ABSTRACT
Design methods and approaches are common within Human-Computer Interaction. And while design is recognized as a discipline with its own epistemology and pedagogy outside of HCI, there is a lot of work to be done in incorporating, facilitating, and developing designerly knowledge in HCI education. The abrupt shift toward distance education caused by COVID-19 surfaced the necessity for course design to purposely support online informal learning environments and facilitating tacit knowledge as previously prevalent in the design studio environment. Firstly, we present theory on design epistemology, related to "designerly ways of knowing" and the role of the studio in the learning process. Secondly, a case study presents the set up of a digital studio for a course in Designing User Experiences, with an emphasis on supporting a community-based studio. The empirical material includes an overview of the course set up and a thorough qualitative analysis of the feedback provided by a cohort of 48 students with diverse backgrounds. The course was conducted online and heavily based on the use of software such as Zoom and Miro. We conclude by offering a set of themes in three categories to be considered when designing community-based "designerly" courses within HCI. As future work, we suggest the Community-Based Designerly Scale to be used, adapted, and developed by teachers and students as a tool in their educational practice.
ABSTRACT
The global Covid-19 pandemic has raised many questions about how we occupy and move in the built environment. Interior environments have been increasingly discussed in numerous studies highlighting how interior spaces play a key role in the spread of pandemics. One societal challenge is to find short-term strategies to reopen indoor venues. Most current approaches focus on an individual’s behavior (maintaining social distance, wearing face masks, and washing their hands) and government policies (confinement, curfew, quarantine, etc.). However, few studies have been conducted to understand a building’s interior where most transmission takes place. How will the utilization of existing interior spaces be improved above and beyond universally applied criteria, while minimizing the risk of disease transmission? This article presents an agent-based model that examines disease transmission risks in various “interior types” in combination with user behaviors and their mobility, as well as three types of transmission vectors (direct, airborne and via surfaces). The model also integrates numerous policy interventions, including wearing masks, hand washing, and the possibility of easily modifying the organization of spaces. Different studies at various scales were conducted both on the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) campus as well as at the MIT Media Lab to illustrate the application of this model. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
A stochastic Markovian Susceptible-Infectious-Susceptible (SIS) model, with infection reintroduction is considered to represent the evolution of an epidemic process within a finite population. Disease is assumed to be a contact disease whose effect can be prevented by a vaccine. Before the epidemic process emerges, v0 individuals got vaccinated to assure that the population is protected by herd immunity. In consequence, we formulate the model by adding a new compartment for vaccine protected individuals. The administered vaccine is not a perfect one and consequently it fails in a proportion of vaccinated individuals that are not protected against the vaccine preventable communicable disease. Hence, while the infectious process is in progress, the initial vaccine coverage declines and herd immunity could be lost. A threshold on the size of the vaccinated group is included as a warning measure on the protection of the community. Our objective is to define and study random characteristics, depending on the vaccination eligible group, that could advise health authorities when to launch a new vaccination program to recover the initial immunity level.
ABSTRACT
Background: Understanding viral kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 is important to assess risk of transmission, manage treatment, and determine the need for isolation and protective equipment. Children have been noted to have less severe illness than adults and may have less transmission potential. We sought to determine whether children deemed to be asymptomatic had a difference in the PCR cycle threshold (Ct) value of respiratory samples from symptomatic children with SARS CoV-2 infection.