Seminar: Designing and Conducting Experimental Studies

Course Content

Specific research questions are to be investigated as part of a user study. The seminar focuses on designing a user study to investigate a specific research question. This is followed by the actual conduct of the user study and the analysis of the collected data. The amount of work required for each module component may vary depending on the research question.

The seminar aims to provide 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 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 120 hours (4.0 credits).

Activity

Workload

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

10 h

Studies plan, implementation, and analysis

106 h

Preparing the presentation

4 h

TOTAL

120 h 00 min

Target Audience

Students in a bachelor’s or master’s degree program in computer science

Students in a diploma or master’s degree program in information management

Target

To plan and conduct a study on a current research topic in the Division of “Human-Computer Interaction,” “Ubiquitous Systems,” and “Context-Sensitive Systems.” Upon completion of the 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 seminar paper, and the presentation of said paper as an alternative form of assessment pursuant to § 4 (2) No. 3 SPO.

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