On Participatory Design and User Involvement as Topics in Computing Education: A Contribution to a Cirriculum Debate

Abstract

The topic of participatory design has not yet been of central interest in the context of formal education for computing professionals. This paper addresses this issue and argues why an up-to-date education should include more human-centred approaches like participatory design. It takes its starting point in the ongoing curriculum debate and discusses how mathematical-, and engineering-based approaches and traditional system development training contribute to education in computer science and system development. It argues that all of these approaches have shortcomings as they each relate to a merely technical-oriented paradigm, ignoring vital aspects of computing, namely organisational, social, and political ones. It is therefore concluded that participatory design as an approach which deals with these issues should be part of a comprehensive computing education. The article is meant to provide the ground for the next step in a debate about participatory design and education, a discussion about how to integrate participatory design