam day with advanced notice, so please plan accordingly) as well as the one held online during the course common-final date.

Each exam is anticipated to be between 40 and 60 minutes, duration announced as we go, and will be done synchronously on ELMS using the university-standard Respondus LockDown Browser.

At the end of the semester, based on how many points worth of questions we've had, I'll scale things to an "out of 100%" score for the 45% of your grade connected to exams. So, as an example, if in the end there were 210 points worth of questions, the "out of 100%" would be calculated by dividing your total by 210.

The general type for most questions will be "mini-essay" type of responses, and examples will be posted in the context of course topics during the semester. If there are any regrade requests due to a feeling that a correct answer was marked off, such requests need to be made to the instructor via e-mail within a few days of the results being posted.
Homework, Zoom activity participation, ELMS discussions/polls/quizzes: 20%
Various things will contribute to this portion of the grade. Examples include homework assignments, active class participation (specifically in the various exercises and activities done during our Zoom class times), and ELMS discussions and polls. You should anticipate that there will be three or four homework assignments which will likely account for more than half of this 20%, but the exact distribution here will be determined in part on the number of in-class and online exercises and activities.

The anticipated homework due dates will be 11:59pm on Feb 4th, Mar 4th, Apr 22nd, May 6th.
Letter grades are expected to follow the standard 90/80/70/60 cutoffs, with the edges of each range reserved for potential +/- scoring.

Readings
• There will be some required readings posted to ELMS.
• All course "slides" (videos or slides+transcript) are considered required readings.

Overview of Anticipated Topics (not in strict order of coverage)
• What is Human-Computer Interaction?
• How do Psychology and Psychopathology impact design?
• How do Task Centered Design and User Centered design differ and why are both important?
• How do we perform Evaluation and Qualitative Studies on interfaces and systems?
• What are some key elements of Design Psychology?
• What are some key tools when Designing Visual Interfaces (Grids, Standards, Style Guides, etc)?
• What are the different Representations that can be used for data?
• What design issues are different on the web or mobile than the desktop/laptop?
• How do we perform Heuristic Evaluations?
• How can we make good Time Predictions for task completion?
• How do we communicate a product's goals to it's intended audience?

Late Policy
Homework assignments, the exams, and the project phases are considered "major grading events" by University definitions and policy. Please realize that you are going to be given an extended period of time in which to work on a given project phase or homework, and all submissions will be done online.

The nominal university policy is one self-documented excuse.

With the current context and things going on, this semester the plan is to use the following more generous policy with an assumption of 4 HWs, 5 exams, and a variety of in-Zoom participation activities, and on-ELMS discussions.

  • You can self-excuse for up to two in-Zoom participation activities for COVID-related issues and I will just do this uniformly at the end with no self-identification needed.
  • You can self-excuse for two one-day-late submissions of homework for COVID-related issues. I will set up ELMS to accept late submissions for one-day after the due time and the TAs and will simply keep track of who has used theirs and trust that if you are submitting in that late window that you are implicitly using a self-documented excuse.
  • Each team can self-excuse a single one-day late submission of a team project phase. Given the length of each phase, I don't expect any teams will really need this but wanted to have this in place just in case. Teams are expected to plan ahead, be working throughout the timespan of a phase, and balance work between each other. If needed, the team would contact me in their team Slack channel.
  • You can self-excuse for one missed exam due to COVID-related issues. No make-up will be given. Instead, your overall exam scoring will be adjusted to reflect the one missed exam. Note that not every exam will have the same number of points and I will have a formula to handle this correctly in the end. For this one, you'll need to use the grades.cs.umd.edu illness reporting function to report your illness. I am also required to forward your information on to the Dean's office so they can follow-up with you to make sure you are following campus recommendations on isoltaion, etc. and provide additional advising as needed.

    If slight alterations need to be made for logistical reasons behind the scenes, they will be made in a way that they are at least as "forgiving" as the above rules state.

    Academic Honesty
    The bulk of the team project phases are group assignments, and each member of the group is expected to accurately represent their contribution. The peer reviews and role discussions are individual elements and must be written by the individual students. Any attempts to circumvent deadlines or rules will be considered incidents of academic dishonesty. Homework assignments, polls, and quizzes, etc. are individual activities. Students may not discuss these with anyone other than the instructor or teaching assistants unless otherwise specified within the homework description. In cases where a homework assignment involves interviewing potential users, details will be given in class as to how these users may be selected, and what can and can not be discussed with these users. Exams are individual, closed book, closed note, closed technology other than the browser window in which you will be taking the exam and a student may not look at another student's exam, try to contact others, or refer to any notes, during the exam period, and may not give assistance to others during their exam period. Any student violating any of these or general University academic honesty rules will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct for review and potentially a hearing. After a report is submitted by an instructor, the case is evaluated by the office and previous cases have resulted in penalties such as an XF grade in the course (the default penalty), dismissal from the university, or even degree revocation.

    Religious or University Absences
    It is your responsibility to inform the instructor in writing and within the first two weeks of the semester of any intended absences for religious observances any time during the semester that could cause you to miss class or a deadline. The same is true for any official University functions in which you are required to participate.

    Disability Accommodations
    Any student eligible for and requesting reasonable academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide, to the instructor in office hours, a letter of accommodation from the Office of Accessibility and Disability Services (ADS) within the first two weeks of the semester.

    Department-Wide Note
    If you or your parents have any class concerns, feel free to contact the instructor. If an issue arises with the instructor, report it using the form available at https://www.cs.umd.edu/classconcern.

    University-Wide Items
    University-wide course policy information of course applies as well. There will also be course evaluations for student feedback that I and the department and the faculty in general take seriously. Towards the end of the semester, students can visit www.CourseEvalUM.umd.edu to complete their evaluations.


    This syllabus is subject to minor updates. Any update will be well announced and discussed.














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