Issues and strategies for integrating HCI in masters level MIS and e-commerce programs

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is an important knowledge component for graduate management information systems (MIS) and E-commerce (EC) programs. HCI topics, such as user-centered design and usability testing, have begun to receive increasing attention in MIS/ EC curricula because of their importance in the development of Web-based solutions. This paper discusses issues and approaches for integrating HCI topics into masters level MIS/EC programs. Research on HCI topics related to MIS provides a theoretical foundation for student learning. By bridging research with these curricula, researchers are challenged to examine how HCI approaches can improve user acceptance of new systems. A case study illustrates how HCI topics can be taught as a stand-alone course or incorporated in existing MIS/EC courses. Drawing from the case study, the paper also addresses pedagogical challenges regarding student skill sets, learning outcomes, innovative pedagogies, tools and technology, and HCI issues for advanced IS/EC topics. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.