BA&Sc in Interactive Systems Design Degree(s): BA&Sc Level(s) of Concentration: 4-year Degree College: Arts and Science Home College: Arts and Science Date: March 26, 2010 Field(s) of Specialization: Interactive Systems Design Department: Computer Science Approved by the degree college and/or home college: Division of Humanities and Fine Arts: March 22, 2010 Division of Social Sciences: March 23, 2010 Division of Science: March 25, 2010 Proposed date of implementation: September 2010 RATIONALE 1. Rationale for the overall program Interactive systems are now a ubiquitous part of people s technological lives from web applications to games to embedded devices and the design and usability of these systems is having an increasingly large effect on the quality of people s day to day experiences. Our investigations and discussions with students in Arts and Science suggest that there are many students who have interests in these systems, and in their visual design, the user experience that they provide, and their development and implementation. In short, these students have combined interests in art, design, and computing aspects of interactive systems; but there is currently no program at the U of S that allows students to unify these interests. Taking one type of degree with a minor in the other area is a possibility, but there is little opportunity for true integration through this path: both Art and Computer Science are currently focused on majors, and students are given little guidance as to what classes will offer the chance to use skills from other areas. Following the lead of successful programs developed elsewhere (e.g., the B.S. in Computational Media at Georgia Tech, http://www.cc.gatech.edu/education/undergrad/bscm), we are proposing a new B.A.&Sc. program that will combine Art, Psychology, and Computer Science. This degree program will provide students with foundations in each of these areas, and will give them the skills and knowledge needed to work with all aspects of interactive systems. There are considerable employment opportunities for students with these skills (for example, being able to understand both the design side and the development side of a system is seen as a major benefit by current web design and game design companies), and there are also excellent opportunities for these students to succeed as graduate students (e.g., in the Human-Computer Interaction laboratory in the department of Computer Science). 2. Rationale for required courses in the program CMPT 105 (Introduction to Computing and Interactive Systems Design) and CMPT 106 (Design and Construction of Games and Interactive Systems): these courses provide a general introduction to several aspects of the design of interactive systems, including programming concepts, basic design concepts, the design process, prototyping, and usability testing. These courses will be a student's main introduction to interactive systems from the Computer Science perspective.
CMPT 115 (Principles of Computer Science) and CMPT 270 (Developing Object-Oriented Systems): these courses teach core Computer Science principles that will be needed for advanced work, including data structures, abstract data types, advanced programming techniques, object-oriented analysis and design, principles of software engineering, and basic application development techniques. CMPT 281 (Website Design and Development): is a proposed course (University Course Challenge: March 5, 2010) whose goal is to provide students with an early introduction to visual design, web design, and usability engineering. CMPT 281 will be a key 2nd-year course for the B.A.&Sc. (in addition to CMPT 270). The new course will present principles of visual design for web interfaces, usability testing and evaluation, requirements elicitation, the design cycle, and programming techniques for web development. CMPT 381 (Implementation of Graphical User Interfaces): is a proposed course (University Course Challenge: March 5, 2010) that will teach students the details of user-interface programming. It will focus less on high-level design and more on development and programming issues, including GUI toolkits, widgets, layout, events, model-view-controller architectures, 2D graphics, and interaction primitives. This course will be a key class for the B.A.