Human Computer Interaction in Education

Abstract: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is no longer the sole study of information technology or computer science but now it has covered the area of medical, entertainment, etc. As the application of HCI is increasing, so is the requirement of students to work in a multidisciplinary environment. Making students comfortable working in a multidisciplinary environment is not an easy task. The students are required to make pretty much aware and comfortable with the underlying problem statement. The evolution of HCI in education is to make sure that students can understand the concepts and working of the model in a more effective way. The goal of this project is to create a web-based e-Learning tool, ‘Path Finding Visualizer’. It refers to computing an optimal route between the specified start node and goal nodes visualizing shortest path algorithms. The conceptual application of the project is illustrated by the implementation of algorithms like Dijkstra’s, A*, and DFS. The end product is a web application so that any user can easily see and learn the working of the algorithms through perceivable visualizations. The user-friendliness of the project provides the user with easy instructions on how to operate it. The initial results of using the application show promised benefits of the e-Learning tool towards students getting a good understanding of shortest paths algorithms.