Course Credit: 4 Credits Format: 4 hours of lecture each week Lecture: TBA Enforced Prerequisites: PSY340 and PSY301 Instructor: TBA Office Hours: TBA Classroom: TBA Class Website: Blackboard PSY494 Engineering Psychology Course Descriptions: Survey human capabilities and limitations in human-machine interaction, including vision, memory, attention, motor control, and human error. Emphasis on theory and implications for system designs. Text: Wickens, C. D., & Hollands, J. G. (2000). Engineering psychology and human performance (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of the term, students will demonstrate their ability to: identify human performance capacities and limitations in modern human-machine systems; design an experimental settings where usability theories can be tested; evaluate the effectiveness of the performance of human-machine systems; apply human factors and psychological principles to the design. Exams: There will be three exams. They will not be cumulative. The exam dates (see below) are firm. Makeup exams can be requested only under the following circumstances: (1) a serious medical problem; (2) participation in certain OSU-sanctioned events (e.g., a baseball game or concert); and (3) a death in the family. However, you must provide documentation and you must contact me before you miss the exam. Class Attendance/In-Class Projects: Students are responsible for all materials covered in class. Although the lecture outlines will be posted on Blackboard, they are NOT understandable alone. Exams will primarily cover these topics. There will be unscheduled in-class projects for which your participation is required. These are designed to (1) assess your comprehension of class materials and (2) reward your attendance. There will be a total of 11 in-class projects; however, only the 10 highest scores will count toward your final grade. Each project is worth 15 points (a total of 150 points). Your project is due at the end of the class. No exception will be given. Extra Credit: You can earn extra points by contributing examples of bad designs (i.e., that violate human factors principles, such as the ones discussed in class). Whenever you see a product or sign that is poorly designed, take a picture of it. Insert the picture to the Microsoft word and write a paragraph explaining what s wrong with it. You will need to submit your extra credit via the Extra Credit Assignment link on Blackboard. Some of the submitted examples will later be discussed in class. Each acceptable (novel, interesting, ) example sent to Blackboard by 10am on April 16th (before Exam 1) is worth up to 15 points extra credit; each acceptable example sent between April 16th to 10am on May 12th (between Exam 1 and Exam 2) is worth up to 10 points extra credit; each acceptable example sent between May 12th to 5pm on June 5th (between Exam 2 and Friday of Week 10) is worth up to 5 points extra credit. Page 1 of 3
No extra credit will be given after Friday of Week 10. Each student can submit a maximum of two examples for a maximum of 30 points extra credit. (Note: send original examples only, not ones from the book or from websites.) Grading: Your grade will be determined as follows (NO curve): Exam 1, Exam 2, and Exam 3 are worth a total of 300 points (100 points each) In-Class Projects (CP) are worth a total of 150 points (15 points each) Total Score (out of 450) = Exam 1 + Exam 2 + Exam 3 + CP Note: With extra credit, it is possible to earn a Total Score of 480. Total Score 423 or above 405 422 387 404 378 386 360 377 342 359 333 341 315 332 297 314 288 296 270 287 Below 270 Grade A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F Accommodations for Disabilities: Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty and Disability Access Services (DAS). Students with accommodations approved through DAS are responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through DAS should contact DAS immediately at 737-4098. Academic Honesty: If you have any doubts about the definitions of cheating or plagiarism, please review the OSU definitions at http://www.oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm. At the very least, if you are caught cheating on a test or submitting homework that is not your own, you will receive an F for the work and will be reported to the Student Conduct and Mediation program. Under university policies, penalties for academic dishonesty can be as severe as failing the entire course. Tentative Class Schedule and Homework Assignment (subject to revision) Week Date Topic Reading Assignment 1 3/31; 4/2 Introduction to Engineering Psychology and Human Performance Signal Detection, Information Theory, and Absolute Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Judgment 2 4/7; 4/9 Attention in Perception and Display Space Chapter 3 3 4/14 Spatial Displays Chapter 4 4/16 Exam 1 (Chapters 1-4) 4 4/21;4/23 Navigation and Interaction in Real and Virtual Environments Language, Communications, and Warnings Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Page 2 of 3
5 4/28;4/30 Memory and Training Chapter 7 6 5/5;5/7 Attention, Time-Sharing, and Workload Chapter 11 7 5/12 Exam 2 (Chapters 5-7, 11) 5/14 Decision making Chapter 8 8 5/19;5/21 Selection of Action Manual Control Chapter 9 Chapter 10 9 5/26; 5/28 Stress and Human Error Chapter 12 10 6/2; 6/4 Graduate Students Presentation 11 Exam 3: June 11 (Thursday), 12:00pm, Chapters 8-10, 12 Page 3 of 3
