University of Idaho
3 Credits
Spring 2024
CRN 68894 (classroom)
CRN 68895 (online)
Jan 10, 2024 - May 10, 2024 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm Pacific Wednesdays
No class March 13, 2024 (Spring Recess)
SHC 216
Roger Lew
rogerlew@uidaho.edu
208-660-4525 (Business hours)
Office Hours: by appointment
https://github.com/rogerlew/advanced-human-factors/blob/main/2024_schedule.md
There is no textbook for this class. Instead, we will rely on journal articles, book chapters, published standards, and HFES conference proceedings as the main sources for this course.
Articles and online materials to be assigned by instructor or presenting students.
It has been 50+ years since the DoD first commissioned the development of the Human Engineering Guide to Equipment Design. In this short period, the discipline has gained acceptance and its standards have become procurement requirements for many agencies. The field is represented by the members of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and different parts overlap with other disciplines (e.g., UX design, engineering).
The discipline encompasses everything from:
- hand tool design to software design,
- worker performance to system performance,
- predictive modeling to forensic analysis,
- many military, industrial, work-related, and leisure-related domains, and
- diverse user groups, from individuals to teams, young to old, discretionary to non-discretionary use,
- design considerations for different forms of sensory, cognitive, and motor impairments, and other special populations.
This course builds on topics discussed in the core courses of the program – like Engineering Psychology, Human Factors in Engineering Design, Human Computer Interaction, and basic psychological courses like Cognitive Psychology and Sensation & Perception. The course attempts to address larger topics and specific domains that are central to the work of modern human factors professionals across the discipline. A solid foundation in behavioral research methods and core human factors and psychology topics is assumed to be present for students taking this class.
The main purpose of the course is to present a deeper analysis of a number of important and contemporary aspects of human factors work.
To do so we will review and discuss sources and conduct practice oriented assignments.
Topics covered by the course will be identified as a group.
- areas that are of most interest to the students
- topics that might not have been covered in sufficient depth in the other classes
e.g.: General HF research methods, HF design standards, Decision support systems, Forensic investigation, Human performance modeling, VR and immersive displays, Surface transportation, HF and leisure activity/gaming, Issues in aviation psychology, Special populations, Human robot interaction.
Student and instructor lead discussion-based seminar course.
On multiple occasions throughout the semester you will present on a specific topic related to the overall class discussion. In most cases, the presentations will be done via recorded or live presentations. Live presentations are highly prefered and likely more time efficient. This will keep the requirements identical for classroom and online students. Presentation will usually be on a sub-section of the overarching topic or a specific paper assigned to you.
The readings will be determined in cooperation by the student and the instructor. For some topics central articles are going to be provided (see below). Students are, however, encouraged to seek additional material. Your objective as a discussion leader is to provide a framework that summarizes and critically reviews important concepts. In line with this objective, please provide the class with additional handout materials such as lecture notes and references in addition to the presentation.
This is a seminar course. You are expected to read the assigned materials before class, and be prepared to discuss the information during class. Your constructive and informed participation is essential. Please make sure that you also follow the basic rules of civility and respect during the discussions.
Online students who are not participating during the class meetings are required to submit a notebook of their thoughts from viewing the class room meetings and reading the assigned materials. The notebook will be used to assess participation points for grading purposess.
Online students are encouraged to join the course during the weekly zoom meetings. Recordings will be made available for students able to join the classroom meetings. The zoom-meeting ID that will be used throughout the course is listed above. Please make sure that you have a working webcam and can join zoom meetings with video turned on.
- Develop familiarity with available standards
- Hands-on application of standards
- Dissemination and interpretation of findings
- Practioner oriented thinking to address problems
- Researcher oriented thinking to further examine product and potential solutions
Evaluation against a standard. As part of this course you will learn about design guidelines and standards in different sub-fields of Human Factors.
The project will involve the evaluation the Human Factors of a complex system of your choosing. The complex system could be a physical product or web application. The goal of the project is for you to familiarize yourself with a current human factors design standards and to perform an evaluation against a standard.
