Familiarity: The student understands what a concept is or what it means.
This level of mastery concerns a basic awareness of a concept as opposed to
expecting real facility with its application.
It provides an answer to the question “What do you know about this?”
Usage: The student is able to use or apply a concept in a
concrete way. Using a concept may include, for example,
appropriately using a specific concept in a program,
using a particular proof technique,
or performing a particular analysis.
It provides an answer to the question “What do you know how to do?”
Assessment: The student is able to consider a concept from
multiple viewpoints and/or justify the selection of a
particular approach to solve a problem.
This level of mastery implies more than using a concept;
it involves the ability to select an appropriate
approach from understood alternatives.
It provides an answer to the question “Why would you do that?”
Topics and Learning Outcomes with:
2 stars ( ★ ★ ) appear in the CS2013 report as Core-Tier1
1 star ( ★ ) appear in the CS2013 report as Core-Tier2
In consultation with the members of your group,
select an existing website or software application,
with which you are all familiar and for which you can
identify some opportunities for redesign and improvement.
No group may choose this (Dr. Hepting’s) website. We will use it for examples in our meetings.
This is the first of three parts to the project,
which mirror the 3 stages of the design thinking process (as described by the Nielsen Norman Group): understand, explore, and materialize.
The understand stage, comprising empathize and define steps, is the focus of this assignment. Focus on well-defined activities that well-defined users are trying to perform.
describe: each member of your group will describe, with sufficient detail to be relatable, an activity and a user wanting to complete that activity.
empathize: each member of your group will create an empathy map for each activity (and user). If there are 4 people in your group, each person will do 4 empathy maps and your group’s submission will have 16 in total.
define: together as a group, identify specific aspects of the current interface that cause problems for the users and look to examine the roots of those problems. Identify whatever user needs may be unmet.
Remember that this stage is concerned with understanding the opportunities for redesign with your selected website or software application.
Do not provide solutions or fixes now: that will come later.
Submission
submit a pdf document (1 per group) on UR Courses that includes all three parts (describe, empathize, and define)
Grading
Grade penalties will be applied in the following situations for assignment submissions:
on time but the written instructions for the submission were not followed: deduct 10% of the earned grade
late (but within 48 hours of the due date and time): deduct 10% of the earned grade
late by more than 48 hours: deduct 20% of the earned grade until the cut-off date, after which no grade can be earned.
This assignment is worth 10 marks, according to the following rubric:
Rubric
DePaul Univerity’s Center for Teaching and Learning has a useful resource describing the process of
creating rubrics.
Your comments about the following rubric are welcome via email
Criterion and Weight
Exemplary
Sufficient
Developing
Needs Improvement
Description of Activities (1.5)
Clear and compelling
Concrete
Lacks detail
Substantially missing
Description of Users (1.5)
Clear and compelling
Concrete
Lacks detail
Substantially missing
Empathy Maps (3.0)
All quadrants done well by all
Entries in all quadrants
Few entries, lacking detail
Substantially incomplete
Problems and Unmet Needs (3.0)
Thoroughly explored and documented (without indicating solutions)
Quite complete
Not enough requirements or detail
Missing requirements and detail
Writing (1.0)
Shows a good command of Standard English. No problems for your audience
Demonstrates evidence of correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Audience will have little trouble reading your work
Some errors, audience may have some trouble reading your work
Consistently uses incorrect grammar, spelling, and syntax that makes it difficult for others to follow
The focus now shifts from understanding the problems to proposing solutions for those problems. Using the results from the last project assignment, state the specific activity that your representative user will perform. If you had many activities in the last project assignment, please focus at this stage on 1 substantial activity that accomplishes a meaningful goal for the user.
Consider how the user will complete the activity:
which interface metaphors (see Sections 3.4 and 12.3 in textbook) would be suitable to help users understand the activities?
which interaction type(s) (see Section 3.5 in textbook) would best support the users’ activities?
do different interface types suggest alternative design insights or options?
Choose 2 different metaphors and design an interface for each of the metaphors that you choose. For both interfaces:
Create a low-fidelity prototype (see Section 12.2 in textbook)
Write a scenario (see Section 11.5 in textbook) that includes details of the information presented and interaction undertaken
Analyze your scenario for positive and negative aspects and iterate your low-fidelity prototypes and scenarios to minimize the negative aspects and maximize the positive aspects. Describe the results of this iteration process
Grade penalties will be applied in the following situations for assignment submissions:
on time but the written instructions for the submission were not followed: deduct 10% of the earned grade
late (but within 48 hours of the due date and time): deduct 10% of the earned grade
late by more than 48 hours: deduct 20% of the earned grade until the cut-off date, after which no grade can be earned.
This assignment is worth 10 marks, according to the following rubric:
Rubric
DePaul Univerity’s Center for Teaching and Learning has a useful resource describing the process of
creating rubrics.
Your comments about the following rubric are welcome via email
The focus now shifts to testing your low-fidelity prototypes.
