This course will explore methods for practicing and research about the subset of HCI involving educational interventions for learning of any sort, using computer science learning as a case study. We will go over learning theory, followed by seminal papers, analyzing them for how they integrate and follow the theory, their research outcomes, and their research methodology, as well as critique their paper writing and brainstorm next steps based on their research. Each student will present one or two papers in their topic area to the group, emphasizing the elements above (theory integration, research methodology, research outcomes).
This collaborative, shared experience with computer science education as a case study will be augmented by students' individual investigations into educational HCI interventions for their own desired subject or subset of CS. Each student will choose a subject and age group for their own project. The final product, which will be written gradually with milestones, will be a 15-page research proposal. Students will go through all steps of the proposal process - related works search, ideation, study design, and conveying these ideas in a research proposal. This way, students get practice with many of the important aspects of writing - writing the motivation and introduction, theory, related work, the idea itself, and the evaluation of the idea. They won't be required to actually perform the research, which is why the proposal format is appropriate.