Quote:> Can anyone suggest some really great masters programs that combine
> computer science, ergonomics, and HCI?
> I have taken a look at the ACM SIGCHI Education pages, have searched
> around the web, and see that there are several around the US, but I am
> interested to hear from professionals in the field. Many of you must
> have an opinion about which programs are the best. Which are worth the
> time and money?
> I am approaching this from a background as a web programmer, so I
> expect I would be more prepared to join a computer science department
> as opposed to psychology, but other than that, I am just exploring my
> options right now.
University College London offers a Masters program in HCI with Ergonomics.
The course is taught by UCL Psychology and Computer Science departments, the
Institute of Human Performance, and by HCI consultants, who deliver one
lecture each, for insights into practice. The course is vocationally
focused, and most students complete a three month project with a partner
company, e.g. Xerox, Canon, Microsoft, IBM, Ideo, CTP, Icon. Most graduates
are employed by the company after doing a project, or gain work as HCI
professionals. In fact there are several course graduates working for Icon
in London.
The students on the course are from a mix of backgrounds, and relevant
experience can come from psychology and from computing - the key aim of the
course is training people to design effective technology - that includes
software, websites, car control displays, air traffic control workstations,
mobile phones. This is achieved by teaching a mix of psychology, operations
research, rapid prototyping and commercial HCI techniques. There are several
visits to large control rooms, companies and research facilities as part of
the course, to experience practical issues for the coursework assignments.
I'm a lecturer on the course, btw - our prospectus is
www.ergohci.ucl.ac.uk/courses.html and contains details of the course,
employment stats for graduates etc. There are always some students on the
course from the US, and often from other countries. If you would like to
know more, please feel free to email.
best wishes
Steve Cummaford
Lecturer, Human-Computer Interaction
University College London
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