Implementing the Tenth Strand - Page 11 of 18

ES4.4 Populations are always diverse.
The situations in which a technology will be used, the people who will use that technology, and the uses to which it will be put, are all more varied and diverse than one might first expect. It is better to develop the system with this variability in mind than to be surprised by it later. Students need to learn to consider issues such as culture, gender, ethnicity, age, and disability at the very beginning of every design process. They also need to consider the variety of situations and conditions under which a product will be used and the variety of purposes for which it might be used.

ES4.5 Empirical data are crucial to the design and development processes.
Models never capture reality completely. A computer professional must systematically collect and analyze data to guide the development process. Speculation, hunches, or naive optimism about a particular social context are not acceptable substitutes for empirical data.

Suggested laboratories(3):

1. For a given application, have students design different interfaces for different social contexts.

2. Work through a case study in which the interest of the users and the customer are inconsistent, and the developers are caught in the middle.

3. Students are required to devise a quantitative hypothesis about one aspect of a particular interface in one or more specific social contexts. They will then be given empirical data on actual use to confirm or reject the hypothesis.

Connections: Related to: ES2, ES5 Prerequisites: one semester of computer programming

ES5: Basic Skills of Social Analysis

Three basic skills of social analysis appropriate for computer professionals are:

1 ) identifying and interpreting the social context of a particular implementation,
2) identifying assumptions and values embedded in a particular system, and
3) evaluating, by use of empirical data, a particular implementation of a technology.

Recurring concepts:

complexity, consistency and completeness, trade-off and consequences, evolution

Lecture topics:(3 hours):

ES5.1 Identifying and interpreting the social context of a particular implementation.
Quality system development must take into account the people and organizations that will interact with the system. This information is typically not fully described in system specifications. Students should be provided with opportunities to analyze the social context surrounding actual computer implementations.

ES5.2 Identifying assumptions and values embedded in a particular system.
The claim that a particular implementation of a technology is value-neutral is typically based on a failure of imagination. Practice in identifying embedded values will help students to identify similar issues in the future.

ES5.3 Evaluating, by use of empirical data, a particular implementation of a technology.
Practicing computer professionals need to be able to use empirical data to evaluate the likely use of a technology (as opposed to its planned use) and the performance of a technology after its implementation. The designer of a technology needs sufficient data to determine if (within constraints of time and budget) the design has the effects in actual use it claims to and has no other significant risks associated with it. Students need to be need to be provided with opportunities to practice doing evaluations and to be shown how to make professional judgments about how much and what quality of evaluation is necessary.