1 / 29

HCI Controversies and Provocations for Thought Leadership in Education

Explore the discourse between disciplines in HCI, the importance of theory vs. practice, and the need for provocative theories in teaching HCI. Discover how to bridge theory and practice effectively in this thought-provoking session.

alanwilson
Download Presentation

HCI Controversies and Provocations for Thought Leadership in Education

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. controversy and provocation Alan Dix alan@hcibook.comhttp://www.hcibook.com/alan/papers/HCIE2004/

  2. the invitation … • “wondering if you would start off Friday morning's session by being controversial - as we know only you can ;-)” • “Sure, but I'll not be deliberately provocative of course”

  3. .. so I won’t mention • student fees and the two tier HE system • A’ level grades as social apartheid • abolishing homework and extending the school day • or even unlimited re-sits for UG and PG degrees

  4. controversydebate between disciplines controversy: disputation, (prolonged) debate, esp. conducted in writing [L. controversus (CONTRA-, vertere, vers- turn)]

  5. now … psychology HCI people who use computing etc. changing expertise in the past … psychologists computer scientists who do HCI etc. now … psychology HCI people who use computing etc.

  6. the danger • loss of roots • intellectual decoupage • professional practice passed off as academic • is the best HCI education no HCI education?

  7. vocational & academic tension is growth … but stretched or natural

  8. joined up thinking? • theory and practice together? • … but • mature disciplines … • … separate theory and professional practice

  9. theory vs. practice • opposed? • theory is the language of generalisation • guidelines and methods last a while • … but theory keeps you going longer

  10. theory is the viagra of professional life

  11. just-in-time theory

  12. mini-case studies • wot I do … during teaching • when technology doesn’t work … • analyse why • use it as extended examples • plus other real examples

  13. Excel modes • wouldn’t closewhy? • theory: • hidden mode • closure www.hcibook.com/alan/casestudy/excel-mode/

  14. does it work? • weakness • knowing it is ‘teaching’ time • strengths • ‘real’ example • introduces theory when relevant

  15. ecological validity • examples • one issue at a time • a good ‘solution’ • from theory to practice

  16. ecological validity • examples • one issue at a time • a good ‘solution’ • from theory to practice • mini-case study • lots of relevant issues • no easy solution – tradeoffs • from practice to theory

  17. passing on knowledge • case studies, examples, patterns • good for use in practice • but how to generalise • textbooks full of theory! • just-in-time theory • appropriate theory when needed

  18. just-in-time theory • appropriate theory • given when needed • contextualised theory • apply theory in actual context • including trade-offs • situated theory • make new theory if necessary e.g. toilet rolls • example of T-model

  19. what we teach breadth depth

  20. what students learn? breadth depth

  21. extension T model breadth depth grounding

  22. why T ? • texture • more engaging! • grounding • more rigorous • mastery • more motivating

  23. provoking theory in HCI provocative: tending to cause provocation (of curiosity, anger, lust, etc.). [L. PRO(vocare call)]

  24. importance of HCI • late 20th and 21st century ... technology meets people • so where is our own theory and methods? • some … MHP, Norman, Inf. Foraging Theory …… but enough? • do we need it anyway?

  25. async sync domain spec. A B C generic a little story … • BIG ACM sponsored conference • ‘good’ empirical paper • looking at collaborative support for a task X • three pieces of software: • A – domain specific software, synchronous • B – generic software, synchronous • C – generic software, asynchronous

  26. generic domainspec. async sync sync async domain spec. A B C generic experiment • reasonable nos. subjects in each condition • quality measures • significant results p<0.05 • domain spec. > generic • asynchronous > synchronous • so really want asynchronous domain specific

  27. ? generic domainspec. async sync sync async domain spec. A B C generic what’s wrong with that? interaction effects • gap is interesting to study • not necessarily good to implement more important … if you blinked at the wrong moment … NOT independent variables • three different pieces of software • like experiment on 3 people! • say system B was just bad B < A B < C

  28. can we fix it? • borrowed psych method • … but method embodies assumptions • single simple cause, controlled environment • HCI needs ecologically valid exp. • multiple causes, open situations • what to do? • understand assumptions and modify • both and … • quantitative – what is true end to end – phenomena • qualitative and anecdotal – why – mechanism

  29. a call (vocare) HCI – a defining discipline of Century 21 we must develop and teach knowledge that will last

More Related