Students

PSYB8962 – Human Factors in New Technology

2022 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convener
Mark Wiggins
Contact via Email
16 University Avenue, Room 2.367
By Appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to GradCertBusPsy or GradDipBusPsy or MCTerrorism or MCrim or MCyberSecAnalysis or MIntell or MSecStrategicStud
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit will provide students with an introductory knowledge of the role of human factors in new technologies. Practical components of the unit focus on the conduct of usability assessments in identifying and remediating issues that impede human performance.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Demonstrate knowledge by critically analysing models and theories that purport to explain human performance and technology.
  • ULO2: Apply and differentiate the strategies associated with proactive and reactive human performance assessment, including practical issues and challenges.
  • ULO3: Diagnose human factors-related issues in the context of an applied industrial environment
  • ULO4: Propose solutions to improve the relationship between human performance and technology.

General Assessment Information

User Experience Report

This assessment task involves a report in which you examine a website of your choice and provide recommendations to address any user experience or usability issues identified.   

Your submission should be formulated as an industry report, and must include:

  1. A description of the website (include a wireframe), a summary of the significance of the website for the organisation, and an outline of the intended goals of the report; 
  2. A description of the investigative approach(es) and a justification of the tools selected to identify both positive and negative features of the website;
  3. A summary of the outcomes of the investigation (e.g. audit outcomes, user perceptions/expectations, frequency of errors, path summary)

  4. Specific recommendations to improve user experience and the usability of the website.

Quiz Questions

Completion of the multiple choice questions associated with each video recording is a unit requirement. While it does not carry any weight towards the final mark, the failure to complete the questions successfully may result in failure of the unit.

Examination

This task involves an examination of the work that you have covered throughout the semester. The examination is conducted online and is 90 minutes in duration. The responses are short-answer, and questions will be drawn directly from the learning objectives that accompany each class.

Late Submissions and Penalties

Late submissions, without an approved extension, will receive a 5% per day penalty including weekends and public holidays. No late submissions will be accepted more than 5 days after the submission deadline, unless special consideration has been granted. No further submissions will be accepted after the marked assignments are returned and feedback is released to students.

Word Count Penalty

5% of the possible mark will be deducted per 100 words over the word limit for an assessment task. An additional 99 words beyond the limit can be written without penalty.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Fortnightly Quiz questions 0% No Midnight 11/6/22
User Experience Report 50% No Midnight 7/5/22
Examination 50% No 5.00pm 25/5/22

Fortnightly Quiz questions

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 4 hours
Due: Midnight 11/6/22
Weighting: 0%

 

Completion of the multiple choice questions associated with each video recording

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge by critically analysing models and theories that purport to explain human performance and technology.
  • Apply and differentiate the strategies associated with proactive and reactive human performance assessment, including practical issues and challenges.

User Experience Report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 48 hours
Due: Midnight 7/5/22
Weighting: 50%

 

This assessment task involves a report in which you examine a website of your choice and provide recommendations to address any user experience or usability issues identified.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge by critically analysing models and theories that purport to explain human performance and technology.
  • Apply and differentiate the strategies associated with proactive and reactive human performance assessment, including practical issues and challenges.
  • Diagnose human factors-related issues in the context of an applied industrial environment
  • Propose solutions to improve the relationship between human performance and technology.

Examination

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 48 hours
Due: 5.00pm 25/5/22
Weighting: 50%

 

Examination of course material

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge by critically analysing models and theories that purport to explain human performance and technology.
  • Apply and differentiate the strategies associated with proactive and reactive human performance assessment, including practical issues and challenges.
  • Diagnose human factors-related issues in the context of an applied industrial environment
  • Propose solutions to improve the relationship between human performance and technology.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

This unit consists of alternating on-campus and on-line classes. Where a class in delivered on-line, students will be expected to: (a) Review a 20 minute (approx.) video clip, read the relevant chapter in the textbook together with one or two additional papers, answer questions to a short, on-line quiz, and undertake any activities as directed for that week. Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes. Learning objectives and assessment activities are based on the requirements of a minimum 80% on-campus class attendance. If there are exceptional circumstances where a session must be missed, this will need to be arranged with the unit convener in advance. Failure to do so implies a lack of professionalism.   

Textbook: Stone, N.J., Chaparro, A., Keebler, J.R., Chaparro, B.S., & McConnell, D.S. (2018). Introduction to human factors: Applying psychology to design. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press

Readings: Essential readings are prescribed each week (see Topic Notes) and are available via Leganto accessible through the iLearn site for this unit.

Unit Schedule

Date

Topic

Mode

Reading Requirements

Assessments

February 23

Introduction to Human Factors

On-Campus 

Chapter 1

 

March 2

Human Factors in Organisations

On-Campus

Chapter 11 (See Topic Notes for Readings)

 

March 9

User Experience and Usability

Online Recording 

Chapter 5  (See Topic Notes for Readings)

Online Quiz

March 16

Human Factors and Cognition

On-Campus

Chapter 7

(See Topic Notes for Readings)

 

March 23

Human Factors and Systems Design

Online

Chapter 10

(See Topic Notes for Readings)

Online Quiz

March 30

Human Factors and Workload

On-Campus

Chapter 6

(See Topic Notes for Readings)

 

April 6

Human Factors Testing

Online

Chapter 2

(See Topic Notes for Readings)

Online Quiz

April 27

Human Factors and Simulation

On-Campus

(See Topic Notes for Readings)

 

May 4

Human Factors and Work Design

Online

Chapter 9

(See Topic Notes for Readings)

Online Quiz

May 11

Human Factors and Fatigue

On-Campus

(See Topic Notes for Readings)

 

May 18

Human Factors and Automation

Online

Chapter 12

(Section 12.4)

(See Topic Notes for Readings)

Online Quiz

May 25

Examination

Online

(See Weekly Learning Objectives)

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Macquarie University follow standards-based assessment of student performance. All individual assessment tasks are subject to moderation, consistent with the Assessment Policy and Procedure. A student’s final mark for this unit, and associated grade, must reflect their attainment of the unit learning outcomes, and isn’t necessarily a simple summation of their individual assessment items.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.


Unit information based on version 2022.03 of the Handbook