Raising awareness and challenging students in a human computer interaction course

This paper describes an experience in teaching undergraduate students the subject of Human Computer Interaction and the results achieved over the past six years. A discussion about the methods used to engage the students to actively participate in the course and how they are encouraged to team work is also presented. One of the special aspects of this course is that it introduces knowledge about different kinds of target groups, especially people with disabilities or some kind of cognitive, mental or physical limitations. It is shown how the interest of the students for creating applications intended for specific target groups rises. This course is project-based and encourages inquiry-based learning. Some of the projects that are results of this course are also presented.