Each member of your Project group will conduct 1 test with each of your Project group’s 2 low-fidelity interface prototypes. The tests will be arranged from within your Testing groups, most of which will have 3 members. Use UR Courses to coordinate with your Testing group members. For illustrative purposes, consider a Testing group with Bob, Fanhua, and Premla as members. Each of them will arrange 2 meetings for testing:
Bob and Fanhua arrange to meet:
Bob tests his Project group’s Interface A with Fanhua
Fanhua tests his Project group’s Interface B with Bob
Bob and Premla arrange to meet:
Bob tests his Project group’s Interface B with Premla
Premla tests her Project group’s Interface A with Bob
Fanhua and Premla arrange to meet:
Fanhua tests his Project group’s Interface A with Premla
Premla tests her Project group’s Interface B with Fanhua
IMPORTANT: Your Testing group should not have more than one member from any Project group
In your tests, you are asking someone to take on a role as your user and then complete the task for which you are redesigning the interface. Explain the task and ask your participant to perform the task, without giving instructions about how to do it. This information will be recorded in a script, that all group members will use to run their tests. Writing and reviewing the script is a group effort. Once you start testing with your participants, do not make any changes to your script.
During your tests, you will collect both quantitative and qualitative data and you will also make notes.
You should submit all of your raw data and submit a summary of how
it was collected: by whom, from whom, when, and where. Each of your group members will collect data from 1 test of your Interface A and 1 test of your Interface B. All tests will use the same script and other materials.
Provide an analysis of your data. Did the data that you collected from your participants reveal any agreement or disagreement about your interface designs? Were the results surprising in any way?
Based on your experience with your project and your testing of your low-fidelity prototypes, create a single interface design that combines the best ideas from your two low-fidelity prototypes and any other sources.
Grade penalties will be applied in the following situations for assignment submissions:
on time but the written instructions for the submission were not followed: deduct 10% of the earned grade
late (but within 48 hours of the due date and time): deduct 10% of the earned grade
late by more than 48 hours: deduct 20% of the earned grade until the cut-off date, after which no grade can be earned.
This assignment is worth 10 marks, according to the following rubric:
Rubric
DePaul Univerity’s Center for Teaching and Learning has a useful resource describing the process of
creating rubrics.
Your comments about the following rubric are welcome via email
Criterion and Weight
Exemplary
Sufficient
Developing
Needs Improvement
Script and Materials (2.0)
thoughtful and thorough
thorough
mostly complete
incomplete
Qualitative Data and Notes from Test Sessions (1.5)
clear and complete
comprehensible
mostly complete
incomplete
Quantitative Data (1.5)
clear and complete
comprehensible
mostly complete
incomplete
Analysis and Summary of Data (1.0)
thoughtful and thorough
thorough
mostly complete
incomplete
Explanation of and rationale for design choices made to create a single refined interface design representation (4)
Create a 5-10 minute video to present your project.
Identify your project and your opportunity for redesign
Discuss your 2 low-fidelity designs (and metaphors)
Describe what you learned from your evaluations
Discuss how your high-fidelity prototype incorporates what you have learned
Demonstrate your high-fidelity prototype
Although it would be preferable to have all group members involved in creating the presentation, this is not required.
You may choose the privacy setting for your youtube video (public, unlisted, and private). If you choose private, please ensure that the instructor and marker are granted access.
Submission
submit a link to your video on youtube (1 per group) using UR Courses
Grading
Grade penalties will be applied in the following situations for assignment submissions:
on time but the written instructions for the submission were not followed: deduct 10% of the earned grade
late (but within 48 hours of the due date and time): deduct 10% of the earned grade
late by more than 48 hours: deduct 20% of the earned grade until the cut-off date, after which no grade can be earned.
This assignment is worth 10 marks, according to the following rubric:
Rubric
DePaul Univerity’s Center for Teaching and Learning has a useful resource describing the process of
creating rubrics.
Your comments about the following rubric are welcome via email
Criterion and Weight
Exemplary
Sufficient
Developing
Needs Improvement
Identify Project and Opportunity for Redesign (1.0)
Discuss your 2 lo-fi designs (and metaphors) (2.0)
Describe what you learned from your evaluations (1.0)
Discuss how your hi-fi prototype incorporates what you have learned (1.0)
The project will be a web-based presentation on a topic of your choosing. You will decide on the mix of writing and coding (using p5.js) [or, research and implementation]. The project can be done either individually or in small
groups. Identify how (and, optionally, with whom) you will complete the project in your submission.
Your proposal will begin with the title of your proposed project. You will then include each of the following headings, accompanied by some descriptive text.
Overview
A summary description of the project, in a couple of sentences.
Vision and Goals
What you want to accomplish with this project: what is your vision, what are your goals? How will you assess if you’ve met your goals?
Audience
Who do you see as your audience? It is hard to be all things to all people, so indicate some details of your intended audience. What is common amongst your audience members? What do you think that they will get out of your project? Why should they be interested?
Content
What you will be presenting and why: flesh out your vision and describe the content of your project.
Presentation
How you will present it: which media elements will you use to present your work, and how will you do it?
Scope
How you will finish: consider the scope of the project you are considering and look at the risks. Can you cover the content effectively in the development time available? Does success depend on a high-risk technology or technique? What is essential to the project and what could be removed to meet your deadlines?
