THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Informatics : Informatics

Postgraduate Course: Case Studies in Design Informatics 1 (INFR11094)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Informatics CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryHow would you do it differently? Every time a design decision is made to pursue one course of action, other routes are closed off. The goal is to work in groups to see why specific project design decisions were taken, and to envisage a different service or product that could be built from the same components.
Course description Students work in groups. In the second part, they are supported by senior students (normally,
those who are enrolled in CSDI2), with a member of academic staff as mentor.

This course introduces students to real examples in the emerging field of Design Informatics. A key
component of the course is the detailed evaluation of and rationale behind multiple current
research projects that highlight the limitations of the state of the art, or novel use of the latest
theories and technologies.

The syllabus divides into two phases.
- In the first part of the course, a core case study is introduced via lectures where a product or
service is an important deliverable.
- In the second part of the course, each group works on its own, new case study, justifies its
selection and scoping, produces a prototype and conducts a short experimental study based on
that prototype.

Wherever possible, case studies are taken from the ongoing or recent research at the University of
Edinburgh. The case studies will be underpinned with lectures reviewing relevant theoretical
background and classroom activities to ensure students develop required skills. Formative
feedback will be through class interaction and self- or peer assessed quizzes.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites Students MUST also take: Histories and Futures of Technology (DESI11073)
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements This course is open to all Informatics students including those on joint degrees. For external students where this course is not listed in your DPT, please seek special permission from the course organiser.
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 14, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 14, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 168 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Assessed Assignments: 100%

Group:
- 20%: multimodal group presentation of the prototype at the end of the second section of the
course.
- 30%: group report (around 1500 words) about their completed case study at the end of the third section of the course

Individual:
- 20%: online assessments designed to reinforce key concepts discussed in lecutures
- 30%: Reflective piece about an ethical, legal, social, or design aspect of the completed case
study that is the subject of the long group report. 1000 words.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Discuss the research and design processes behind a small set of design informatics projects.
  2. Describe, with examples, the practical limits of current technologies and theories.
  3. Analyse in groups problems and suggest potential solutions, which can or should combine computational and design thinking.
  4. Extend, through engineering and/or design methods, specific features or applications identified in one real example.
  5. Critically evaluate research literature in the field, taking into account legal, social, ethical or professional issues
Reading List
Readings are provided by teachers. Each week students are asked to read one or more papers. The list varies from year to year.
Additional Information
Course URL http://course.inf.ed.ac.uk/cdi1
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Maria Wolters
Tel: (0131 6)50 2732
Email: Maria.Wolters@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Katey Lee
Tel: (0131 6)50 2701
Email: Katey.Lee@ed.ac.uk
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