Assignment P5 (Spring 2020)

Answer the following prompt in a maximum of 8 pages (excluding references) in JDF format. Any content beyond 8 pages will not be considered for a grade. 8 pages is a maximum, not a target; our recommended per-section lengths intentionally add to less than 8 pages to leave you room to decide where to delve into more detail. This length is intentionally set expecting that your submission will include diagrams, drawings, pictures, etc. These should be incorporated into the body of the paper unless specifically required to be included in an appendix.

If you would like to include additional information beyond the word limit, you may include it in clearly-marked appendices. These materials will not be used in grading your assignment, but they may help you get better feedback from your classmates and grader.

Question 1 (from Lesson 2.9): ~1.5 pages

The OMSCS program is an excellent example of a place where technology and society are intersecting.

First, select and describe a specific positive effect of the existence of programs like Georgia Tech’s OMSCS, emphasizing how that positive effect is due to specific elements of the program (such as its low cost, its asynchronous structure, its subsidized model, etc.).

Then, select a potential negative repercussion of programs like Georgia Tech’s OMSCS, emphasizing how that negative effect is also due to specific elements of the program.

Finally, design how the program can be structured to preserve the positive effect while limiting the negative effect.

Hint: Be specific, especially with the positive effect. “More people can get Master’s degrees” is not a specific positive benefit, although it might lead to more specific positive benefits (especially if the demographics of who is able to get the degree are changing). If you’re having trouble thinking of something specific, try to think of something unintentional but positive.

Question 2 (from Lesson 2.9): ~1.5 pages

Identify an area you encounter regularly where political motivations are determining the design of technology. First, describe the area you’ve selected.

Then, describe the stakeholders in that area, including their motivations. Any interesting technology will likely have at least three groups of stakeholders.

Then, describe at least three ways those motivations are specifically affecting the design of the technology in that area. If you’re on the right track, you’ll likely find the motivations are in conflict.

Hint: Remember, political motivations do not necessarily have to be things like liberal and conservative; rather, they are places where the technology is designed to create some kind of societal change rather than to maximize usability. Note that also you may choose a technology where different stakeholders are attempting to design it in competing ways; however, this should be present in their actual designs rather than in things like legislation for which they lobby.

Question 3 (from Lesson 2.10): ~1.5 pages

Every year, ACM CHI is the world’s largest conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Select two papers from one of the most recent three CHI conferences (2019, 2018, 2017). For each of the two papers, list the paper’s title and author list, and then briefly summarize the paper. In summarizing, be careful not to restate the abstract: the abstract for the paper emphasizes the paper’s significance, but your summary should focus on describing the paper to someone unfamiliar with the contents at all.

Then, describe why you find this paper interesting or why you selected it for this assignment.

Make sure to complete all these steps for each of the two papers. They may come from the same or different years.

Hint: Use the proceedings as a sort of table of contents to browse the papers. Read through the titles and abstracts. Once you find one that interests you, either log into the ACM Digital Library with your Georgia Tech account (Sign In in the top right > With you Organization in the bottom left), or search Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) for the paper. Usually you’ll find them on the author’s own web sites. If you can’t get access to a paper, pick a different one!

Question 4 (from Lesson 2.10): ~1.5 pages

Each year, there are several other more specialized conferences about HCI sponsored by ACM, IEEE, APA, and others. Below is a list of such conferences.

Select two different conferences from this list. Then, from each conference, select a paper. For each of the two papers, list the paper’s title and author list, and then briefly summarize the paper. In summarizing, be careful not to restate the abstract: the abstract for the paper emphasizes the paper’s significance, but your summary should focus on describing the paper to someone unfamiliar with the contents at all.

Then, describe why you find this paper interesting or why you selected it for this assignment.

Make sure to complete all these steps for each of the two papers. They may come from the same or different years, but they must come from different conferences. The conferences you may choose from are:

• International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
• International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction
• International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces
• International Conference on Interactive Experiences for TV and Online Video
• Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization
• Interaction Design and Children
• Collective Intelligence
• International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing
• Creativity and Cognition
• International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications
• International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services
• International Conference on Multimodal Interaction
• Symposium on Spatial User Interaction
• Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology
• Computer Supported Cooperative Work
• Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology
• International Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
• International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games
• International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality

Submission Instructions

Complete your assignment using JDF, then save your submission as a PDF. Assignments should be submitted to the corresponding assignment submission page in Canvas. You should submit a single PDF for this  assignment. This PDF will be ported over to Peer Feedback for peer review by your classmates. If your assignment involves things (like videos, working prototypes, etc.) that cannot be provided in PDF, you should provide them separately (through OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and submit a PDF that links to or otherwise describes how to access that material.

This is an individual assignment. All work you submit should be your own. Make sure to cite any sources you reference, and use quotes and in-line citations to mark any direct quotes.

Late work is not accepted without advanced agreement except in cases of medical or family emergencies. In the case of such an emergency, please contact the Dean of Students.

Grading Information

Your assignment will be graded on a 20-point scale coinciding with a rubric designed to mirror the question structure. Make sure to answer every question posted by the prompt. Pay special attention to bolded words and question marks in the question text.

Peer Review

After submission, your assignment will be ported to Peer Feedback for review by your classmates. Grading is not the primary function of this peer review process; the primary function is simply to give you the opportunity to read and comment on your classmates’ ideas, and receive additional feedback on your own. All grades will come from the graders alone.

You will typically be assigned three classmates to review. You receive 1.5 participation points for completing a peer review by the end of the day Thursday; 1.0 for completing a peer review by the end of the day Sunday; and 0.5 for completing it after Sunday but before the end of the semester. For more details, see the participation policy.