Proseminar: Designing and Conducting Experimental Studies

Course Content

Specific research questions are to be investigated within the framework of a user study. The focus of the undergraduate seminar is on designing a user study to investigate a specific research question. This is followed by the actual implementation of the user study and the analysis of the collected data. Depending on the research question, the effort required for each module component may vary.

The undergraduate seminar aims to impart theoretical and practical knowledge on planning, conducting, and evaluating user studies. This can serve as useful preparation for the bachelor's thesis.

Brief Description

Specific research questions are to be investigated within the framework of a user study. The user study is to be designed, conducted, and evaluated in small groups as part of the undergraduate seminar. The target is to document the work performed in a short written paper and a brief presentation. Topics (research questions) will be announced during the first course and on the institute’s website.

Workload

The total workload for this course unit is approximately 90 hours (3.0 credits).

Activity

Workload

1. attendance: Kickoff, presentation and discussion, and meetings with advisors

10 h

Studies plan, implementation, analysis, and documentation

76 h

Preparing the presentation

4 h

TOTAL

90 h 00 min

Target Audience

Students in the Bachelor’s degree program in Computer Science

Students in the Bachelor’s degree program in information management

Target

To plan and conduct a study on a current research topic in the divisions of “Human-Computer Interaction,” “Ubiquitous Systems,” and “Context-Sensitive Systems.” Upon completion of the undergraduate seminar, students will be able to

• independently search for, identify, analyze, and evaluate relevant literature
• derive framework data and parameters for user studies and experiments from the literature
• design, conduct, and evaluate a study addressing a research question
• present scientific results in a structured manner and present them to a specialist audience in a short presentation
• apply scientific writing techniques to compose a scientific article on the planning, implementation, and results of the study

Examination

Assessment is based on the correct conduct of the study, the completion of a written proseminar paper, and the presentation of that paper as an alternative form of assessment pursuant to § 4 (2) No. 3 SPO.

The proseminar grade is composed of the grade for the written paper and the presentation.