Abstract
In flexible education, recommender systems that support course selection, are considered a viable means to help students in making informed course selections, especially where curricula offer greater flexibility. However, these recommender systems present both potential benefits and looming risks, such as overdependence on technology, biased recommendations, and privacy issues. User control mechanisms in recommender interfaces (or algorithmic affordances) might offer options to address those risks, but they have not been systematically studied yet. This paper presents the outcomes of a design session conducted during the INTERACT23 workshop on Algorithmic Affordances in Recommender Interfaces. This design session yielded insights in how the design of an interface, and specifically the algorithmic affordances in these interfaces, may address the ethical risks and dilemmas of using a recommender in such an impactful context by potentially vulnerable users. Through design and reflection, we discovered a host of design ideas for the interface of a flexible education interface, that can serve as conversation starters for practitioners implementing flexible education. More research is needed to explore these design directions and to gain insights on how they can help to approximate more ethically operating recommender systems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Smits, A., Bartels, E., Detweiler, C., van Turnhout, K.: Algorithmic Affordances in Recommender Interfaces. In: Abdelnour Nocera, J., Kristín Lárusdóttir, M., Petrie, H., Piccinno, A., Winckler, M. (eds.) INTERACT 2023. LNCS, vol. 14145, pp. 605–609. Springer, Cham (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42293-5_80
Van Rossen, S., Kluijtmans, E., Van Brussel, S., Van Harsel, M., Smarius, J., van der Stappen, E.: Recommender systems for students in flexible education: an exploration of benefits and risks. In: Bramwell-Dicks, A. et al. (eds.) INTERACT 2023 Workshops. LNCS 14536, pp. 1–9 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61698-3_18
Smarius, J., Van Der Stappen, E.: Designing a choice support system for students in flexible curricula. In: Proceedings of CSERC 2022, pp. 39–45 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1145/3569173.3569178
Kies op Maat. https://www.kiesopmaat.nl/. Accessed 01 Nov 2023
Hekman, E., Nguyen, D., Stalenhoef, M., Van Turnhout, K.: Towards a pattern library for algorithmic affordances. In: Joint Proceedings of the IUI 2022 Workshops, vol. 3124, pp. 24–33 (2022)
Jannach, D., Naveed, S., Jugovac, M.: User control in recommender systems: overview and interaction challenges. In: Bridge, D., Stuckenschmidt, H. (eds.) EC-Web 2016. LNBIP, vol. 278, pp. 21–33. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53676-7_2
Bartels, E., et al.: Exploring categorisations of algorithmic affordances in graphical user interfaces of recommender systems. In: Bramwell-Dicks, A. et al. (eds.) INTERACT 2023 Workshops. LNCS 14536, pp. 1–12 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61698-3_16
Smits, A., et al.: Assessing the utility of an interaction qualities framework in systematizing the evaluation of user control. In: Bramwell-Dicks, A. et al. (eds.) INTERACT 2023 Workshops. LNCS 14536, pp. 1–11 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61698-3_17
Pott, K., Smits, A., Agotai, D.: Recognizing the algorithmic literacy of users in XAI - an example-based approach. In: Bramwell-Dicks, A. et al. (eds.) INTERACT 2023 Workshops. LNCS 14536, pp. 1–9 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61698-3_20
Design Sprint: Crazy 8’s - a core method. https://designsprintkit.withgoogle.com/methodology/faq. Accessed 19 Sept 2023
Kaplan, K.: Facilitating an Effective Design Studio Workshop
Smits, A., Nguyen, D., Hekman, E., Turnhout, K.V.: Data-driven design. In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education, E and PDE 2020 (2020)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
About this paper
Cite this paper
van Rossen, S. et al. (2024). Design Ideas for Recommender Systems in Flexible Education: How Algorithmic Affordances May Address Ethical Concerns. In: Bramwell-Dicks, A., Evans, A., Winckler, M., Petrie, H., Abdelnour-Nocera, J. (eds) Design for Equality and Justice. INTERACT 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14536. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61698-3_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61698-3_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-61697-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-61698-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)