Write a cohesive document for an intended audience. Recommended 8-12 pages in APA.
Please disclose assistance from artifical and human intelligence agents.
Department of Defense Design Criteria Standard Human Engineering 11 January 2012 MIL-STD-1472G
US Nuclear Regulatory Committee. Human-System Interface Design Review Guidelines NUREG-0700
Us Department Of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Human Factors Design Standard. HF-STD-001B
IEEE SA. IEEE Ontological Standard for Ethically Driven Robotics and Automation Systems. IEEE Std 7007-2021
IEEE SA. IEEE Guide for Human Factors Applications of Computerized Operating Procedure Systems (COPS) at Nuclear Power Generating Stations and Other Nuclear Facilities. IEEE Std 1786-2022
Due Friday March 8, 2023 (Mid-term Week, week before spring break)
In the latter half the semester students will conduct a main project
- Develop topical expertise in a domain that relates to human factors
- Research topic and summarize topic
- Analyze and interpret trends
- Identify and describe human factors related issues
- Explore potential opportunities or problem areas (e.g. pedestrian fatalities at all time high) (human-, market-driven, or both)
- Based on topical expertise (do one or more of these)
- Identify research gaps and develop a research curriculum
- Envision and conceptualize potential innovation(s) in the topical domain
- Forecast future trends and paradigm shifts
Intent is to allow students to students select a domain that furthers their career interests. Those students pursuing a PhD are strongly encouraged to develop a research driven project (e.g. essential something that could be adapted to a proposal or academic research project).
In all cases the project needs to be largely an individual effort in its core HF related areas. If a project is conducted with the assistance of others, the individuals’ contributions need to be clearly stated and identified. Please disclose assistance from artifical and human intelligence agents.
Due Wednesday May 8, 2023 (Finals Week)
| Participation in class | 30% |
| Presentations and discussion lead | 30% |
| Main project | 20% |
| Evaluation project | 20% |
Regular class attendance and participation is expected in this class. For a graduate seminar like this your attendance should be 100%. Please let me know in advance when you will miss a class for any reason. More than one absence will lead to a reduction of your participation grade.
Given that this is a seminar style class it is expected that the core materials have been read prior to class and that you have thought about the material in a meaningful way. Preparedness factors into the attendance / participation grade.
There might be times where you are asked to comment on other students work or just engage in a discussion with each other (sometimes in small groups). Please be respectful when interacting with each other - that doesn't mean that you have to agree with the other's view. Please also try to be professional in the way you express your opinions and avoid expletives or otherwise offensive language. I have posted the university approved Civility Clause below, but all of you probably know what it means to be respectful of each other.
In any environment in which people interact in meaningful ways to gain knowledge, it is essential that each member feel as free and safe as possible in their participation. To this end, it will be course policy and expected that everyone will be treated with mutual respect. We certainly do not have to agree, but everyone deserves to feel they are heard. We learn by engaging in constructive evidence‐based dialogue. Therefore we shall establish in this course a general understanding that members of this class (including students, instructors, professors, and teaching assistants) will be respected and respectful to one another in discussion, in action, in teaching, and in learning.
Behaviors that disrupt other students’ learning are not acceptable (e.g., arriving consistently late for class; cell phone use; texting; reading non-course related materials; extensive social conversations during class), and will be addressed by the instructor. I do this because I know that some students are easily distracted, and I want to support them and make sure their learning experience is positive.
Cell phones should be turned off and put away during the entire class period. If you have a situation in which you must have your phone out (e.g., a family emergency), please try to limit its use.
Please try to be somewhat professional in your coorespondances. You can address me as "Roger" in person and in written coorespondances.
Unless otherwise instructed, please submit your assignments through Canvas. I will post each assignment in Canvas and you can upload your file(s) into the assignment or copy and paste the text into the appropriate box. If you notice that there is no assignment in Canvas that matches what you have to submit, please let me know asap so I can make it visible to the class. This will allow me to track your assignments much better than if you sent them through email, and it also allows me to post comments together with your grade. If you are in doubt whether bblearn has accepted your assignment, you can always email an additional copy.
