College Student Perceptions of MyProgrammingLab and BlueJ in an Introductory Computing Course

Students in introductory computing courses face various challenges. Many learning systems are available to support teaching and learning in introductory computing courses. Empirical work examining the use of such learning systems is available, but limited. In this research, we gathered student perceptions of two learning systems MyProgrammingLab and BlueJ. Understanding student perceptions of learning systems and their impact on learning to program is valuable information for both instructors and students. In this analysis, we gathered student perceptions of MyProgrammingLab and BlueJ in three surveys towards the end of a 15-week semester. Although students encountered problems in MyProgrammingLab and BlueJ, more than three quarters of the students perceived MyProgrammingLab and BlueJ to be useful in helping develop their programming skills. Many students agreed that using MyProgrammingLab and BlueJ helped them better understand the course materials

Exploring Design Patterns as Evaluation Tools in Human Computer Interaction Education

In Human Computer Interaction (HCI), interest in design patterns and pattern languages has continued for decades. There are many potential benefits of design patterns and pattern languages described in the literature including reuse of quality solutions, providing a lingua franca, and their application as both design and evaluation tools. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence in this area. Many of the questions and concerns raised in this area have yet to be addressed. Dearden and Finlay in their 2006 critical review provide an agenda that includes exploring appropriate ways to use pattern languages in education and design. This work explores the use of design patterns in HCI education and the use of design patterns as evaluation tools. The results of this exploration suggest that design patterns may be an effective tool to educate novice designers and design patterns may useful in evaluating designs

Patterns and Pattern Sites in HCI: An Analysis

Interest in patterns and pattern languages in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) continues. However, many of the questions and concerns in this area have yet to be addressed. These questions and concerns include lack of empirical evidence to support the claimed benefits, lack of a standard pattern format, and lack of an organizing principle. This paper describes an analysis of the design of pattern websites and their respective patterns. A systematic online search using multiple search engines and multiple search phrases was conducted in attempt to further understand the current state of affairs, including pattern format and organizing principles. The results suggest that the community has yet to adopt a standard pattern format. Although, the essence of Alexander’s patterns was found in most patterns. The findings highlight the progress that we, as a community, have made in some areas, but remind us that there is work to do in other areas

How do design and evaluation interrelate in human computer interaction (HCI) research?

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is a multidisciplinary field, which combines the theories and practices from a number of fields including computer science, cognitive and behavioral psychology, anthropology, sociology, ergonomics, and more. HCI is defined by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) as “a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of the major phenomenon surrounding them” [16]. In HCI there are authors that focus more on designing for usability and there are authors that focus more on evaluating usability. The relationship between these communities is not really clear. We use author cocitation analysis, multivariate techniques, and visualization tools to explore the interrelationships between these communities. The results of the analysis reveal seven clusters that could be identified as Design Theory and Complexity, Design Rationale, Cognitive Theories and Models, Cognitive Engineering, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Participatory Design, and User-Centered Design

Examining the impact of an information retrieval pattern language on the design of information retrieval interfaces

For more than two decades much of the pattern language literature, within the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), has focused on the possible benefits pattern languages may provide, but there has been very little empirical work to support these claims. It has been suggested that interaction patterns or pattern languages in HCI may address some of the problems inherent in designing interactive systems by supporting reuse, capturing design knowledge, enabling the sharing of design knowledge, and facilitating communication among designers and users. This study examined the impact of a pattern language on the design of information retrieval interfaces, in terms of the quality of the interfaces and the time to design the interfaces. Participants created paper and pencil interfaces based on the given design task. Participants were exposed to either a pattern language, guidelines, or no structuring technique. There were no statistically significant differences between the three groups in terms of the quality of the interfaces and time to design the interfaces.The results of this study suggest that the value of pattern languages in HCI may not be in reuse, at the early stages of design, or in terms of the quality of the resulting designs, in domains familiar to designers. Although there was no apparent impact of the pattern language on the early stage designs, the results of a follow-up study suggest there is a significant correlation between the existence of patterns in commercial systems and the overall usability of those systems. Therefore, we suggest that we, as a community, very closely examine the current state of pattern languages in HCI before continuing to move forward. As a community, we need to shift our focus away from discussing the possible benefits of pattern languages and trying to build pattern collections. And instead, focus on trying to fully understand the value of pattern languages in HCI. In doing so, the HCI community, will then begin to see the benefits from all the great efforts in this area.Ph.D., Information Studies -- Drexel University, 200

aIRPLane: An information retrieval pattern language

Interaction patterns and pattern languages have been discussed for years in HCI literature yet there have been few empirical studies conducted. We describe aIRPLane: An Information Retrieval Pattern Language, its discovery, and the experimental design we use to examine its impact on the design of information retrieval interfaces. The results of a pattern sorting exercise are the focus of this poster

Access patterns to a website on healthcare IT failure

Organizational and human factors issues associated with healthcare IT have led to project difficulties and failures. Detailed case accounts might improve knowledge sharing between healthcare organizations on lessons learned and best implementation practices. We conducted a study of access patterns to a website created by our first author that explicitly addresses the issue of health IT failure via highly detailed case accounts in an ‘anonymized’ format. We found that our website is one of few relevant sites that is retrieved via major search engine queries on “healthcare IT failure” or related concepts, and we hypothesize that “hits” on our website may reflect a significant portion of the demand for information on this issue. We then studied the demographics and queries used by viewers of our website via a public website-tracking utility (no personally-identifiable information was obtained). We found that demand for information on healthcare IT difficulty and failure via the Web is ongoing by searchers of a variety of demographics, and we believe the demand is largely unmet. The medical informatics community can contribute to filling this gap

How do design and evaluation interrelate in HCI research?

Presented at DIS 2006, the Symposium on Designing Interactive Systems, the 6th ACM conference on Designing Interactive Systems, University Park, PA, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1142405.1142421Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is defined by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) as “a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of the major phenomenon surrounding them” [18]. In HCI there are authors that focus more on designing for usability and there are authors that focus more on evaluating usability. The relationship between these communities is not really clear. We use author cocitation analysis, multivariate techniques, and visualization tools to explore the relationships between these communities. The results of the analysis revealed seven clusters that could be identified as Design Theory and Complexity, Design Rationale, Cognitive Theories and Models, Cognitive Engineering, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Participatory Design, and User-Centered Design