User Interface Technology as a case study: Reducing perceived workload by highlighting congruence between day-to-day work and exam topics

Abstract

The User Interface Technology (UIT) course at the Department of Computer Science (DIKU) blends lab skills, programming skills, and theoretical analysis in 8 weeks of work on a final group project. Students historically have complained about a too-high workload; by highlighting congruence between day-to-day activities and their final exams and projects through lecture activities, restructuring projects, and providing rubrics, I saw students report the same amount of time spent on coursework (16-24 hours per week for >= 60 % of students) and a lower perceived workload (from 3.8±.73 in 2023 to 3.4±.64 in 2024, both on a 1–5 Likert scale). They also saw greater connections between individual sub-elements in the course (from 3.4±1.15 in 2023 to 3.8±.94 in 2024, also on a 1–5 scale) and gave qualitative feedback supporting the congruence as important. Overall, the intervention appears to have been successful and will be reused and iterated upon in future years.