teaching
I teach a variety of courses in the Department of Cognitive Science that sit at the intersection of cognition in computing. Many of my courses are part of the Design & Interaction specialization of the Cognitive Science major, as well as the Design Minor.
Current Year
COGS 102B Cognitive Ethnography
(and other ways of knowing in HCI)
Winter 2026 • 4 credits
Catalog: This course examines memory, reasoning, language, culture, planning, and interaction directly in everyday, real-world settings. Focuses on ethnographic methods, their history, and their application. The course work includes projects in which students make observations of real-world activity and analyze their cognitive significance. Prerequisites: COGS 102A.
While rigorously controlled laboratory experiments are a gold standard for hypothesis testing in the behavioural sciences — there is an extraordinarily rich tapestry of human behaviour only observable outside the laboratory … in the wild. In COGS 102B you’ll develop your methodological toolkit for qualitative research appropriate for studying applied cognition, HCI and design & interaction.
COGS elective Design & Interaction elective podcasted research methods hands-on research
COGS 193 Cognitive Science Career Seminar
Winter 2026 • 2 credits
Catalog: This course emphasizes career readiness, with a focus on practical training in professional skills, networking, and career development. Students will be able to engage with professionals in many domains to learn how their educational breadth provides them with career advantages. Prerequisites: junior and senior standing.
How will you describe the value of the your degree in Cognitive Science to potential employers? In this career preparation seminar you’ll hear from inspiring CogSci alumns, and work alongside a cohort of fellow future-CogSci grads to: (1) chart potential career trajectories, (2) tell your CogSci story, and (3) cultivate productive networks to help you take your next step beyond your undergraduate experience. Don’t wait ‘till after graduation to think about what comes next!
2 credit seminar career preparation attendance required
COGS 102C Cognitive Design Studio
Spring 2026 • 4 credits
Catalog: This project-based course focuses on learning and applying the process of human-centered cognitive design. Students work in teams to design and evaluate a prototype application or redesign an existing system. Emphasizes contextual inquiry, user research, ideation, iterative design, and evaluation. Prerequisites: COGS 102B.
COGS elective Design & Interaction elective podcasted hands-on project
COGS 128 Information Visualization
Fall 2025 • 4 credits
Catalog: This course frames information visualization as a quintessential cognitive science problem within our interdisciplinary field. Students learn conceptual and practical aspects of creating high-quality, interactive information displays to support a variety of cognitive tasks and then apply them to real-world data.
The ability to analyze and present data via visuospatial means has become one of the most important skills for students who want to work in design, HCI, data science and related fields. More importantly, the ability to accurately interpret and evaluate information presented visually is crucial to acting as an informed member of civil society. In this course you will learn how to critically examine and design effective static and interactive representations of information, and get hands-on experience creating visualizations for exploration and storytelling.
COGS elective Design & Interaction elective podcasted midterm exam 3 projects
COGS 10 Cognitive Consequences of Technology
(and technological consequences of cognition)
Fall 2025, Spring 2026 • 4 credits
Catalog: This course examines the interrelationships of cognition and technology from the perspective of cognitive science. We address questions of importance for our increasingly technological society: How does technology shape our minds? How should what we know about our minds shape technology?
How should we make informed decisions about how to engage with modern technologies? In this course we connect some of the most foundational ideas in cognitive science and design (the power of representation) to modern technology choices. In doing so, you’ll expand your notion of what cognition and technology actually are, and develop a conceptual toolkit for making better technology choices in your daily life.
pre-req for D&I specialization podcasted 2 projects 2 exams