A team-approach to putting learner-centered principles to practice in a large course on Human-Computer Interaction

Abstract

We present a case study on how a team of instructors put learner-centered principles into practice in a large undergraduate course on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that was run in 4 parallel groups of about 50 students. The course stands on the crossroads between software engineering, business, and research in so far as student-teams apply human-centered design techniques to develop mobile apps, test them with real end-users, read research papers and regularly reflect upon their experience. As a proof of the course-concept, selected results from formative and summative assessments are presented. The summative results show that students rated the course as one of the best of the 87 computer science courses run in the summer term of 2015 at the University of Vienna. The primary goal of this paper is to provide instructors intrigued by learner-centered approaches with ideas for their own practice. In particular, this paper is of interest to those who teach Human-Computer Interaction and to those who seek inspiration on mapping their course to the 14 learner-centered principles.