&Sc. at the 3rd-year level. CMPT 405 (Project Design and Implementation): this existing course is a project-based course that will be used for a capstone design project in the B.A.&Sc. Students identify a supervisor and a project topic, and work with that supervisor through the term. Projects for B.A.&Sc. students will naturally integrate the Arts and Science sides of the curriculum; students will be able to select supervisors and co-supervisors from both Computer Science or other departments. CMPT 481 (Human Computer Interaction): this existing course covers several aspects of Human Computer Interaction, which encompasses issues in Computer Science, design, and visual communication. This course will allow students to use design skills learned in other parts of the B.A.&Sc., and will enable term work and projects that integrate knowledge from both sides of the program. Studio Art (ART 111.6 (Painting I), 112.6 (Drawing I), 113.6 (Printmaking I), 141.6 (Sculpture I), or 161.6 (Photography I)): experience with instruction in studio art will provide B.A.&Sc. students with an introduction to the language of art and visual communication, aesthetics, and a variety of tools, media, and techniques. This knowledge and skill will form an important part of students design work in later classes. ARTH 120 (Introduction to History of Art I), ARTH 121 (Introduction to History of Art II), and ARTH 250 (Introduction to Visual Culture): these courses will provide students with further background in visual culture and communication, and teach basic terminology and critical approaches to visual art and design. 9 c.u. from: PSY 252 (Perceptual Processes), PSY 255 (Human Memory), and PSY 253 (Introduction to Cognitive Psychology), PSY 226 (Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Processes), PSY 256 (Psychology of Language), PSY 213 (Child Development), PSY 214 (Adolescent Development), PSY 216 (Psychology of Aging): these courses will provide B.A.&Sc. students with foundational knowledge about human capabilities and limitations, knowledge that is fundamental to designing usable human-computer systems. These courses will cover fundamental knowledge and concepts of human perception, memory, cognition, and interaction. One of the following lists: ART 211.6 (Painting and Related Work II) and ART 311.6 (Painting and Related Work III) ART 212.6 (Drawing and Related Work II) and ART 312.6 (Drawing and Related Work III) ART 213.6 (Printmaking II) and ART 313.6 (Printmaking III) ART 216.6 (Photography II) and ART 316.6 (Photography III) ART 241.6 (Sculpture and Related Work II A)and ART 341.6 (Sculpture and Related Work III A) ART 236.3 (Extended Media II A) and ART 237.3 (Extended Media II B) and ART 338.3 (Extended Media III A) and ARTH 250.3 (Introduction to Visual Culture) ARTH 250.3 (Introduction to Visual Culture) and ARTH 350.3 (A History of Popular Culture) and 6 credit units senior ARTH courses
These courses will provide students with depth of knowledge and technique in one of the main streams of visual art and art history. The courses will teach students about the practice and creation of visual artworks, and will provide concepts and critical understanding that will enable students to develop and reflect on their design and creative work in all aspects of the B.A.&Sc. All of these courses will involve some degree of treatment of digital methods, and will look at the intersection of art and computation from the Fine Art perspective (the complementary Science perspective will be provided through courses such as CMPT 105, 106, 281, and 481). These courses are vital to the B.A.&Sc. because they allow students to develop their skills in artistic and visual presentation, and because they will provide a broad approach to the understanding of and production of visual communication. 4. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS Bachelor of Arts and Science Four-year (B.A.&Sc. Four-year) in Interactive Systems Design The goal of this B.A.&Sc. program is to train students in all aspects of the design and development of interactive systems. Interactive systems are now a ubiquitous part of people s lives from web applications to games to embedded devices and the design and usability of these systems is having an increasingly large effect on the quality of people s relationship to technology. The B.A.