Willing to grant extensions on a case-by-case basis. Late work is subject to a penalty of upto 10%/day late.
This course focuses on three of the University of Idaho's main learning outcome that are related to your knowledgeable application of human factors methods to real-world issues, communicate the process and the expected results, and do so in an ethical and responsible way.
- Think and create - Use multiple strategies to examine real-world issues, explore creative avenues of expression, solve problems, and make consequential decisions.
- Communicate - Acquire, articulate, create and convey intended meaning using verbal and non-verbal methods of communication that demonstrate respect and understanding in a complex society.
- Practice citizenship - Apply principles of ethical leadership, collaborative engagement, socially responsible behavior, respect for diversity in an interdependent world, and a service-oriented commitment to advance and sustain local and global communities.
Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have documented temporary or permanent disabilities. All accommodations must be approved through the Center for Disability Access and Resources located in the Bruce M. Pitman Center, Suite 127 in order to notify your instructor as soon as possible regarding accommodation(s) needed for the course. Contact DSS at 208-885-6307, email cdar@uidaho.edu or go to www.uidaho.edu/current-students/cdar.
Please contact me if this is applicable
(Ironically this is borrowed from Dr. Werner. Thanks Steffen)
In general there haven’t been many instances of academic dishonesty in our graduate courses. I am including this just so that everyone knows the expectations and there is no ambiguity what is expected of you.
Academic dishonesty includes cheating, falsification, fabrication, multiple submission, plagiarism, abuse of academic materials, complicity, or misconduct in research. The following are brief descriptions of a short list of instances of academic dishonesty.
- Cheating is the intentional use of, or attempt to use, unauthorized material, information, or study aids in any academic activity to gain advantage.
- Multiple Submission includes, but is not limited to, submitting the same paper or oral report for credit in two different courses. If you take the same course again (maybe you withdrew from it before) then you can reuse your papers or assignments, of course. For example, if you are working on a research project in a lab for research credits and then use the result of that research (the report) as the main project for this class, that would be an example of academic dishonesty due to multiple submission.
- Plagiarism is representing the work of another as one’s own without proper acknowledgment of the source. Make sure that you clearly identify which parts of a project you were responsible for, and which parts of a project others worked on.
- Complicity. A student is guilty of complicity in academic dishonesty if he or she intentionally or knowingly helps or attempts to help another or others to commit an act of academic dishonesty.
One of the biggest potential problems that you as a student face in your writing is the issue of plagiarism. In short, plagiarism means that you are either passing off someone else’s work as your own (either intentionally or because you don’t know how to adequately distinguish your own work from someone else’s) or that you are relying too much on other people’s work without contributing significantly yourself. There are a few quick checks that you can do to avoid plagiarism:
- Are you using someone else’s words in your writing? If you do so you have to put that part in quotation marks and clearly cite the source. This makes it clear to anyone that these words are not your own and the reader can find the original source.
- Are you relying on someone else’s ideas without using exactly their words? Maybe you are paraphrasing someone else’s work – in that case you still have to cite the other person’s work and give credit where credit is due. Paraphrasing does get rid of the quotation marks but does not mean that you don’t have to identify that passage as substantially someone else’s work.
- Have you contributed significantly to your writing? Even if you cite all of your sources you might still fall short of owning your writing if all you have done is create a patchwork of other peoples’ work. For example, if you are answering a question on an exam where you are asked to define a particular term, you cannot just copy and paste the definition from an online source and then cite it – that doesn’t make it your own work.
Plagiarism is a serious issue and you cannot claim ignorance of the rules to protect yourself. If we encounter plagiarized work in your assignment (or exams) we are forced to fail you for that particular assignment (or part of the exam), or fail you for the entire course. That is obviously not in anyone’s interest – so please make sure that you fully understand the rules regarding plagiarism and if you have any questions please ask me before you submit your work.
(UI 2023 Calendar)https://www.uidaho.edu/registrar/classes/finals/spring]