Spring 2020 to present
I’ve taught this 3-credit foundational interaction design/web development course for the Emerging Technologies in Business and Design department each Spring and Fall semester since January 2020. Instruction includes theories and best practices of interaction design, and coding these interactions for the web using HTML, Cascading Style Sheets, and Javascript. Related topics include responsive design, accessibility, and design thinking. Modes of instruction have included in-person, online synchronous,and hybrid depending on pandemic demands.
In 2021, I piloted using GitHub Classroom for assignment management and grading and shared my findings and trained other IMS 222 faculty on its use. Developed assignments and instruction materials to dovetail with these tools. I piloted the first version of accessibility instructional materials with my class and shared my materials with faculty. Expect to share revisions in Spring 2022. In Summer 2020, I collaborated with the IMS 222 instructors to develop a common set of learning objectives for our course.
Observations
My biggest surprise when I started to teach this course was how little my students were aware of the Internet. I certainly did not expect them to understand how the internet worked, but rather that they were unaware of the queues (signifiers) that tells a person that something can be interacted with such as a link or button — they’ve just always done it. The analogy that pops to mind is a fish not being aware of the water they swim in. After that initial realization, I quickly retreated to the basics of interaction design— in the physical world. How do you know you open a door? What can it be used for? Why do they so often fail? Once they became aware of the concepts, then they became aware of how they were using the internet. Then they could start designing for the internet.
Student Feedback
Spring 2021 Student Feedback Ratings. For the most part my rating exceeded departmental and university means. Following are comments from the feedback forms. They were mostly positive…
“This was one of my best classes this semester because of the way the professor helped us. He always made time for any questions and addressed them in full, and would even give us resources to help us understand further. He was extremely helpful in helping in and outside of class.”
“This class was great and the instructor was very passionate about the topics and always more than willing to help. He did a great job at making sure all students felt comfortable asking for help and had a good understanding of the meterial.”
“I learned way more during the course than I thought I would. I knew very little about HTML and Java Script before this class and I didn’t even know what CSS was. Despite that, by the end of the class, I now have the ability to make a functioning webpage from scratch! I was shocked at how quickly and effectively he was able to teach the material. I feel like I got a lot out of the class.”
“My professor was very kind and open to questions and always helped me (consistently providing personal assistance) when I needed it.”
“I think that the grading is a little harsh. I am trying my very best and attempting to understand the material and I don’t always get full credit for assignments.
“I think Mr. Yarnetsky was the most understanding and helpful teacher I had this semester. He was always free for one-on-ones and gives up so much of his free time for people who don’t understand.”