CS 889
Spring 2020 -- Covid-19 Edition
1.0 Overview
This is a seminar course in the area of human-computer interaction. However, given the pandemic we are facing, given off-campus instruction, and given preference for asynchornous delivery, how to make this course into an effective seminar is still something I am exploring. So ... a work in progress.
Contents
2.0 Announcements (Reverse Chronological Order)
- May 14
- Readings 1 deadline Sunday, May 17th.
- Readings howto/link/description for seminar discussion posted here. Link also available below.
- May 11
- May 11: Join the class's Piazza list. You can submit your assignments and paper synopses there.
- May 11: First lecture videos posted. Will be assigning readings shortly for this week.
- May 11: See Exercise 1 and Task 1.
3.0 Topics Schedule
Note: Readings are to be posted by 9pm EDT on the data indicated. Reading synopses for May 14 can be submitted until May 17.
To foster discussion in readings, please read this.
Date
|
Topic
|
Assigned Readings
|
Slides
|
Videos
|
Additional Resources
|
May 11
|
Course Intro
|
No Readings
|
|
|
|
May 14
|
Quantitative Methods
|
|
|
|
|
May 21
|
Qualitative Methods
|
|
|
|
|
May 25
|
Ethics
|
No Readings
|
|
|
|
May 28
|
On-line Experiments
|
|
|
|
Other on-line data collection methodologies
|
4.0 Tasks
These are small tasks, with due dates indicated.
Task 1: Virtual Introduction
Due May 13
Please sign up for Piazza and, within the Introduce Yourself post, at the bottom, start a new follow-up discussion. Post an introduction to yourself that includes your name (and what we should call you), a brief paragraph about you and your research, and a recent but pre-confinement picture of yourself, potentially doing something you enjoy.
Objectives: There are three primary goals to this task.
- A forcing function. You get on Piazza, you post, and you start to engage with the course material. This is important because it is time for the term to start, and, with lockdown, I know all to well that starting can seem like something that can easily be put off to tomorrow.
- A bit of training. I have frequently had students who create a new post for every paper that is read in the course and everyone has to wander all over the list trying to find information. For each paper, chain your discussions together. I will try to create a post for each paper before you are ready, and then replying (and having others reply to you) will foster a cohesive discussion around content.
- Community building. I have a Ph.D. student who has been working with focus groups on distance education given the pandemic, and one of the things she has found is that people feel cut off from classmates, but somewhat more connected to their professors (because they are seeing into their professors' lives, and they are frequently at home without that direct, on-campus connection to peers). Seminar courses work well as people get to know each other. We start to learn who thinks every paper is great, who thinks every paper is horrible, who is working on different topics. Without on-campus links, a seminar course needs this forcing function.
And hey, it could be worse. I was tempted to get you all to do "Two Truths and a Lie" and then give internet points for those that were the most outrageous misdirections ... But I thought we weren't there yet. Maybe later in the term.
5.0 Exercises
These small exercises are for weeks 1-3 of the course.
Exercise 1: TCPS2 Tutorial.
Due May 18
Log into the TCPS2 tutorial via the University of Waterloo Office of Research Ethics website. Complete the tutorial and email your completion certificate to me by Monday, May 18th.