Course Credit: 4 Credits Format: 4 hours of lecture each week Lecture: TBA Enforced Prerequisites: PSY340 and PSY301 Instructor: TBA Office Hours: TBA Classroom: TBA Class Website: Blackboard PSY594 Engineering Psychology Course Descriptions: Survey human capabilities and limitations in human-machine interaction, including vision, memory, attention, motor control, and human error. Emphasis on theory and implications for system designs. Text: Wickens, C. D., & Hollands, J. G. (2000). Engineering psychology and human performance (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of the term, students will demonstrate their ability to: identify human performance capacities and limitations in modern human-machine systems; integrate various theories and methods in order to develop research questions; design an experimental settings where usability theories can be tested; evaluate the effectiveness of the performance of human-machine systems; apply human factors and psychological principles to the design; report research in engineering psychology and human factors orally and in writing. Exams: There will be three exams. They will not be cumulative. The exam dates (see below) are firm. Makeup exams can be requested only under the following circumstances: (1) a serious medical problem; (2) participation in certain OSU-sanctioned events (e.g., a baseball game or concert); and (3) a death in the family. However, you must provide documentation and you must contact me before you miss the exam. Class Attendance/In-Class Projects: Students are responsible for all materials covered in class. Although the lecture outlines will be posted on Blackboard, they are NOT understandable alone. Exams will primarily cover these topics. There will be unscheduled in-class projects for which your participation is required. These are designed to (1) assess your comprehension of class materials and (2) reward your attendance. There will be a total of 11 in-class projects; however, only the 10 highest scores will count toward your final grade. Each project is worth 15 points (a total of 150 points). Your project is due at the end of the class. No exception will be given. Research Project: All graduate students will be expected to carry out an individual project. The focus of the project will be to take an existing design (of a device, machine, software, or website), critique this design from a human factors perspective, and offer suggestions for design improvements. During the final class meetings (see schedule below), you will present a report of your project to the class. Your research project is worth a total of 100 points. The grade will not hinge on whether the improved design of a product (if any) actually turned out to be superior to the original interface or manual, but rather on whether the project was thoughtfully conceived, carefully conducted, and clearly written up. Your Page 1 of 5
research project is due before 10 AM on June 2nd (Tuesday of Week 10). The paper should be submitted via the Graduate Student Project link on Blackboard. Presentation: You are required to make a 30-minute professional presentation of your project (as if you were giving a talk at a conference) during Week 10. Also, be prepared for questions from your peers regarding your research project. Your presentation will be evaluated by your peers on two aspects (the project itself and the quality of your presentation). This presentation is worth a total of 50 points. Extra Credit: You can earn extra points by contributing examples of bad designs (i.e., that violate human factors principles, such as the ones discussed in class). Whenever you see a product or sign that is poorly designed, take a picture of it. Insert the picture to the Microsoft word and write a paragraph explaining what s wrong with it. You will need to submit your extra credit via the Extra Credit Assignment link on Blackboard. Some of the submitted examples will later be discussed in class. Each acceptable (novel, interesting, ) example sent to Blackboard by 10am on April 16th (before Exam 1) is worth up to 15 points extra credit; each acceptable example sent between April 16th to 10am on May 12th (between Exam 1 and Exam 2) is worth up to 10 points extra credit; each acceptable example sent between May 12th to 5pm on June 5th (between Exam 2 and Friday of Week 10) is worth up to 5 points extra credit. No extra credit will be given after Friday of Week 10. Each student can submit a maximum of two examples for a maximum of 30 points extra credit. (Note: send original examples only, not ones from the book or from websites.) Grading: Your grade will be determined as follows (NO curve): Exam 1, Exam 2, and Exam 3 are worth a total of 300 points (100 points each) In-Class Projects (CP) are worth a total of 150 points (15 points each) Your research paper is worth 100 points Your presentation is worth 50 points Total Score (out of 600) = Exam 1 + Exam 2 + Exam 3 + CP + Research Paper + Presentation Note: With extra credit, it is possible to earn a Total Score of 630. Total Score 564 or above 540 563 516 539 504 515 480 503 456 479 444 455 420 443 396 419 384 395 360 383 Below 360 Grade A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F Accommodations for Disabilities: Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty and Disability Access Services (DAS). Students with accommodations approved through DAS are responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through DAS should contact DAS immediately at 737-4098. Page 2 of 5
