DRAFT:
Communication 115
Interactive Media Theory and Design
Fall Quarter 2012
Department of Communication
University of California, Santa Barbara
M-W-F, 9:00-9:50 AM
HSSB 1174
Instructor:
Teaching Assistant:
Debra Lieberman
Katlyn Roggensack
Office: 4129 SS&MS
E-mail: lieberma@isber.ucsb.edu
Office hours (Oct. 1-Dec. 7, 2012):
Wednesdays, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM
or by appointment
Office: 4408 SS&MS
E-mail: katlyn@umail.ucsb.edu
Office hours (Oct. 1-Dec. 7, 2012):
Mondays, 2:00-3:00 PM and
Fridays, 10:30 -11:30 AM
or by appointment
Overview of the course
Interactive Media Theory and Design is an introduction to the human side of human-computer
interaction. It addresses key questions, such as:

Who uses interactive media and why?

What can we do with interactive media that we can’t do with print or television?

What are the benefits and drawbacks of interactive media vs. other media and vs.
face-to-face interaction with other people?

How do interactive media support or hinder information seeking, learning,
persuasion, entertainment, and communication?

How do people respond to interactive media? Which social science theories and
research findings help us understand these responses?

What does research tell us about the effects of interactive media on individuals
and groups?
Communication theory helps us explain and predict the potential impacts of interactive media and
helps us create effective interactive messages. The theories covered in this course have practical
value for all students, who will certainly be lifelong consumersand perhaps also practitioners or
scholarsof interactive media.
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Requirements and policies
Each student’s course grade will be based on these assignments:
Due date
Item
Comments
Percentage
of grade
Wed., Oct. 31
Midterm
exam
Multiple choice, in our classroom.
Bring a pink Scantron sheet and #2 pencils.
35
Fri., Nov. 16
5:00 PM
Assignm
ent
Media design project, using theories and research
findings we have studied in this course.
30
Wed., Dec. 12
9:30-11:00 AM
Final exam
Multiple choice, in our classroom.
Bring a pink Scantron sheet and #2 pencils.
35
TOTAL
100
The assignment must be submitted as a Word document before or on the due date, before the 5:00
time deadline on the due date. Late assignments are marked down 10 percentage points of the
assignment grade per day, including weekdays and weekend days. Also, there will be serious
penalties for plagiarism.
Exams are to be taken in class on the designated exam dates. Please do not sign up for this course
if you cannot attend on the exam dates.
No make-up exams will be given except in the case of extreme emergency. If you experience an
emergency, it is your responsibility to (1) inform the instructor before the scheduled exam date and
time, and (2) give the instructor written documentation of the emergency on official stationery (such
as a medical note from a physician or verification of a funeral from a mortuary). Examples of
events that do not qualify as emergencies include: bicycle malfunctions, computer crashes or printer
problems, conflict with work schedule, conflict with social events, conflict with family vacation or
plane ticket, minor ailments, depressed roommate, unspecified “family emergency,” or death of a pet.
Academic dishonesty on any course assignment will lead to the student receiving 0 points on that
assignment and may lead to further disciplinary action. Limited classroom size places students in
close proximity and this can create difficulties during exams. In keeping with the UCSB guidelines
for academic honesty, students are asked not to make their answers easily available to others, not to
look at the exams of others, and not to remove any exam from the classroom. To do so will result in
a grade of 0 points for that exam.
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Schedule and readings
There are no textbooks assigned for this course.
All readings will be available online on GauchoSpace at https://gauchospace.ucsb.edu/courses/.
Students must use their UCSB NetID and password to sign in. The syllabus will list the readings and a
PDF or Word document for each reading will be placed in a GauchoSpace folder associated with the
week it is assigned to be read, before the date for which it was assigned. If new readings not originally
on the syllabus are added during the quarter, the syllabus will be updated to include the new readings
and an announcement will be made about the additional material.
Students are responsible for checking GauchoSpace to – obtain readings, lecture slides, and
assignments; read announcements; and see if there are new readings and resources available there
that were not listed in the original syllabus.
It is strongly recommended that students complete the assigned readings before each class meeting.
This will prepare them to participate in class discussions and to understand lectures, which often
build on and extend the material covered in the assigned readings.
Friday, Sept. 28
Introduction
Overview and goals of the course.
Monday, Oct. 1
The media equation
Read: Reeves & Nass, Ch. 1, The Media Equation.
Reeves & Nass, Ch. 2, Politeness.
Wednesday, Oct. 3
Characteristics of interactive media
Read: Japan Looks to a Robot Future
Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man
Friday, Oct. 5
Interactivity and the human-computer interface
Read: Fletcher & Tobias, The Multimedia Principle. In R.E. Mayer
(Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning.
Monday, Oct. 8
Personalities of media: Interpersonal communication theory and
human-computer interaction
Read: Reeves & Nass, Ch. 5, Judging Others and Ourselves
Reeves & Nass, Ch. 6, Personality of Characters
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Wednesday, Oct. 10
Digital games to for health and learning
Read:
Friday, Oct. 12
Monday, Oct. 15
Wednesday, Oct. 17
Lieberman, D.A. (2012). Digital Games for Health Behavior
Change: Research, Design, and Future Directions.
Digital games to for health and learning
Message tailoring: Effects on motivation, learning, and behavior change
Interactive media and child development
Read: Subrahmanyam, K., Greenfield, P.M., Kraut, R., & Gross, E.
The Impact of Computer Use on Children’s and Adolescents’
Development. In S.L. Calvert, A.B. Jordan, & R.R. Cocking
(Eds.), Children in the Digital Age: Influences of Electronic
Media on Development.
Wartella, E., O’Keefe, B., & Scantlin, R. Searching for
Answers About Children and Interactive Media. Report to the
Markle Foundation. New York.
Wallich, P. Practical Magic: Do Children Know a Better
Computer When They See It? Discover (December).
Harel, I. Learning New-Media Literacy: A New Necessity for the
Young Clickerati Generation. Telemedium, 48(1), 17-26.
Friday, Oct. 19
Designing interactive media for children
Read: Lieberman, Fisk, & Biely, Digital Games and Young Children
We will also review the Assignment and answer questions.
Monday, Oct. 22
Guest lecture: Roger Jahnke: Presentation of a new interactive
program
Wednesday, Oct. 24
Interactive characters that have emotion, personality, and adaptiveness
Read: Diamond, D. The Love Machine: Building Computers that
Care. Wired Magazine
Robischon, N. Smile, Gamers: You’re In the Picture. New
York Times, and BBC News. Phone Butler Organizes Your
Life.
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Friday, Oct. 26
Social cognitive theory, role models, and the concept of self-efficacy
Monday, Oct. 29
Emotional responses to interactive media
Read: Grodal, T Video Games and the Pleasures of Control. In D.
Zillmann & P. Vorderer (Eds.), Media Entertainment: The
Psychology of Its Appeal.
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Midterm exam
(Bring pink Scantron sheet and #2 pencils to class today.)
Friday, Nov. 2
Learning-by-doing in video games and simulations
Monday, Nov. 5
Credibility of interactive media and content
Read: Reeves & Nass, Ch. 12, Specialists.
Reeves & Nass, Ch. 13, Teammates.
Wednesday, Nov. 7
Gender of media, gender differences in users
Read: Reeves & Nass, Ch. 14, Gender.
Reeves & Nass, Ch. 15, Voices.
Reeves & Nass, Ch. 16, Source Orientation.
Friday, Nov. 9
Mobile technologies
Monday, Nov. 12
No class meeting: Veterans’ Day holiday
Wednesday, Nov. 14
Interactive media and relationships
Read: Schwartz, T. That Parent-Child Conversation is Becoming
Instant, and Online. New York Times.
Holloway, M.
American.
An Ethnologist in Cyberspace.
Scientific
Strommen, E. & Alexander, K. Emotional Interfaces for Interactive
Aardvarks: Designing Affect into Social Interfaces for Children.
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Friday, Nov. 16
Effects of interactive media production values
Read: Reeves & Nass, Ch. 17, Image Size.
Reeves & Nass, Ch. 18, Fidelity.
Reeves & Nass, Ch. 19, Synchrony.
Due: Assignment – Submit it by 5:00 PM today!
Monday, Nov. 19
Virtual environments, social presence, telepresence, and vividness
Read: Stanney, K.M., Mourant, R.R., & Kennedy, R.S. The Social
Impact of Virtual Technology (pp.343-346). Section of:
Human Factors Issues in Virtual Environments: A Review of the
Literature. Presence, 7(4).
Wednesday, Nov. 21
Friday, Nov. 23
Conducting user research
Online persuasion and selling
Read: Fogg, B.J. The Ethics of Persuasive Technology. In B.J.
Fogg, Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change
What We Think and Do.
Monday, Nov. 26
Careers for Communication majors in the interactive media field
Wednesday, Nov. 28
Media that sense the environment and interact with it: Social implications
Read: Saffo, P. Sensors: The Next Wave of Infotech Innovation.
Menlo Park, CA: Institute for the Future.
Koerner, B.I. Intel’s Tiny Hope for the Future: Tiny Sensor Chips
that Network with Each Other – Inside Everything on Earth. New
York Times.
Friday, Nov. 30
Social media: Lecture by Katlyn Roggensack
Monday, Dec. 3
From local area network to body area network
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Wednesday, Dec. 5
Careers for Communication majors in the interactive media field
Friday, Dec. 7
Interactivity in entertainment
Read: Vorderer, P. Interactive entertainment and beyond. In D. Zillmann
& P. Vorderer (Eds.), Media Entertainment: The Psychology of Its
Appeal.
Prensky, M. Fun, Play, and Games: What Makes Games
Engaging? In M. Prensky, Digital Game-Based Learning.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
:
Wednesday, Dec. 12
9:30-11:00 AM
Final exam in our classroom
Bring a pink Scantron sheet and #2 pencils.
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