SKILLS REQUIRED TO DESIGN MOBILE INTERFACES FOR DIVERSE USERS

IM Venter RJ Blignaut KV Renaud

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The project • This is a joint project with Glasgow University.

• The project was conducted over a period of four years (2011 – 2014) with slight changes and adaptations each year.

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The project • This presentation will deal with data that was collected at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 2011.

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Introduction • Universities are increasingly required to train well-rounded workers with more than mere technical knowledge.

• McKenzie et al. argue that graduates now need more than mere disciplinary capabilities. They also need to demonstrate professional and personal capabilities to compete for available jobs.

(McKenzie, Morgan, Cochrane, Watson, & Roberts, 2002)

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Introduction • It is a challenge to help students to develop these skills.

• The problem for educators is that it is far easier to teach facts than it is to develop skills.

• The former teaches students what to think, the latter teaches them how to think.

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Introduction This study reports on a computer science assignment specifically designed to develop professional and personal as well as discipline-specific skills.

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http://www.dexigner.com/news/9688

Capabilities Disciplinary capabilities is sometimes referred to as hard skills whereas, professional and personal capabilities are referred to as soft skills.

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McKenzie, Morgan, Cochrane, Watson, & Roberts, 2002, p. 432

GRADUATE ATTRIBUTE 1 SCHOLARSHIP: A critical attitude towards knowledge

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http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-18373145-learn-and-lead.php

GRADUATE ATTRIBUTE 2 CRITICAL CITIZENSHIP AND THE SOCIAL GOOD: A relationship and interaction with local and global communities and the environment.

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http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-9397134-world-flags-green-shoots.php

GRADUATE ATTRIBUTE 3 LIFELONG LEARNING: An attitude or stance towards themselves

1. Inquiry-focused and knowledgeable 2. Critically and relevantly literate 3. Autonomous and collaborative 4. Ethically, environmentally and socially

aware 5. Skilled communicators 6. Interpersonal flexibility and confidence to

engage across difference

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Situated learning assignment • A human-computer interaction (HCI) assignment for a third-year computer science course targeted the acquisition of specific soft skills,

and was • aimed at developing HCI subject knowledge or hard skills.

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http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-4868850-cellphone-icon.php

What is situated learning? •  Whereas one can easily create a realistic

environment for the development of hard skills within the university environment, it is difficult to achieve this for the soft skills.

•  Soft skills can best be developed in a situated learning environment which is strongly associated with informal learning outside the classroom, and

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Situated learning •  Requires students to make contact with

people and circumstances outside the university environment.

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http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-16298103-seniors-browsing-their-smart-phones.php?st=a20277c

Graduate attributes targeted

Graduate attributes

Targeted skills

SCHOLARSHIP Communication skills Ability to do research Discipline specific knowledge

CRITICAL CITIZENSHIP AND THE SOCIAL GOOD

Professionalism Multiplism Team work

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The assignment • Act as if a large mobile phone company employed them.

• Determine HCI needs of senior (>65 years) mobile phone users.

• Conduct research to understand the older users’ experiences with, and perceptions of, their mobile phones.

• Report their findings so that their company would be able to gauge the potential and challenges associated with this niche market.

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The graying generation in less developed regions

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Assignment detail For this report, self selected teams of 4 to 5 students had to: • interview and explore experiences of the older mobile phone user, using a pre-designed questionnaire;

• assist their interviewee with a mobile phone function the interviewee wished to learn; and

• reference research papers on mobile phone usage by older users in a report summarising the results of their study.

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How successful is a situated learning assignment in bridging the skill gap?

This specific study was aimed at determining how successful situated learning could be to develop graduate attributes.

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Study Design University of Eastern Finland, 2015 19

Research approach Content analysis was used to analyse the 7 team reports (of 32 students) based on four themes or evaluation criteria.

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Evaluation criteria (rubric) 1.  How successfully the team integrated the

referenced literature into the report; 2.  The completion of questionnaires and

capturing of data; 3.  Discussion of the process and results of the

function taught; 4.  Comments and suggestions on how the

phone software/design could be improved for the elderly based on the information gathered during their study.

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Radar graph of rubric

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0

10

20

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100 Team 7

Team 6

Team 5

Team 4 Team 3

Team 2

Team 1

Literature & introduction

Questionnaire

Taught function

HCI adaptation

Critical social theory • To interpret the results of the reports, content analysis was used and viewed through a critical social theory lense.

• In particular, Habermas’ theory of critical social science and his three knowledge interests were applied.

