Lesson Plan #1 - Sept 9

Class Activity

Homework

Organizational meeting

• Give out handouts
• Welcome.
• Fill out sheet (name/email/supervisor, etc.)
• Introductions by self and students
• Verify preparation of students
• Confirm class time
  • all classes will be a mixture of lecture, reading discussion, and topic presentations by students
• Discuss content and responsibilities
• Describe handouts: participation/topics/assignments
• Go over deliverables schedule

Lecture

• I hate computers, up to and including the Cannon Fax Machine
  • stress that they just saw the following methods: study protocol (instructions+ethics), consent, mental model extraction, prototyping, direct observation by think-aloud, wizard of oz

Handouts From the web page:

• Course main page
• Participation, Exercises and Quizzes
• Topic: Researching and Presenting a Method
• Project
• How to Structure Reports on Experiments in HCI
• Schedule

Homework

• Read in Overview of Methodologies:
  • How to design usable systems (by Monday)
  • Chapter 11: Evaluation Techniques (by Monday)
  • Methodology matters: Doing research in the behavioural and social sciences (by Wednesda)
  • Optional: Applying the Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Sciences to Products (by Monday)

• Topic: Start thinking about your topic
• Project: Start thinking about your team + project
• Discuss both with Saul and your supervisor
• Review schedule

Lesson Plan #2 - Sept 14

Class Activity

Homework

Review

• Main points of last class: study protocol, ethics, etc. (use last slide as summary)

Admin

• Mailing list message: cpsc681-L@mailman.ucalgary.ca
• Topic:
  • explain in more detail what is needed
  • Sep 16: Preference
  • Sep 21: Saul finalizes assignments
• Project: Give out handout
  • explain in more detail what is needed
  • Sep 21: Tentative problem statement (title/one para)
  • Sep 23: Problem statement feedback from Saul

Reading

• Round robin: what point affected them the most?

Lecture

• Overview of methodologies

Homework

• Continue to discuss topic / project with Saul and your supervisor
• Schedule / deliverables as above
• Readings: none

Lesson Plan #3 - Sept 16

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

• emails: Josy, plus ID/Supervisor/Area
• collect topic areas
• project: encourage groups, existing s/w development, etc., talk to supervisor, lab mates.
• schedule: Oct 24 topic deliverables, with presentations starting Oct 26 (assigned by me)

Recap

• Many methodologies, where the challenge is to fit it into the question being asked, resources available, and type of answer required.
• 6 broad categories:
  • Lab studies (controlled, usability),
  • Field studies (ethnography, context. inquiry),
  • Interface Inspection (Heuristic Evaluation, Walkthroughs, Personas)
  • Field Studies (Ethnography, Contextual Inquiry)
  • Self reporting (Interviews, questionnaires, surveys
  • Cognitive Modeling (Fitts, Keystroke, GOMS)

Lecture

• Evaluation: Controlled Experiments (start until Independent Variable)

Readings

• If time, go through key points of 3 readings
  • go through Dix for methods, McGrath for quotes, Norman for caveats.

Homework

• Topic: Saul will respond shortly
• Project: Due on Monday: Project title plus paragraph. Discuss with supervisor!
• Readings:
  • 3 readings as on the reading page. Sections from Dix, McGrath, plus 3 chapters from Eberts

Lesson Plan #4 - Sept 21

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

• Project - initial para due.
• Topic: Receive topic assignment from Saul.
  • Go over, Check for conflicts in schedule, changes esp. Paul & Shahedul
  • Restate deliverables, due date for hardcopy, etc.
• Ethics: describe constraints with study
• Class change for Wednesday
• GO over homework

Recap

• Lecture, especially ind. variables; Show an example and ask them to identify Ind. Var.

Reading

• 3 readings as on the reading page (Dix, McGrath section + Eberts) - due Wednesday. Don't forget blog.

Lecture

• Evaluation: Controlled Experiments (Independent Variable to ...)

Homework

• Topic:
  • Topic: Begin gathering literature, writing, etc. Talk to Saul Re: key papers.
• Project:
• Readings:
  • Complete 3 readings as on the reading page (Dix, McGrath section + Eberts) - due Wednesday. Don't forget blog posting.

Lesson Plan #5 - Sept 22

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

• Topic/Project given back. Check if received.
• Need to get into details regarding project.

