1. CS 420/620 Human-Computer Interaction
Fall 2014
Course Syllabus
August 26, 2014

2. Outline The Instructor The Students The Course The Texts
Initial WWW Pointers
Grading Scheme
Policies
Tentative Schedule

3. The Instructor. Sergiu Dascalu Room SEM-236 Telephone 784-4613
Web-site
Office hours:
Tuesday 11:00 am – 12:00 pm (all)
Thursday 3:45 – 4:30 pm (grad students)
or by appointment or chance

4. .The Instructor Sergiu Dascalu
PhD, Dalhousie U., Halifax, NS, Canada, 2001
Teaching and research at UNR,
2002-present (software engineering, HCI)
Teaching and research at Dalhousie University, (software engineering focus)
Teaching and research at the University Politehnica Bucharest, Romania,
(RT embedded systems focus)
Consultant for software development companies in Canada and Romania

5. The Students Registered: Prerequisite:
23 undergraduate students (CS 420)
6 graduate students (CS 620)
Prerequisite:
CS 302 Data Structures

6. The Course. Lecture + Lab: 3 + 0; Credit(s): 3 SEM- 201
Classroom:
SEM- 201
TR 2:30 - 3:45 pm
Catalog Description:
Lecture + Lab: 3 + 0; Credit(s): 3
Usability goals, design principles, design processes, prototyping, interface metaphors, interaction styles, interaction devices, software tools, evaluation paradigms and techniques, user manuals, collaborative work, information visualization. Prerequisite: CS 302 Data Structures.

7. .The Course
Outline: This course examines topics related to developing and evaluating user interfaces for interactive computer systems. Topics covered include usability goals and principles, user interface design principles, managing development processes, interface metaphors, interaction styles, interaction devices, software tools, user interface builders, evaluation paradigms and techniques, usability testing, user manuals, tutorials, computer-supported collaborative work, information search, and information visualization.

8. The Texts. Required textbook:
Ben Schneiderman, Catherine Plaisant, Maxine Cohen, Steven Jacobs, Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, 5th Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2009
ISBN (or )
Recommended books
A list will be provided soon by the instructor

9. .The Texts Lecture notes: Presentations by the instructor
Notes you take in the classroom
Material (papers, tutorials, etc.) that will be indicated later by the instructor

10. Initial WWW Pointers
Required textbook’s related website (Schneiderman et al, 2009):
Gary Perlman’s HCI bibliography:

11. Grading Scheme.. Grading scheme for CS 420 students (tentative)
Assignments %
Presentations %
Midterm tests %
Project %
Class participation %
TOTAL %

12. .Grading Scheme. Grading scheme for CS 620 students (tentative)
Assignments %
Extra book reading 6%
Presentations %
Midterm tests %
Project & paper 40%
Class participation %
TOTAL %

13. ..Grading Scheme Passing conditions (all must be met): 50% overall &
50% in tests &
50% in project [and paper] &
50% in assignments, presentations, and class participation
For grade A: at least 90% overall, at least 90% in class participation, and at least 60% in tests
There are no make-up tests or homework in this course
Note that poor class participation can significantly affect your grade

14. Grading Scale Numerical-letter grade correspondence
A [maximum 100] A B B B C C C D D D
F < 50

15. CS 620 vs. CS 420
For full details, please see the handout given out today
In short, grad students enrolled in CS 620 will have extra work (as compared to CS 420) as follows:
A book reading assignment
A longer class presentation
A project-based paper
Lower weight assignments
Midterm exams will have each at least an extra question

16. Policies Late submission policy:
Maximum 2 late days per assignment/project deliverable
Each late day penalized with 10%
No subdivision of late days
No late days for presentations and test
Example: a 90/100 worth assignment gets 81/100 if one day late (90*0.9 = 81) or 72/100 if two days late (90*0.8 = 72)

17. Policies
Legal notices on the world-wide web: Read and comply with accompanying legal notices of downloadable material
Specify references used
Do not plagiarize (see next slide)

18. Policies
Plagiarism and cheating: Will not be tolerated. Please read the policies of University of Nevada, Reno regarding academic dishonesty:

19. Policies Academic success services:
Your student fees cover usage of the Math Center ( or Tutoring Center ( or and University Writing Center ( or These centers support your classroom learning; it is your responsibility to take advantage of their services. Keep in mind that seeking help outside of class is the sign of a responsible and successful student.

20. Policies Disability statement:
If you have a disability for which you will need to request accommodations, please contact me or someone at the Disability Resource Center (Thompson Student Services - 107), as soon as possible.

21. Policies
Statement on audio and video recording: Surreptitious or covert video-taping of class or unauthorized audio recording of class is prohibited by law and by Board of Regents policy.  This class may be videotaped or audio recorded only with the written permission of the instructor.  In order to accommodate students with disabilities, some students may be given permission to record class lectures and discussions.  Therefore, students should understand that their comments during class may be recorded.

22. Tentative Schedule. Week # Dates (T, R) Contents 1 Aug 26, 28
Lectures, Students’ introduction 2
Sep 02, 04
Lectures, A#1 given 3
Sep 09, 11
Lectures
Presentations draw (all) 4
Sep 16, 18
A#2 given, Lecture presentations by students (round #1), A#1 due 5
Sep 23, 25
Lecture presentations by students (round #1) 6
Sep 30, Oct 02
Lectures, P#1 given, A#2 due
Selection additional texts (CS 620) 7
Oct 07, 09

23. .Tentative Schedule 8 Oct 14, 16 Lectures P#2 given, P#1 due 9
Midterm #1 (October 21)
Lectures, A#3 given, Essay given 10
Oct 28, 30
Presentations by students (round #2)
P#2 due, P#3/Paper given 11
Nov 04, 06
Presentations by students (round #2), Lecture 12
Nov -, 13
Lecture
A#3/Essay due 13
Nov 18, 20
Midterm #2 (November 20) 14
Nov 25, -
Lecture,
Presentations by grad students (round #2) 15
Dec 02, 04 16
Dec 09
Lecture, P#3 & demo (Dec 11 & 12), Paper due (Dec 17)

24. Next class
Students’ introduction: be prepared to talk a couple of minutes about yourself: prepare few slides for a 2 or 3-minute presentation.
More on the need for HCI & short videos 24