Many participants stressed the importance of giving realistic presentations, including the duration. In general, presentations were about 15 minutes. Once again, all four models appear to involve a significant commitment from the faculty if they are to be successful. In addition to the results listed above, the final part of the workshop was spent highlighting some of the more important activities we identified and thinking about future workshops on HCI education. Four activities dominated the discussions.
Projects appear to be the single most important idea.
Ideally, these projects should be realistic industry projects. There should be a commitment by the industrial partner to provide feedback and to participate as much as possible. Students should be required to give presentations at key milestones, work to deadlines, manage resources, and write final reports. The projects can involve developing a new system or redesigning existing systems. The skills identified in response to the first goal appear to be a minimal requirement for certain disciplines to foster better communication and teamwork on interdisciplinary teams.