Recap

• Planning chart

Readings

• Choose another blog entry

Lecture

• Ethics
• Start stats (if time)
• Do example keyboard study
  • 3 small ones

Homework

• Topic:
  • Ask me for recommended papers, etc.
• Project:
  • Download ethics app and fill in as soon as you have details
  • Redo project statement as needed (one page) given feedback. This is a contract.
• Readings:
  • Nielsen, J. (1993) Usability Engineering, Academic Press. Chapter 6.4
  • University of Calgary Research Services: Ethics
    • Do I Need to Apply For Ethics Approval?
    • Information to help applicants to fill out the application form
    • Ethics Application Form that you should fill out
    • Example template for a consent form
  • (Optional) Participant Bill of Rights
  • (Optional) APA, on supplemental readings page

Materials

• Ethics form
• Ethics instruction
• Consent form (sample)
• Keyboard study materials plus code

Lesson Plan #6 - Sept 28

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

• Collect Project descriptions #2
• Go over schedule (project / topic deliverables)
• KB: get stats (mention error)
• assign readings
• do a blog entry

Recap

• Last class: running a study
• emphasise planning/pilot : errors / controls very hard to maintain; ind. & dep variables must be thought out

Reading

• see homework (blog by Oct 5, 7th the latest)

Lecture

• Stats

Homework

• Topic: continue (research)
• Project: continue (ethics is next deliverable)
• Readings:
  • Nielsen Ch 6
  • Gomoll sheet
• Dumas and Redish

Lesson Plan #7 - Sept 30

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

• Blog entry
• Readings (verify)
• Project feedback

Recap

• T-test
• Do stats in Excel
• Discuss why we cannot keep doing pairwise stats
• refresh them about type 1 vs type 2 errors

Reading

Lecture

• Stats: continue from correlation/regression to Single Factor Anova
• Do stats on touch vs mouse typing on qwerty
• EZStat http://www.sph.sc.edu/comd/rorden/ezanova/index.html

Homework

• Topic:
• Project:
• Readings:

Lesson Plan #8 - Oct 4

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

• Round table
  • project update
  • task update
• check blog entries, plus changes to project teams/topics, etc.

Recap

• Single factor Anova

Reading

• Get it all read by Wednesday.
• Will ask people to lead discussions after Thanksgiving.

Lecture

• Anova

Homework

• Topic: Oct 21: final report! Presentations start Oct 26
• Project: Ethics application (extend till Wednesday?)
• Readings:
  • Blog entries. Get it all read by Wednesday.
  • Will ask people to lead discussions after Thanksgiving.

Lesson Plan #9 October 6

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

• Go over schedule
• Collect final ethics apps

Reading

• Go over blog; all readings on usability should be done

Lecture

• The Real Phone Usability Study
  • Get subject
  • Give out complete Real Phone Handout, and go through it

Homework

• Topic:
• Project:
• Readings:

Lesson Plan #10 October 14

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

• Status report on project

Recap

• Real phone and usability studies

Readings

• Go through key readings. Discussion

Homework

• Topic:
• Project:
• Readings:

Lesson Plan #XXXX - Sept XXXX

Class Activity

Homework

Admin

Recap

Reading

Lecture

Homework

• Topic:
• Project:
• Readings:

Class Activity

Project and Topic Activity

• Admin
  • topics - hand in. Mention that there are many other topics too (as in email)
  • Projects - one paragraph description to be handed in
• Readings
  • go around - each should say one major thing learnt from the readings
  • go through Dix for methods, McGrath for quotes, Norman for caveats.
• Lectures
  • methods overview finish up and relate to Dix by talking about range of methods
  • Quantitative methods: Start lecture
• Homework
  • Experimental Methodologies
    • Dix. Reread Ch 10
    • Eberts Chs 4-6
    • Greenberg - skim this; example paper used later.

• Lecture
  • Quantitative methods: continue lecture

• Admin
  • topics and project - feedback.
  • review email sent around.
  • Check that everyone get onto the mailing list? cpsc681-L@mailman.ucalgary.ca
• Readings
  • go around - each should say one major thing learnt from the readings
• Lectures
  • Ethics form... where and what.
  • Quantitative methods: continue lecture
• Homework

  • Greenberg - skim this; example paper used later.
  • Ethics readings

• Lectures
  • Quantitative methods: continue lecture

• Lectures
  • Quantitative methods: continue lecture
  • Anova: start

• Lectures
  • Anova
• Activities
  • keyboard single factor anova
• Hand in
  • Ethics applications (hardcopies)

• Lecture cancelled, as it was added on to the last class.

• Message to students.
  • As you know, we are starting on looking at usability testing. Please make sure you have read the papers previously assigned for that section:

http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~saul/wiki/pmwiki.php/CPSC681/MainReadingList ; section on Usability Testing.

• In particular, I will be asking you to individually summarize some of the main points/arising issues/questions arising from each paper and book chapter. Please bring them to class. This week, I am hoping to get through papers 1 + 2, and most of the book in #3. We will begin on Monday by doing a usability study.
• WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING.
  • Topics. Remember that the topic handout/report is due from you on Wed, Oct 24 (there is some discussion about whether I said Monday or Wednesday, so let’s use the later date). The tentative schedule of topic presentations is at:

http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~saul/wiki/pmwiki.php/CPSC681/Schedule . While you may give a presentation later than the date assigned (due to slippage), you will not give one early than that date. A printout of your presentation slide deck should be delivered on the date of your actual presentation.

• Study. You should be finalizing the details of your study, and writing the first part of the actual report (introduction, methodology) as described previously to you. You should be thinking of running people as soon as possible, where you will use these early people to ‘debug’ your study and to get a sense of what the results would look like.