Human-Centred and Creative Computing study programs at ANU
15 Feb '23
This year we’ve launched a collection of Human-Centred and Creative Computing (HCCC) study options at ANU. This has been a long time coming, with initial ideas and discussions happening since 2019, and much effort over the last year to create the new sub-plans. These formalise and expand the creative and human-centred direction we’ve been building in the School of Computing.
What’s available
The programs are designed so that students at every level and in almost any degree can engage with human-centred and creative computing:
- HCCC Minor: open to all ANU undergrads, regardless of degree. If you’re studying law, science, humanities, or anything else and want to develop skills in human-computer interaction and creative computing, this is your entry point.
- HCCC Major: for undergraduate computing students who want to make HCCC a central focus of their bachelor’s degree.
- HCCC Undergraduate Specialisation: a deeper undergraduate track for students in the Bachelor of Advanced Computing program.
- HCCC Postgraduate Specialisation: for students in the Master of Computing who want to specialise in this area.
All four subplans have consistent learning outcomes and goals, just at different scales and levels of study.
What is Human-Centred and Creative Computing?
The specialisation description captures it well:
“The Human-Centred and Creative Computing specialisation offers an interdisciplinary grounding in human-computer interaction, humanities-centred computing, and creative computing, including games, music, or graphics. This specialisation is where computing meets a complex world with unique and varied social contexts to create impacts that change and enrich our lives. Students will gain insight and skills in designing, developing, and evaluating human-centred and creative applications.”
The learning outcomes across the programs cover identifying and describing HCCC challenges, synthesising knowledge into social contexts, designing and developing technologies, and evaluating and critiquing HCCC systems.
In practice, this means students work across human-computer interaction, creative technologies (games, music, graphics), and the broader social and ethical dimensions of computing but engage with real design and development projects to make their own solutions to HCCC problems.