Fall Semester, 2022
Why does Facebook work? What does it do? And why is it so hard to
replace it? What about Google Docs, MS Word's track changes features,
or your on-line calendar? And what about the activities and interface
in MMORPGs or other collaborative games? How are they similar and how
are they different? These are the types of questions we will
examine.
This class investigates the design of systems to support collaborative
activity. As such, the class will read papers and develop class
projects related to topics such as:
(1)
How do people use existing tools (word processors, email) to collaborate?
(2)
What issues play a role in the success of tools supporting collaborative
activity (critical mass, benefit/effort distribution, etc.)?
(3)
What characteristics of tools play important roles in these contexts
(awareness, reciprocity, synchronous activity)?
These topics will be discussed at both a conceptual and tool level. By
the end of the course, you will be able to look at an existing system
or design a new system with an understanding of the impact it may have
on collaborative activity.
This course will focus around discussions of the papers about system
designs, social analyses, and meta-analyses taken from a variety of
conferences and journals concerning computer-support cooperative work,
groupware, human-computer interaction, etc.
Selected papers:
The following links require access to the ACM Digital Library. Access to
ACM Digital Library is available from on-campus computers.
Grades will be on a 10 point scale: 90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79 = C,
60-69 = D, and <60 = F.
There will be a number of assignments due in class. These assignments
may require use of specific software outside of class time and will
take the form of short essays, written answers to questions, and
design documents. All material turned in should be printed using a
computer printer or typed except when noted otherwise.
Short assignment late policy:
The final project report (8-12 pages in ACM Format) will also require
the design of an evaluation procedure for refining the resulting
interface. The in-class presentations of project progress will be
about 10 minutes long and the final presentation on the project will
be approximately 20 minutes long and include a demo of your working
system.
Project grades will be determined by both the instructor's review of the
project and student's description of their and other member's work.
Programming for projects:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal
antidiscrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights
protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this
legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed
a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of
their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an
accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services
for Students with Disabilities in Room B118 of Cain Hall or call
845-1637.
Upon accepting admission to Texas A&M University, a student
immediately assumes a commitment to uphold the Honor Code, to accept
responsibility for learning and to follow the philosophy and rules of
the Honor System. Students will be required to state their commitment
on examinations, research papers, and other academic work. Ignorance
of the rules does not exclude any member of the Texas A&M University
community from the requirements or the processes of the Honor
System. For additional information please visit:
www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor/
On all course work, assignments, and examinations at Texas A&M
University, the following Honor Pledge shall be preprinted and signed
by the student:
"On my honor, as an Aggie, I have neither given nor received
unauthorized aid on this academic work."
Students
There may be students from technical and non-technical disciplines
in this course. Projects and assignments are designed such that
each student can show off their own skills. Programming and
software development is part of the group projects so it is
recommended that students from outside of computer science join
project teams with students from computer science.Course description
Collaborative systems are all around us. They help us keep
up with friends and family, they help us write papers, manage
shared sourcecode, and coordinate work activity, and they even
help us slay the evil beast in the woods/mountains/etc.Prerequisites
Students should have a basic knowledge of computing and the
social sciences, and either the ability to program complex systems or
able to learn new software tools on their own. Ask instructor if you
have any questions.
Reading materials
Reading schedule and presenter/discussant listGrading
Short assignment 5%
Presentations 10%
Reading write-ups 30%
In-class quizzes 20%
Team project 35%
Write-ups late policy:
50% is immediately deducted from your grade if turned in late. 5% more is deducted for every day late up to a maximum of one week after the original due date. For example, if a write up is turned in between 48-72 hours late, the highest grade it could receive is 40%. Do the reading and turn in the write-ups before class.Short assignments
List of assignments
10% is deducted from your grade for every
school day late up to a maximum of one week after the original due
date. Class participation
Most class periods will include a discussion of reading materials. One
student will be selected to present a brief overview of each paper and
another student will be assigned to have discussion questions ready
and lead discussion. All students are expected to have done the
readings and be able to participate in discussions. Team Project
Students will form 3 to 5-person teams and define a semester project or select
one from a list of existing ideas. There will be three preliminary progress
reports for the projects emphasizing particular phases of the interface
design process:
(1) identifying a topic, determining cognitive and social issues,
and determining an approach,
(2) creating an initial system design and mock-up, and
(3) instantiating the design in a prototype implementation.
done in language and operating system of your choice on
machines to which you have access. General Note on Assignments
Important: All reports are to be printed on a word processor or typed
(no handwritten assignments will be accepted). All writing should be
the work of the student -- any text taken from other sources needs to
be quoted and referenced. It is expected that students will correct
grammar and spelling -- these are grounds to deduct from your
grade. (i.e. Use a spelling checker and reread what you write before
turning it in.)Attendance Policy
All students are expected to attend and participate every class.
Attendance policy will be administered in accordance with Texas A&M
University Student Rule 7.Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement
The following ADA Policy Statement (part of the Policy on Individual
Disabling Conditions) was submitted to the UCC by the Department of
Student Life. The policy statement was forwarded to the Faculty
Senate for Information.Aggie Honor Code
"An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do."