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In-class notes for 02/13/2020

CS 263 (ESD), Spring 2020

  • Feedback on STS - later in period

Interview method - concepts

  • Two kinds of questions

    • open, having no preconceived answer choices

    • closed, providing a defined list of answer choice

  • Four types of interview, according to number of interviewees and/or how much control interviewer has.

    • Unstructured, consisting entirely of open questions, usually for a single interviewee.
      An exploratory conversation around a topic, least interviewer control, may go into great depth.

    • Structured, normally consisting entirely of closed questions, usually for a single interviewee.
      Short, clearly worded questions that are well-understood in advance whose range of answers is known in advance; fully controlled by interviewer. If there are multiple interviewees (in multiple events), questions should be worded identically. These events can be usually be carried out quickly.

    • Semi-structured, typically a mix of open and closed questions, usually for a single interviewee.
      Start with a basic script, then progress to more probing followup conversation. Avoid giving clues of anticipated answers; be ready with potential probes for later stages of the meeting (including neutral probes such as "Do you want to add something else?"

    • Focus groups, typically involving a single interviewer and a group of interviewees.
      Interviewees are often chosen as a representative sample of a population. Potential for raising diverse or sensitive issues that might be otherwise be missed. The quality of the session benefits from interviewer who has facilitator training, who can build a supportive session that enables interviewees to safely state their opinions.

    Topic identification is important for all types of interviews, including unstructured interviews. Additional topics may emerge, particularly in less structured interviews, but gathering sufficient information about the intended topic is an indicator of success.

  • Planning an interview involves

    • identifying topics for the interview conversation,

    • determining questions (and range of answers, for closed questions),

    • planning the organization of the interview session,

    • inviting the interviewee and setting a time and place,

    • running the interview,

    • debriefing and transcribing to collect the data, and

    • reporting the results.

  • Ordinarily, interviews are recorded in order to check and substantiate the data. This requires consent from the interviewees.

Task - initial interview preparation

  • Today: formulate a draft interview plan document for initial interview with your client.

    Note: a semi-structured interview is likely best fit for these projects.

  • Please develop your plan as a Google doc (one per team).

    • Topics for the interview

    • Questions - label according to open/closed.

      • Avoid compound sentences (e.g, "How do you like this browser compared with previous browsers you have used?") - break them up into simpler separate questions (e.g., "How do you like this browser?", "Have you used other browsers?", "How did you like them?")

      • Avoid jargon or complex language, which might intimidate the interviewee.

      • Keep questions neutral, i.e., don't assume the interviewee holds certain opinions.

  • Delivery: Share Google doc with rab@stolaf.edu and
    submit a PDF using the project submission form by Sunday "midnight".

  • First draft of topics for client interviews (5 min team presentation)

  • First draft of topics for client interviews (5 min team presentation)

    • Presentations: Topics for client interviews - 5min

    • 45 min - team presentations; feedback

        1. Automatic grading - Grader stakeholders

        2. Automatic grading - Professor stakeholders

        3. Automatic grading - Software and features

        4. Room Draw

        5. HiPerCiC - Security and Protection

        6. HiPerCiC - Software Distribution

      1. Information interview presentations on Thursday 2/24 - present plan for first client interview

      2. Arrange an initial interview with your clients

        • Representatives from each team (3 or 4 students in all) and all clients should meet. Representatives will be the primary contacts with the client during the project. Schedule your interviews sometime next week if possible.

        • HiPerCiC clients are Rodney LaLonde (lalonde) and Omar Shehata (shehat1)

        • Automatica Grading clients are Richard Allen (allen), Olaf Hall-Holt (olaf), and me (rab). Schedule this one by March 1

        • Room Draw client is Pamela McDowell. (This one will probably be trickist to schedule.)

        • Collaboratively compose a professional-sounding email, one email per group of clients, that (1) thanks them for participating as a client for our CS 263 project, (2) requests a one-hour meeting time and suggests ranges of times next week when student representatives could meet, (3) indicates the nature of the meeting (an initial interview to help you identify and understand the aspects of the project that would benefit from ethical analysis), and (4) closes repeating the request for a meeting time, and looking forward to meeting with them. Sign it from the sender on behalf of the team(s).

        • Send email right away in order to get the interview scheduled.

      3. Plans for initial client interviews -- Thursday.

        • Since all teams for a project will participate in a single initial interview, projects with multiple teams must collaborate on plans.

        • 20 min on Thursday will be allowed for a project's teams to review their interview plan.

        • Each project will present and get feedback.

        • Have document + presentation for plans

      4. Remainder of this period for interview prep.

    Preparation for information interview presentations (20 min)

    • Updates on client contact/arrangements

    • Prof. Cunningham responded this morning

    Information interview presentations (3x~20 min)

    • feedback form

    • Do ask about recording

    • Automatic grading

      • Teams:

        • Professors' viewpoint (bekhechs,frantsen,tiburzi)

        • Graders' viewpoint (carlin,lenz,salo)

        • Software (nadolnyp,wiehe,yu)

      • Clients: Prof. Allen, Prof. Cunningham, Prof. Hall-Holt

      • Document: ______

      • Profs STS Graders STS; Software STS;

    • HiPerCiC

      • Teams:

      • Clients: Rodney LaLonde '16, Omar Shehata '18

      • Document: ______

    • Room draw

      • Team (cunniff,kosieram,maveus1)

      • Client: Pamela McDowell

      • Document: ______

      • Room draw STS

    Team meetings; Preparation for second information interview feedback (30 min)

    Information interview presentations (3x~20 min)

    • Plan a debrief meeting after interview - take notes.

    • Do ask about recording

    • Automatic grading

      • Teams:

        • Professors' viewpoint (bekhechs,frantsen,tiburzi)
        • Graders' viewpoint (carlin,lenz,salo)
        • Software (nadolnyp,wiehe,yu)

      • Clients: Prof. Allen, Prof. Cunningham, Prof. Hall-Holt

      • Document: Questions

      • Profs STS Graders STS; Software STS;

    • HiPerCiC

      • Teams:

      • Clients: Rodney LaLonde '16, Omar Shehata '18

      • Document: Presentation

    • Room draw

      • Team (cunniff,kosieram,maveus1)

      • Client: Pamela McDowell

      • Document: ______

      • Room draw STS

  • Submit final information interview plan using project submission form by Friday

  • After interview: debrief meeting - take notes (e.g., google doc)
    Revise STS for each team; broaden beyond initial client focus. Submit via project submission form by next Tuesday




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    rab@stolaf.edu, March 3, 2020