The proliferation of computing systems in nontechnical domains has created a critical need for understanding principles of software system design that incorporate human factors. The increasing demand for good software designers, coupled with the lack of formalized knowledge about what constitutes good software design principles, demands apprenticeship-like training methods in which students engage in active learning by designing systems and receiving feedback on those designs. The Computer Science and Engineering Department has offered courses in Human-Computer Interaction, Software Engineering, and a Senior Project program that prepare students for the growing demand for software designers with knowledge of human factors. This grant is funding an innovative laboratory program to establish a Multimedia Software Design Studio in which students learn by actively designing and observing the designs of others. The studio uses multimedia technology to demonstrate design principles. The laboratory program gives students the opportunity to design and evaluate their own work, as well as the work of others. In order to provide a quality Software Design Studio that supports active learning through design projects and multimedia technology, the university is purchasing 14 computer systems with multimedia capabilities and supporting software and hardware. Plans have been made to disseminate this work to the computer science community.
