The instructor reserves the right to revise, alter or amend this syllabus as necessary. Students will be notified regarding any changes.
Include "[CSE60427]" in your email when emailing the instructor at toby.j.li@nd.edu. I will try my best to respond quickly, but please allow up to 2 work days for the response. Feel free to send the instructor a reminder if you did not receive a response within that time frame.
2 pm - 3 pm on Wednesdays at Cushing Hall 214B or by appointment
Zoom meeting is also possible by appointment
I am a mandatory reporter, which means that I am legally required to report information about any suspected or potential Sexual Harassment, Discriminatory Harassment, and Other Sex-Based Misconduct, whether from the student, faculty, or staff involved or from a third party, to the Assistant Vice President of the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX Coordinator.
If you wish to discuss any concerns or issues on these topics confidentially, refer to the Notre Dame resources here.
35% - Activities
15% - In-Class Discussion and Activity Participation
10% - Forum Discussion Participation
10% - Qualitative Research Practice
25% - Presentations
15% - Final Presentation
10% - Discussion Lead
40% (+15% Bonus) - Project
10% - Project Checkpoints
30% - Final Project Proposal
Upto 15% Bonus - Significant Preliminary Results in the Project Proposal
Late Policy
Project checkpoints and the final project proposal can be submitted up to 48 hours late with a 15% penalty, or up to 5 days late with a 30% penalty. No late work will be accepted after 5 days.
No late submission/rescheduling will be accepted for activities or presentations, except for excused absences.
Letter Grade
A (93%+), A- (90%-93%), B+ (87%-90%), B (83%-87%), B- (80%-83%), C+ (77%-80%), C (73%-77%, lowest passing grade for graduate students), C- (70-73%), D (60%-70%), F (60%-)
Ways of Knowing in HCI. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4939-0378-8
We will also read many research articles throughout the course. Links will become available on the schedule.
Each student needs to sign up to be the discussion leader for one cluster of topics. They need to (1) create a thread for each reading and post discussion questions on the Canvas forum by 6 pm on Wednesday the week before class; (2) give an overview of the required and optional readings in class, covering its background, highlights, author information, impacts, etc.; (3) lead the in-class discussion with prepared questions. Discussion leaders are required to meet with the instructor during office hours 1-2 weeks before the class to go over the discussion plan.
Each student in the class is expected to read all of the "required readings" for each class. By 6 pm the day before class, each student needs to participate in the discussion forum in Canvas by posting discussion items to the threads of at least 2 articles. These “discussion items” can be an insight you found in the paper, something you found particularly interesting or noteworthy, a question you would like to discuss in class, a point you disagree with, or a constructive comment on someone else’s posting. These will typically be 5 to 10 lines; up to a paragraph or two long, and should provide evidence that you have read and understand the paper.
All human subject research in this course needs to be in compliance with Notre Dame's IRB regulation. The study protocol needs to be approved by the IRB, and all experimenters are required to have valid IRB training credentials. Any incident or complaint from study participants needs to be reported to the instructor and the IRB office immediately.
The use of AI assistance (e.g., GPT-4, ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, Gemini, Copilot) is allowed in assignments and projects unless instructed otherwise. However, you need to clearly mark anything generated by an AI tool and describe the process used to generate them (e.g., the prompts used, the procedure of human validation, and revision). You are expected to thoroughly validate and fact-check any AI-generated results and will be responsible for the correctness of any content in your submission, regardless of whether it was generated by AI. Note that the direct use of AI-generated content without validation and revision will typically result in low-quality submissions with low grades.
The final project will be a research proposal on an HCI-relevant research topic of choice. More detail will be made available soon.
Attendance and participation are important parts of learning in this class. Unexcused absences will be noted and reflected in the participation grades. Email the instructor for any excused absences.
All students must familiarize themselves with the Honor Code on the University’s website and pledge to observe its provisions in all written and oral work, including oral presentations, quizzes and exams, and drafts and final versions of essays. The full Code and a Student Guide to the Academic Code of Honor are available at: http://honorcode.nd.edu
You are encouraged to discuss the projects, assignments, and final papers as well as obtain feedback from anyone (incl. your faculty advisors, peers in this class, and other members in the academic community). However, you need to be the one who is writing the papers and completing the assignments.
Any student who has a documented disability and is registered with Disability Services should speak with the professor as soon as possible regarding accommodations. Students who are not registered should contact the Office of Disability Services as soon as possible since accommodation typically needs to be arranged well in advance. - https://sarabeadisabilityservices.nd.edu/
The University of Notre Dame is committed to social justice. I share that commitment and strive to maintain a positive learning environment based on open communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination. In this class, we will not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, economic class, disability, veteran status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, or national origin. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open environment will be appreciated and given serious consideration.
Hesburgh Libraries https://library.nd.edu/: You may make consultation appointments with librarians who can help you with your literature review, allowing you to gain familiarity with a topic, identify differing perspectives of a topic, and identify the experts, researchers, and scholars familiar with a topic.
University Writing Center https://writing.nd.edu/writing-center/: In writing consultation appointments, writing consultants can read your drafts, listen attentively to your concerns, and pose thoughtful questions that can help you better express ideas and construct your arguments. The writing center also provides training for oral presentations, see https://writing.nd.edu/writing-center/presenter-center/.
This course relies heavily on access to computers, specific software, and the Internet. At some point during the semester, you WILL have a problem with technology: your laptop will crash, a file will become corrupted, a server will go down, or something else will occur. These are facts of life, not emergencies. Technology problems will not normally be accepted as excuses for unfinished work. Count on “stuff” happening and protect yourself by doing the following:
Plan ahead – start early, particularly if scarce resources are required
Save work often – at least every ten minutes
Make regular backups of files in a different location from the originals
Save drafts of work at multiple stages
When editing an image, set aside the original and work with a copy
Practice safe computing when surfing the web and checking email
On your personal computer, install and use software to control viruses and malware
Diminished mental health can interfere with optimal academic performance. The source of symptoms might be related to your course work; if so, please speak with me. However, problems with other parts of your life can also contribute to decreased academic performance. The University Counseling Center (UCC) provides cost-free and confidential mental health services to help you manage personal challenges that threaten your emotional or academic well-being.
Remember, getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do — for yourself and for those who care about you. For more resources please see ucc.nd.edu or care.nd.edu.
The UCC is located on the third floor of Saint Liam Hall Phone: 574-631-7336. Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30am – 5:00pm. Urgent Crisis Line 24/7
Some materials used in this course have been adopted from Computer Science Perspectives in HCI taught by Brad Myers, Advanced Topics in HCI taught by James Forgaty, and HCI Process and Theory taught by Niki Kittur.