&Sc. program combines courses in Art and Art History, Psychology, and Computer Science, and these courses will provide knowledge and skills in several critical areas: principles of visual communication; critical approaches to visual systems; fundamentals of human perception, memory, and cognition; and the principles of computation and programming needed to design, build, and evaluate games and interactive systems. Students who complete the B.A.&Sc. program will be in demand in several industry sectors. The combined training in art, psychology, and computer science prepares students well for jobs in web design, interface development, game design, usability testing, and front-end requirements analysis. Science Distribution Requirements (18 credit units) Required: * CMPT 106.3 * CMPT 115.3 Choose 3 Credit Units from the following: * STAT 245.3 or PLSC 314.3 Note that STAT 245.3 has a prerequisite of MATH 100.3, 101.3, 110.3, STAT 103.3, or AP Math Remaining credit units to be selected from the following areas, such that no more than 6 credit units are from any one area; no more than 3 credit units from MATH: Mathematics * MATH 110 * MATH 116 * MATH 264 * MATH 266 Physics & Astronomy * ASTR 102.3 * ASTR 103.3 * PHYS 111.6 * PHYS 121.6 * PHYS 128.3 Chemistry * CHEM 112.3 * CHEM 115.3 * CHEM 250.3 Earth Science * GEOG 120.3 * GEOL 121.3 * GEOL 122.3 Biological Science
* BIOL 120.3 * BIOL 121.3 Arts Distribution Requirements (18 credit units) Required: * PSY 110.6 Choose 6 credit units from the following: * ART 111.6 * ART 112.6 * ART 113.6 * Two of ART 136.3, ART 141.3, ART 161.3 Choose 6 Credit Units from the following: * 100-Level ENG Courses * 100-Level HIST Courses * LIT 100.6 * PHIL 120.3 * PHIL 133.3 Major Requirements (54 credit units) Science Requirements (30 cu): * CMPT 270.3 * CMPT 281.3 * CMPT 381.3 * CMPT 481.3 (integrative interdisciplinary course) * CMPT 405.3 (integrative interdisciplinary course) Choose 15 credit units from the following: At least 3 credit units must be chosen at the 300-Level or above. 200-Level, 300-Level, or 400-Level CMPT Courses CMPT 275, CMPT 350, CMPT 352, CMPT 355, CMPT 394 and CMPT 408 are recommended choices. Appropriate Special Topics courses may also be available in some terms. Arts Requirements (24 cu): Choose one of the following options: * ART 211.6 and ART 311.6 * ART 212.6 and ART 312.6 * ART 213.6 and ART 313.6 * ART 216.6 and ART 316.6 * ART 241.6 and ART 341.6 * ART 236.3 and ART 237.3 and ART 338.3 and ARTH 250.3 * ARTH 250.3 and ARTH 350.3 and 6 credit units senior ARTH courses Choose 9 credit units from the following: * PSY 252.3 * PSY 253.3 * PSY 255.3 * PSY 226.3
* PSY 256.3 * PSY 213.3 * PSY 214.3 * PSY 216.3 Choose 3 credit units from the following: ARTH 250.3 may only be chosen to fulfill this requirement if not taken as part of the ART/ARTH requirements above. * PHIL 236.3 * SOC 244.3 * SOC 246.3 * HIST 284.3 * ARTH 250.3 * WGST 201.3 Electives (24 credit units) Required Cognate Courses (9 credit units): * CMPT 105.3 * ARTH 120.3 * ARTH 121.3 Open Electives (15 credit units) Electives as required to complete the requirements for 120 credit unit 4-year program subject to the condition that not more than 54 cu may be at the junior level; at least 66 cu must be at the 200 or higher level.
Example Year-by-Year Program (required courses in bold) Year 1 CMPT 105.3 (Interactive Systems) ARTH 120.3 (History of Art 1) ART 1**.6 (Studio Art, any of 11, 12, 13, 41, 61) PSY 110.6 ***.3 (Any writing course meeting the Humanities Writing Requirement) CMPT 106.3 (Interaction & Game Design) ARTH 121.3 (History of Art 2) Continuation of ART 1**.6 Continuation of PSY 110.6 ***.3 (Any writing course meeting the Humanities Writing Requirement) Year 2 CMPT 281.3 (Web Design) PSY 252.3 (Perception) Math/Stats Requirement (e.g., STAT 103.3) ARTH 250.3 (Intro to Visual Culture) CMPT 115.3 PSY 255.3 (Human Memory) Math/Stats Requirement (e.g., STAT 245.3) Non-CS Science Requirement (XXX.3) PSY 253.3 (Cognitive Psychology) Year 3 CMPT 270.3 (Object-Oriented Systems) Non-CS Science Requirement (XXX.3) ART 236.3 (Extended Media IIA) CMPT 381.3 (Development of User Interfaces) Non-CS Science Requirement (XXX.3) ART 237.3 (Extended Media IIB) Year 4 CMPT 481.3 (HCI) CMPT 405.3 (Senior Project) ART 338.3 (Extended Media IIIA) Science Requirement (can be CS, XXX.3) Arts Requirement (SS/H/FA) (XXX.3) Elective (XXX