About this Research Topic
The spread of mobile and ubiquitous technologies over the past three decades has profoundly changed the way people live and work, creating a high demand for experts in human-computer interaction (HCI). As a result, the number of higher education institutions offering HCI courses and degree programs has also skyrocketed, with their curricular focus expanding from computer science, human factors, and cognitive psychology to include a range of other disciplines, such as business, design, information science, and technical writing.
Additionally, the popularity of online learning and the growth of practitioner-focused User Experience (UX) certification programs means that students are now learning HCI concepts and techniques in a multitude of ways and in a variety of different settings.
Since 2016, an HCI education community of practice has emerged from a series of workshops, symposia, and online meetings focused on updating HCI curricula for modern contexts. A prominent theme from these gatherings was the need for dedicated channels to discuss common challenges, share teaching resources, and connect with other educators. For instance, many educators possess valuable knowledge about effective HCI teaching practices, but these insights are difficult to find and synthesize because they are spread across a range of print and online sources, some of which are outdated. Likewise, educators regularly develop new teaching strategies and implement innovative learning activities, but these efforts are largely invisible to the larger community because HCI-focused conferences and journals tend to discourage scholarship about the use of novel teaching practices. Thus, providing a forum to investigate both novel and established ways of teaching HCI is vital to the continued growth and development of the HCI education community of practice.
This Research Topic aims to provide a forum to discuss, describe, and critique current and emerging best practices for teaching HCI concepts, skills, and methods. We seek submissions that explore any facet of HCI education practice including, but not limited to:
• curriculum design,
• pedagogy,
• teaching approaches,
• instructional strategies,
• learning environments,
• student learning assessment techniques,
• any other aspect of providing HCI education.
To promote a global and inclusive vision for HCI education, we encourage submissions from all disciplines, regions, and educational settings, including traditional higher education institutions and non-traditional education providers. We welcome manuscripts of various types that support our goal including original research, perspective articles, reviews, and curriculum, instruction and pedagogy (CIP) articles and more.
Additionally, the popularity of online learning and the growth of practitioner-focused User Experience (UX) certification programs means that students are now learning HCI concepts and techniques in a multitude of ways and in a variety of different settings.
Since 2016, an HCI education community of practice has emerged from a series of workshops, symposia, and online meetings focused on updating HCI curricula for modern contexts. A prominent theme from these gatherings was the need for dedicated channels to discuss common challenges, share teaching resources, and connect with other educators. For instance, many educators possess valuable knowledge about effective HCI teaching practices, but these insights are difficult to find and synthesize because they are spread across a range of print and online sources, some of which are outdated. Likewise, educators regularly develop new teaching strategies and implement innovative learning activities, but these efforts are largely invisible to the larger community because HCI-focused conferences and journals tend to discourage scholarship about the use of novel teaching practices. Thus, providing a forum to investigate both novel and established ways of teaching HCI is vital to the continued growth and development of the HCI education community of practice.
This Research Topic aims to provide a forum to discuss, describe, and critique current and emerging best practices for teaching HCI concepts, skills, and methods. We seek submissions that explore any facet of HCI education practice including, but not limited to:
• curriculum design,
• pedagogy,
• teaching approaches,
• instructional strategies,
• learning environments,
• student learning assessment techniques,
• any other aspect of providing HCI education.
To promote a global and inclusive vision for HCI education, we encourage submissions from all disciplines, regions, and educational settings, including traditional higher education institutions and non-traditional education providers. We welcome manuscripts of various types that support our goal including original research, perspective articles, reviews, and curriculum, instruction and pedagogy (CIP) articles and more.
Keywords: Pedagogy, curricula, teaching, learning, instructional design, HCI education
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
