A Cross-National Study of Cognitive Styles and Cultural Attitudes of HCI Students

The discipline of human-computer interaction has become a subject taught across universities around the world, outside of the cultures where it originated. However, the intercultural implication of its assimilation into the syllabus of courses offered by universities around the world remains under-researched. The purpose of this ongoing research project is to provide insights for these implications in terms of the student and teacher experience of HCI. In order to develop intercultural awareness of these questions universities from UK, India, Namibia, Mexico and China are collaborating in a multiple case study involving students and lecturers engaged in a common and evaluation and design tasks. Findings will then be used to propose an international HCI curriculum more supportive of local perspectives. This paper describes the initial steps of this study and some preliminary findings from Namibia, India, China and Mexico about cognitive styles and cultural attitudes.