Teaching HCI students to be researchers

Research skills are important, both for HCI professionals and for budding HCI professionals who attend workshops, courses and programs to improve their skill-base. However, the multidisciplinary nature of HCI can leave many students (perhaps especially those who were successful in undergraduate courses) at a loss as to what research methods to use and where to begin choosing and applying the methods in their own work. We describe here our efforts, both together and severally, in teaching our students to be excellent HCI researchers.