Build Bridges or Burn Them? The Unsolved Challenge of Student Skill Gaps in Ongoing HCI Education

This paper presents the key challenges identified by a group of educators participating in a design session to improve the delivery of an advanced HCI course, Interaction Design (ID). Despite showing some promise or interest in HCI studies, students coming through this course seemed to lack the knowledge and skills needed to form a foundation for more advanced concepts. While discussion in the design session highlighted a number of concerns, this paper focuses on two main challenges: minimal-to-no retention of foundational knowledge from previous courses, and a missing desire to engage with course content.