Course Description

Course Objectives

This course has two goals. The first goal is to teach the theory behind the design of multimedia courseware. This includes an introduction to multimedia, concepts of usability engineering, and principles of sound user interface design. From this, students should gain an appreciation and understanding of how multimedia courseware is developed, and the ability to apply design principles taught in the class.

The second goal is to give students practical experience designing and developing multimedia courseware. Students will learn to use Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash. At the conclusion of this class, students will have produced a multimedia application that demonstrates their skills.

Textbooks

The course will roughly follow two textbooks:

• User Interface Design and Evaluation, D. Stone et. al., Morgan Kaufman, 2005, ISBN 0-12-088436-4.
• Flash CS3: The Missing Manual, E.A. Vander Veer and C. Grover, O'Reilly, 2007, ISBN 0-596-51044-6.

In addition, readings from the current literature will be assigned. These may be found in the Course Materials section of the Blackboard site for the course.

Course Materials

Course Requirements

• Term Project - 60%
Over the course of the semester, students will develop a web page containing a Flash movie that aims to teach a specific topic or concept to a specified audience. See the Assignments section for further details.
 
• Final Exam - 30%
You will be given a take-home final exam on the last day of class (week 14). You must hand in the exam one week later.
 
• Participation - 10%
  This will include attendance, as well as in-class discussions of readings.

Advisories

Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Any suspected instance of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Academic Judiciary. For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/academicjudiciary/.

The University at Stony Brook expects students to maintain standards of personal integrity that are in harmony with the educational goals of the institution; to observe national, state, and local laws and University regulations; and to respect the rights, privileges, and property of other people. Faculty is required to report disruptive behavior that interrupts faculty’s ability to teach, the safety of the learning environment, and/or students’ ability to learn to Judicial Affairs.

My Own Advice

Think of me as your cranky client. There may be times when you disagree with what I say. You may think that some things are a matter of opinion, or that you are right and I am wrong. Just remember that I am the one giving out the grades. When I make a suggestion, be sure to listen, because it may have an impact on your final grade.

Start your assignments and your project early. That way if you have trouble, you can get help in time to finish your assignment by the due date. This will also help you to avoid a last-minute crunch in the lab.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you don't understand something, it's likely that your classmates don't understand it either. Raise questions in class. If you need further explanation, come see me during office hours. If you can't make my office hours, send me email. Be sure to do this before you get hopelessly lost.

Work with other students. I do not mean that you should copy each other's work (which will not be tolerated). Rather, you should learn from one another. If you can't figure out how to make something work, see how your colleague did it. It is also useful to discuss different ways of approaching a problem.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you anticipate any problems with this class. If alerted to them early on, I may be able to accommodate your needs.

Topics

Classes are divided into two parts: theoretical and practical. Readings are to be discussed on the day listed. Assignments are due on the date listed. Please note that this schedule is approximate, and subject to change.