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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Postgraduate Course: The Human Factor - Working with Users (PPLS11007)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryIntroduction to Human-Computer Interaction and Human Factors with a strong practice orientation.
Course description "If the user can't use it, then it doesn't work at all." (Susan Dray) When technical systems that have been crafted in years of painstaking work fail in practice, more often than not this is due to a lack of fit between the complex system, the people who interact with it, and the contexts in which it is used. In the best case, failure is just annoying, in the worst case, it costs lives. In this course, we will look at the art and craft of building technical systems that people can actually use successfully. To this end, we will draw on relevant results from anthropology, behavioural, cognitive and social psychology, and sociology. The course will be taught using a flipped classroom - before class, you will work through materials; in class, we will work on activities designed to review the material and deepen your learning.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 20, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 77 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 2 quizzes, one mid-term, one towards the end of the course (10% each)

Extended discussion of a case study (500 words, 25%)

Short usability report (2000 words, 55%)
Feedback Class discussions
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. understand how anthropometric, behavioural, cognitive, and social factors (ABCS) affect the interaction between people and technical systems
  2. evaluate the usability of a human-computer interface
Reading List
Ritter, Frank E.; Baxter, Gordon D; Churchill, Elizabeth F. (2014): Foundations for Designing User Centred Systems. Springer (main textbook)

Preece / Sharp / Rogers: Interaction Design. 3rd Edition. Wiley
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information Attend all lectures as scheduled
Keywordshuman factors,human-computer interaction
Contacts
Course organiserDr Adam Moore
Tel: (0131 6)50 3369
Email: Jackie.Allan@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email:
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