Academic Honesty: If you have any doubts about the definitions of cheating or plagiarism, please review the OSU definitions at http://www.oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm. At the very least, if you are caught cheating on a test or submitting homework that is not your own, you will receive an F for the work and will be reported to the Student Conduct and Mediation program. Under university policies, penalties for academic dishonesty can be as severe as failing the entire course. Tentative Class Schedule and Homework Assignment (subject to revision) Week Date Topic Reading Assignment 1 3/31; 4/2 Introduction to Engineering Psychology and Human Performance Signal Detection, Information Theory, and Absolute Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Judgment 2 4/7; 4/9 Attention in Perception and Display Space Chapter 3 3 4/14 Spatial Displays Chapter 4 4/16 Exam 1 (Chapters 1-4) 4 4/21;4/23 Navigation and Interaction in Real and Virtual Environments Language, Communications, and Warnings Chapter 5 Chapter 6 5 4/28;4/30 Memory and Training Chapter 7 6 5/5;5/7 Attention, Time-Sharing, and Workload Chapter 11 7 5/12 Exam 2 (Chapters 5-7, 11) 5/14 Decision making Chapter 8 8 5/19;5/21 Selection of Action Manual Control Chapter 9 Chapter 10 9 5/26; 5/28 Stress and Human Error Chapter 12 10 6/2; 6/4 Graduate Students Presentation 11 Exam 3: June 11 (Thursday), 12:00pm, Chapters 8-10, 12 Page 3 of 5
PSY594 Engineering Psychology Graduate Student Project and Presentation All graduate students will be expected to carry out an individual project and presentation. You will need to choose a product, display, or machine (e.g., cell phone, Blackboard, U-Scan, etc.) and discuss the possible design flaws based on material discussed in class or in the textbook. You will then suggest an improved design and propose a research method to assess your new design. During the final class meetings (see schedule above), each student will present a report of their project to the class. All students will turn in a written report via the Graduate Student Project link on Blackboard. Your research project is due before 10 AM on June 2nd (Tuesday of Week 10). The paper should be in an APA style (check Blackboard for APA Style Guide Links). I have posted few examples of project papers on Blackboard. Your project paper should include the following information: Cover page (includes the title, your name, and project due date) Introduction (includes overview, project goals, objectives, etc.) Current Design Problems (what human factors principles should be taken into consideration) Proposal for an Improved Design (after taking relevant human factors principles into account) Proposed Approach to Evaluate the New Design (details of the experimental design, participants, etc.) Summary/Conclusions References Tables and/figures (if there is any) * The total number of pages for your project paper (excluding cover and references) should be at least 15 but no more than 20 (double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins). Your project paper will be graded on content criteria and writing criteria. Content criteria: (1) completeness Does the paper meet all of the stated requirements? (2) accuracy Are the human factors principles cited and used correctly? (3) logic Are the conclusions reasonable and do they follow logically from the stated premises? (4) creativity Are the observations novel and insightful? Writing criteria: (1) organization Are the ideas organized well (with proper subheadings)? (2) clarity Is the paper understandable to those without extensive prior knowledge? (3) spelling Are all the words spelled correctly? (use a spell-checker!) (4) formatting Is the paper visually appealing (appropriate use of headings, font, spacing, bullets, etc.)? Presentation You will make a 30-minute professional presentation of your project (as if you were trying to sell your new design and its evaluation to an employer). Be prepared for questions from your peers regarding your research project. Your presentation will be evaluated by me and your peers. Page 4 of 5
Your presentation will be graded on the project itself and quality and creativity of the presentation (a total of 50 points). 1. The Project Itself (30 points) (Was sufficient background information provided? Was the need for Human Factors consideration clear? Was the proposed design novel? Was the research method appropriate? Would it allow them to accurately evaluate their design?) 2. Quality and Creativity of the Presentation (20 points) (PowerPoint slides, visual aides, demonstration, etc. Was the presentation well organized? Did the presenters speak clearly, hold audience s attention, and stay within the time limit? Did the presenters convey excitement about their research project energy & enthusiasm?) Page 5 of 5