HCI Education in a Business School: Outside Their Box

This paper describes some of the techniques used to teach HCI to final year Business School Students. The students are from a range of IT and non-IT disciplines, with a range of post-university destinations. An aim of the elective is to cause students to think deeply and differently about their interactions with technology, and to become aware of the range of experiences (individual differences) of other computer users. Student engagement is encouraged in both tutorials and assignments, increasing students’ sense of fun when working on the unit. Tutorials use a range of demonstrations, that are interactive. Assignments require action that is outside of their prior experience, using both video and experimental techniques. The approach has benefits for students with dyslexia, so supporting access and inclusion As a result the unit is highly rated by students, and recommendation levels are high. Dissemination through staff development supports replicability of the approaches.