Submission
Submit your work electronically, via URCourses, by uploading a single pdf file.
Grading##### Grading
Grade penalties will be applied in the following situations for assignment submissions:
on time but the written instructions for the submission were not followed: deduct 10% of the earned grade
late (but within 48 hours of the due date and time): deduct 10% of the earned grade
late by more than 48 hours: deduct 20% of the earned grade until the cut-off date, after which no grade can be earned.
This assignment is worth 4 marks, according to the following rubric:
Rubric
DePaul Univerity’s Center for Teaching and Learning has a useful resource describing the process of
creating rubrics.
Your comments about the following rubric are welcome via email
You have been made a TEACHER in a course on UR Courses, so that you can gain a different perspective on UR Courses (because you are normally a STUDENT).
For this assignment, please define and describe an activity that a teacher could create for their students that includes one UR Courses “activity”
that allows a grade to be assigned upon completion and one UR Courses “resource” whose access is restricted based on the grade earned on the “activity”. As you complete your activity with the UR Courses interface, reflect on your experience.
Specifically, you are asked to:
Define and describe an activity that meets the requirements
claim 1 “Section” by changing the label to your own name (there are enough blank sections for everyone - so be nice and don’t claim someone else’s section!)
add to your section:
One “activity” that allows you to assign a grade upon completion
One “resource” whose access is restricted based on the grade earned from your activity
Describe whatever opportunities for redesign that you find by relating it (or them) in terms of your personal experience of completing your activity.
target: 1 page for a description of your activity with 1 page for a screen capture of your Section, 1 page for the empathy map and 1-2 pages for the opportunities for redesign
Grading
Grade penalties will be applied in the following situations for assignment submissions:
on time but the written instructions for the submission were not followed: deduct 10% of the earned grade
late (but within 48 hours of the due date and time): deduct 10% of the earned grade
late by more than 48 hours: deduct 20% of the earned grade until the cut-off date, after which no grade can be earned.
This assignment is worth 10 marks, according to the following rubric:
Rubric
DePaul Univerity’s Center for Teaching and Learning has a useful resource describing the process of
creating rubrics.
Your comments about the following rubric are welcome via email
This is an INDIVIDUAL assignment for undergraduate students.
Consider the class themes that we have discussed and will consider.
Please see the page of
Topics
for a guide.
Write approximately 1000 words (or equivalent)
about your chosen topic as an essay or
you are welcome to consider other forms of deliverable that are more meaningful to you — such an HTML/JavaScript implementation of some ideas discussed in class (perhaps extending something from https://github.com/dhhepting/dhhepting.github.io).
It must deal with class themes in some way,
and your ideas about that connection are important.
You might focus your efforts on researching smaller assessment questions (from Topics),
examining the usability of software that you use,
writing some code to test an idea, and so forth.
Your submission should include between 2 and 4 external references (
NOT wikipedia).
Grade penalties will be applied in the following situations for assignment submissions:
on time but the written instructions for the submission were not followed: deduct 10% of the earned grade
late (but within 48 hours of the due date and time): deduct 10% of the earned grade
late by more than 48 hours: deduct 20% of the earned grade until the cut-off date, after which no grade can be earned.
This assignment is worth 10 marks, according to the following rubric:
Rubric
DePaul Univerity’s Center for Teaching and Learning has a useful resource describing the process of
creating rubrics.
Your comments about the following rubric are welcome via email
Criterion and Weight
Exemplary
Sufficient
Developing
Needs Improvement
Topic (2)
Topic actively engages an important issue related to class
Topic engages an important issue related to class
Topic somewhat engages an important issue related to class
Topic does not engage an important issue related to class
Content (4)
Deliverable is used appropriately and imaginatively. Realization of approach is clear and well-formed
Deliverable is used appropriately. Realization of approach is reasonable
Deliverable is used somewhat appropriately. Realization of approach is mostly unclear and not well-formed
Deliverable is not used appropriately. Realization of approach is not clear
Grade penalties will be applied in the following situations for assignment submissions:
on time but the written instructions for the submission were not followed: deduct 10% of the earned grade
late (but within 48 hours of the due date and time): deduct 10% of the earned grade
late by more than 48 hours: deduct 20% of the earned grade until the cut-off date, after which no grade can be earned.
This assignment is worth 10 marks, according to the following rubric:
Rubric
DePaul Univerity’s Center for Teaching and Learning has a useful resource describing the process of
creating rubrics.
Your comments about the following rubric are welcome via email
Criterion and Weight
Exemplary
Sufficient
Developing
Needs Improvement
What is the purpose of the work? (2.0)
Thoughtful and thorough
Reasonably thorough
Somewhat complete
Substantially incomplete
How do the authors achieve their purpose? (2.0)
Thoughtful and thorough
Reasonably thorough
Somewhat complete
Substantially incomplete
Why did they adopt their particular approach? (2.0)
Thoughtful and thorough
Reasonably thorough
Somewhat complete
Substantially incomplete
Do you think their purpose has been achieved? (2.0)
Thoughtful and thorough
Reasonably thorough
Somewhat complete
Substantially incomplete
What insights have you gained from reading this work? (2.0)