Human Computer Interaction

HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION Interdepartmental Graduate Program Human Computer Interaction is an interdepartmental graduate program that seeks to improve the way individuals and groups use computers through an understanding of the social and cognitive aspects of the design and use of computational devices. Students in the program learn about cognitive psychology, graphic design principles, the impacts of technology on society, evaluating system usability, and cutting edge computer programming for computational perception and language parsing.

Computer Interaction (HCI) welcomes applicants from a diverse collection of technical and creative fields whose unifying characteristic is the desire to develop new ways to bridge the gap between human and machine. The students must demonstrate skill in software development and proficiency in high-level, object-oriented programming. These skills can be acquired after admission to the program. Other entrance requirements will include an undergraduate degree and transcripts, test scores and other indicators that the applicant can be successful at the graduate level. All students admitted to the MS or PhD program on campus must secure a graduate assistantship.
Program requirements can be found on the program's webpage (http:// www.vrac.iastate.edu/hci/) and in the Human Computer Interaction Graduate Student Handbook.
All programs of study for the PhD must include: 1. one core course of their choice from each of the categories of Implementation, Design, Evaluation and Phenomena, if not completed as part of the student's Masters program 2. two more courses of their choice from a list of recommended electives 3. a minimum of nine research credits.
The MS degree calls for 30 credits of course work including appropriate credit for the Master's thesis. MS students must take one core course of their choice from each of the categories of Implementation, Design, Evaluation and Phenomena. In addition to these courses, MS students will be required to take a minimum of 3 research credits.
The Online M.HCI program is most appropriate for individuals with a bachelor's degree in a scientific, engineering, business, or artistic discipline, who are pursuing a professional career, and who already have a strong base of information technology skills. Requirements for the Online M.HCI Program include taking four courses, one each from the Design, Implementation, Phenomena and Evaluation categories. However, M.HCI students must take two additional courses of their choice from the list of core courses or the list of recommended electives. M.HCI students will therefore be required to take a total of six courses (18 credits) and the remaining four courses (12 credits) would be electives of your choosing.
Requirements for the HCI Graduate Certificate program include three core HCI courses plus one elective.

Prereq: EDUC 501
Principles and procedures to plan, design, and conduct effective evaluation studies (formative, summative, usability) in different settings are studied. Opportunities to engage in real or simulated evaluation projects of substantial scope are provided. Create evaluation instruments, develop methods with which to evaluate a product or program, conduct try-outs or usability sessions, analyze the data, report the findings, and recommendations are some of the course activities.

Prereq: Permission of instructor
Independent project based creation and development of "frivolous and non-frivolous" computer games in a cross-disciplinary team. Projects require cross-disciplinary teams. Aspects of Indie development and computer/video game history will be discussed.

Prereq: 12 Graduate Credits
Theories, principles and best practices of utilizing games in educational environments. Topics include the theoretical foundations of learning games and game play, identity development in online environments, and assessment of learning in and out of games.

Prereq: Graduate classification or instructor approval
Biological, behavioral, perceptual, cognitive and social issues relevant to human computer interactions.

Prereq: PSYCH 521 and STAT 101 or equivalent
Basics of hypothesis testing, experimental design, analysis and interpretation of data, and the ethical principles of human research as they apply to research in human computer interaction.

Prereq: M E 160, MATH 265
Optimization involves finding the 'best' according to specified criteria.
Review of a range of optimization methods from traditional nonlinear to modern evolutionary methods such as Genetic algorithms. Examination of how these methods can be used to solve a wide variety of design problems across disciplines, including mechanical systems design, biomedical device design, biomedical imaging, and interaction with digital medical data. Students will gain knowledge of numerical optimization algorithms and sufficient understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these algorithms to apply them appropriately in engineering design. Experience includes code writing and off-the-shelf routines. Numerous case-studies of real-world situations in which problems were modeled and solved using advanced optimization techniques.
Practical introduction to User Experience (UX) tools and how to use them for research: Designing a UX study; developing meaningful user tasks; how to plan a research study that integrates eyetracking measures, UX measures, behavioral measures, surveys, interviews and IRB applications; analyzing UX data; and presenting UX study results.

Prereq: Graduate standing or permission of instructor
This class covers statistical and algorithmic methods for sensing, recognizing, and interpreting the activities of people by a computer. This semester we will focus on machine perception techniques that facilitate and augment human-computer interaction. The main goal of the class is to introduce computational perception on both theoretical and practical levels. Participation in small groups to design, implement, and evaluate a prototype of a human-computer interaction system that uses one or more of the techniques covered in the lectures.

Prereq: Senior or Graduate status.
A systematic introduction to the underpinnings of Virtual Environments (VE), Virtual Worlds, advanced displays and immersive technologies; and an overview of some of the applications areas particularly virtual engineering.

Prereq: knowledge of C/C++ programming language.
An introduction to the emerging interdisciplinary field of Developmental Robotics, which crosses the boundaries between robotics, artificial intelligence, developmental psychology, and philosophy. The main goal of this field is to create autonomous robots that are more intelligent, more adaptable, and more useful than the robots of today, which can only function in very limited domains and situations.
Survey of the multidisciplinary models and theories that form the foundation of the science of Human Computer Interaction. Application of the scientific method to solve practical problems by using analyses or approaches from the behavioral and social sciences, and information and computer technology.

Prereq: Graduate classification or permission of instructor.
Issues in ethics and decision-making as they relate to technology, design, design research, HCI, and the design industry.
Investigation of problems of special interest in human computer interaction.
Human interaction design as it applies to HCI. Aspects of audience analysis, design methodologies for creating concepts and solutions, techniques of concept prototyping, and the fundamentals of visual design such as color, type, symbolism, and grid structure. Class discussions, tutorials, and hands-on projects.

Prereq: HCI 521
Innovative or newly emerging ideas within the HCI research field or applied industry practice, e.g., based on changing cultures or attitudes, new technologies, and new economic forces.

Prereq: 21 credits in human computer interaction or permission of the instructor
Capstone course in HCI. Through a significant design project, students demonstrate their mastery of core courses in HCI. This course is the final course for students in the HCI Online MS program.