Assignments

Weekly blog entries and literature searches

Over the course of the module, you will be expected to spend time between the sessions studying independently. This will come in the form of closely reading set papers and literature each week and to identify further HCI literature beyond the set reading.

Most weeks, you will be asked to do at least three tasks between each session:

1. Write a short (up to 500 word) blog post that acts as a “critical” review or appraisal of the set reading. Most weeks you will receive just one paper, although on occasion you might get two shorter papers or commentary articles. If you receive two papers, review and appraise both together. Make sure your blog entry is uploaded by midnight the night before the next session.

2. Find one further paper from the ACM Digital Library based on the question set by the session leader (the question will change each week). Make a note at the end of your weekly blog post what this paper is. As we go along the module, these will be added to the “reading list” page, here.

3. Between the sessions we would like you to occasionally meet up in a set group (your “learning triangle”) and discuss things you are finding interesting, challenging, confusing and exciting about the topics discussed in seminars. For these group catch-ups, we will ask you to use Jay Rainey’s “Gabber” mobile app to capture some of the discussion, which will then be shared on the module website. Don’t worry – these will be shared as anonymous transcripts (and John or Pete don’t ever hear who said what).

Each of these weekly tasks are not formally marked, though we will give feedback on them as we go along. On some weeks, we’ll be asking some of you to give feedback to each other!

Marked assignments

The assessment for this module consists of (1) an individual blog post (circa 3000 words in total with 10% either way) supplemented by (2) an oral presentation.

Both the blog post and the presentation will be an opportunity for you to: a) synthesise your learning around the key issues, concepts and approaches in HCI based on the introductory reading; and b) demonstrate critical thinking surrounding the relationship the field of HCI has to the emerging area of digital civics, public service provision and citizen-choice and decision making.

Assignment 1. Blog post on the relationship between HCI and digital civics

This is worth 70% of your overall mark for this module.

You are asked to write a 3000 word (maximum) extended blog post on the subject of ‘the relationship between an issue of importance in HCI and an issue of importance in digital civics’. The intention is that this extended blog post will be based on between three or four of the blog posts you create on a weekly basis (meaning much of the hard work will be done over the course of the module).

This final post is an opportunity for you to tell us about what you have learnt about HCI over the module, highlighting areas and topics that have started to interest you, and linking these to related issues in digital civics. You should be demonstrating synthesis and critical thinking skills – i.e., the blog post should be more than giving a summary of papers, but weaving different papers or issues together, demonstrating an understanding of where they come from and the arguments they make, and coming up with meaningful (but appropriate and achievable) questions for future research.

A strong blog post will evidence claims with references and hyperlinks to papers or other content (i.e., prior blog posts, other material across the Internet, definitions for key terms or concepts) – making use of the blogs basic capabilities but ensuring academic rigour. A strong post will also still be written in the first-person but make clear where the author is conveying their informed opinion and where they are discussing those of others. A strong blog post would also go beyond just putting the existing weekly blog posts together but edit and link these together in ways that are sensible and coherent for a reader.

As is the case with the rest of the module, it would be expected that you demonstrate awareness that these are public posts that could be read by anyone – including potential future supervisors, and academic, public sector and commercial collaborators. The blog post should also be clearly formatted and structured, giving an overview of what the topic of the post is, motivating why it is important, and making good use of section headings. Feel free to use visual imagery as well.

Deadlines: 12:00 (midday), 16th December 2016: Submit blog as PDF document through NESS and upload a public copy to this website.

We will be looking for specific things when we mark your blog post:

On how you format and structure your blog post:

  • Well-judged use of section headers and paragraph breaks.
  • Good spelling and grammar.
  • Appropriate language for a public blog post with the expectation of backing up claims made.
  • Hyperlinking to evidence and cited or referred to work.
  • Appropriate use of images and figures if relevant.
  • Length of post (not too short or too long).

On the content of your blog post:

  • Overall and sensible structure, making good use of section headings to summarise the main topic/subject of the post, the areas of literature in HCI or issues in Digital Civics discussed, and final reflections and questions for future research.
  • A clear overview of the blog post at the start, summarizing its motivation and the overall argument or points raised.
  • Evidence of referencing and reflecting on the weekly readings and discussions in seminars.
  • Evidence of further reading beyond module set reading and using this to develop arguments.
  • Clear relatedness with an issue of relevance to HCI (e.g. situated action, ubicomp, social computing, participatory design, research through design, user experience, experience-centered design).
  • Clear relatedness with an issue of relevance to Digital Civics (e.g. new citizen-led models of public health, social care, planning or education) or own PhD topic.
  • Concluding section that sets out open questions or areas of exploration for future research.
  • List of references at the end of blog post in a consistent format.

Assignment 2. Oral presentation of your blog post

This is worth 30% of your overall mark for this module.

You will also be expected to complete a 10 minute presentation to the whole group (of MRes students, PhD students completing the module, plus moudule team) based on your final blog post. Time-keeping will be kept strictly to 10 minutes maximum, but you should look to use up as much of this time as possible. There will be a 5 minute period for Q&A afterwards.

As with the blog post this should be based on, this presentation will be an opportunity for you to summarise what you consider the core concerns are for the study of HCI in the context of digital civics, carefully drawing on literature read during the module (both that from the reading list and self-identified literature). The talk should act as an oral summary of the blog commentary – however, you should not simply read out your commentary nor is there an expectation that the content of both coursework will be precisely the same. Your talk should also be self-contained, be coherently structured and not require reading of your blog post in order to follow content or understand the points you are making.

Again, this presentation is an opportunity for you to tell us about what you have learnt about HCI over the last 8 weeks, highlighting areas and topics that have started to interest you, and linking these to related issues in digital civics.

Deadlines: 12:00 (midday), 9th January 2017: Submit slides as .PDF or .PPT or .PPTX for talk through NESS. 09:00 – 13.00, 10th January 2017: Presentations in Teaching Room, Open Lab.

We will be looking for specific things when we assess you on your presentation:

On how you present:

  • Clear structure, with an overview or summary.
  • Appropriate use of visuals (images and figures).
  • Good spelling and grammar.
  • Readability and legibility of your slides.
  • Good timekeeping (not too long or short).
  • Good communication – clear, audible, and well paced.
  • Use of additional materials.

On the content of what you present:

  • Stating the motivation or context of the topic(s) you talk about.
  • Explaining which of the HCI module weekly readings or content have been used and why these were chosen.
  • Providing evidence of further reading beyond module set reading.
  • Clear relatedness with an issue of relevance to HCI (e.g. situated action, ubicomp, social computing, participatory design, research through design, user experience, experience-centered design).
  • Clear relatedness with an issue of relevance to Digital Civics (e.g. new citizen-led models of public health, social care, planning or education or otherwise) or your PhD topic.
  • Relating HCI reading explicitly to an issue in Digital Civics or your PhD topic.
  • Giving clear examples when presenting to ensure legibility and understanding to the audience.
  • Concluding with open questions or areas of exploration for future research.