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Benjamin Pavie / ben http://openclipart.org/

Habermas’ knowledge interests In his theory of critical social science, Habermas opposes the claim that science offers an objective or neutral account of reality but feels that

“… different kinds of knowledge are shaped by the particular human interests that they serve”

(Carr & Kemmis, 1986, p. 134)

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Results in terms of Harbermas’ Technical Knowledge Interest

Graduate attribute Results

Communication skills

Verbal and written communication skills were developed. Students had to acquaint themselves with various mobile technologies for demonstration purposes and had to communicate this to the interviewee.

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Graduate attributes Results

Teamwork Professionalism

All team members had to take responsibility for their learning and timeously contributing to the team effort. Learnt ethical practices such as getting permission from participants. Adhere to deadlines. Truthful referencing of other’s work.

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Results in terms of Harbermas’ Practical Knowledge Interest

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Results in terms of Harbermas’ Emancipatory Knowledge Interest

Graduate attribute Results

Multiplism

Acknowledged different generations, cultures and abilities. Learnt to have empathy with older mobile users and to acknowledge the legitimacy of their requirements. In dealing with non-technical users they broadened their worldview. They had to share knowledge which is in a sense emancipatory.

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Results in terms of Harbermas’ all the Knowledge Interests

Graduate attributes Results

Research skills

Students were exposed to the process of consulting research literature, planning research, collecting, analysing and reporting on data.

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Discussion • Situated learning allowed students to critically reflect on real-life situations.

• Student reports demonstrated an appreciation for the challenges that senior mobile phone users experience.

• Suggested HCI improvements indicated an engagement with the task, and

• developed skills (oral and written communication, multiplism, and the ability to do research).

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Conclusion This project was aimed at narrowing the graduate skill gap by addressing graduate attributes such as:

•  scholarship; •  critical citizenship; and •  social good.

These have been developed to some extent by this situated learning assignment and would contribute to their ability to become life long learners.

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Conclusion The research done over the four years gave rise to several presentation and publications.

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Year Data collected Output

2011 Forty four student researcher’s from Scotland and 32 from South Africa collected data from 44 and 63 participants older than 65 respectively

•  Venter IM, Blignaut, RJ, and Renaud, K. (2014). Uniformity in the midst of diversity. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol 12, No 4 (6 October 2014) ISSN: 1726-0531http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-08-2013-0060 (Pages 550-562)

•  Venter, IM, Blignaut, RJ, and Renaud, K. (2013). Mirroring real life in a university setting to instill graduate attributes. Teaching and Learning Seminar Series, UWC, Bellville, South Africa. 30 May 2013. (Presentation)

•  Venter IM, Blignaut, RJ, and Renaud, K. (2013). Reaching out to mobile phone “rookies” in two countries. Proceedings of WCCE2013, WCCE 2013, Torun, Poland, 1-5 July 2013 (Pages 282-283) (ISBN 978-83-231-3095-6)

•  Blignaut, RJ, Venter IM, and Renaud, K. (2013). Training for the globalized workplace. INED Demographic Conference “Future of Populations”. Paris 3-6 Décembre 2013

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Year Data collected Output

2012 Data was collected from 99 participants by 49 student researchers in South Africa. The students completed the questionnaires themselves as well.

•  Renaud, K, Blignaut, RJ and Venter, IM. (2013). Designing Mobile Phone Interfaces for Age Diversity in South Africa: “One-World” versus Diverse “Islands”, Human-Computer Interaction -- INTERACT 2013, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, edited by Paula Kotzé, Gary Marsden, Gitte Lindgaard, Janet Wesson and Marco Winckler. Springer, LNCS 8119 (Pages 1-17, Part III) (ISBN978-3-642-40476-4).

•  Blignaut, RJ, Venter IM, and Renaud, K. (2013). A bridge over the computer science graduate skill gap. Proceedings of the 10th IFIP World Conference on Computers in Education WCCE2013, Torun, Poland, 1-5 July 2013 (Pages274283) (ISBN 978-83-231-3090-1 )

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Year Data collected Output

2013 Data was collected from 77 participants by 44 students. Students completed the questionnaire and this questionnaire also included some health related questions.

This article dealt with the data of three years (2011-2013). Blignaut, RJ, Venter, IM and Renaud, KV. (2015) Granny gets smarter but junior doesn’t notice, The Journal of Community Informatics (submitted - 1161)

2014 Sixty-three student researchers collected data from 56 young participants and 55 older participants and completed the questionnaire themselves

Blinkered Views of Out-Group Mobile Phone Usage in a South African University (finalising this article)

Recommendation

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• This situated learning assignment and team work approach demonstrates promise and is a realistic way for universities to prepare students for the workplace.

• The development of these soft skills can be done outside scheduled contact time, leaving valuable time for the development of hard skills.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Research Committee of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa

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Questions • Can this project be replicated in another country where the culture is very different?

• What difficulties did the students experience in finding mobile phone users over 65 years of age?

• Can such a situated learning project be used in other disciplines?

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