Human-Computer Interaction Design for Instruction
Term Project

Over the course of the semester, you will develop a set of multimedia instructional materials, which will be integrated in a single term project. These instructional materials must therefore have a common theme, focused on a specific topic or concept, and targeted to a specified audience. The topic and the audience are completely up to you. Choose something you are interested in and knowledgable about: e.g. History of China, Greek mythology, the Pythagorean theorem, sentence structure, states of matter.

You will develop your term project in five (5) assignments. Descriptions and due dates are indicated below. Assignments may be handed in using Blackboard's Digital Drop Box, or burned on a CD-ROM. All assignments will be presented and discussed in class on the date they are due. You will be penalized for any late assignments (half a letter grade for each week that the assignment is late); presentations MUST be made on the scheduled date to receive credit. A final assignment will be used to integrate all of the previous assignments and make any necessary adjustments. The final grade for each assignment will be determined by the final version as it appears in the integrated term project.

Topic and Audience Selection, due Sept. 9

Indicate the common theme of your term project in one or two paragraphs. Be sure to include 1) a brief description of the topic or concept being taught, and 2) a description of your target audience, i.e. who will be learning from these multimedia materials. Try to be as specific as possible in both of these descriptions.

Topic Website, due Oct. 7

Design a web site (using Dreamweaver) for your selected topic and audience. The main page should include a descriptive title and a brief summary paragraph indicating the purpose of the site. The main page should also have links to two other web pages: one containing background information for the topic, and a second containing links to related online materials. These materials may include descriptive information; online activities; and web portals linking to further information.

Informative Graphic, due Oct. 28

Design an informative graphic that helps students to better understand some key concept or data related to your selected topic. You may create this using any tool that you are comfortable with, but the result must be a digital image or graphic that can be displayed on the web.

Illustrative Animation, due Dec. 2

Create an animation (using Flash) that illustrates some key concept in your topic. Be sure to incorporate some audio into your animation (e.g. a voiceover, music, and/or sound effects). Extra credit: add interface elements that allow the students to control the animation in some way.

Integrated Term Project, due Dec. 9

Integrate all previous assignments into a single cohesive website designed to teach your intended topic to your intended audience. Any improvements made to earlier assignments (based on suggestions made during class presentations) should be apparent in this final product.