Experience-Based Constructionism as a Basis for HCI Education: A Case Study

Abstract

As new technologies constantly change what we understand as a computer, Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) educators need to stay updated and prepare their students to work with an ever-growing number of socio-technical situations. This phenomenon constitutes a challenge for HCI syllabuses and practices, demanding diversified approaches to HCI education. In this article, we articulate Papert’s constructionism with Dewey’s theory of experience to propose an experience-based constructionism approach to practices in HCI education. We illustrate our approach in a case study with 55 computing undergraduate students engaged in the design and construction of open-ended, physical interactive artworks. Nine interactive artifacts were created. The students have shown an effective experience with our approach, reporting an expanded view of HCI, and demonstrating competence in appropriating new methods and instruments, suggesting the effectiveness of our approach to HCI education. Results of this work may encourage other HCI educators and practitioners to experience the proposed approach in their specific contexts.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our students for their enthusiasm and commitment to the InterArt project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A more detailed description of the teams and their interactive artworks is presented in Appendix A.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) through grant #304708/2020-8, and by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) through grants #2015/16528-0 and #2020/04242-2.

Notes on contributors

Emanuel Felipe Duarte

Emanuel Felipe Duarte is a post-doctoral researcher at Unicamp. His research in Human–Computer Interaction addresses topics, such as ubiquitous computing, participatory design, and interactive installations. He is particularly interested in the design and evaluation of interactive systems that go beyond the screen and into the physical and social world.

M. Cecília C. Baranauskas

M. Cecília C. Baranauskas is a Full Professor at Unicamp and Collaborator at UFPR. Her research interests include socioenactive systems design within educational and societal contexts. Along her career, she was conferred with several awards, between them the ACM SIGDOC Rigo Award (2010) and the ACM Social Impact Award (2021).