Using visualization techniques and tools, we will build interactive visualizations that combine data and logic with storytelling and design. We will dive into cleaning and structuring unruly data sets, identify which chart types work best for different types of data, and unpack the tactics behind effective visual communication. With an eye towards critical evaluation of both data and method, projects and discussions will be geared towards interdisciplinary and relatable research data. Regardless of your academic concentration, you will walk away from this class with a portfolio of dynamic dashboards and a new interdisciplinary skillset ready to leverage in your academic and professional work.

Course Objectives

The overall course objectives will help students:

•     Develop skills to both design and critique visualizations.

• Understand why visualization is an important part of data analysis.

•     Understand the components involved in visualization design.

• Understand the type of data impacts the type of visualization.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

•     Use existing visualization tools and techniques to analyze basic datasets.

•    Articulate human, visual, and interactive design issues for creating effective visualizations.

•    Apply existing techniques from scalar, volume, multidimensional, textual, graph- based, tree-based, and temporal visualization to actual problems and data.

•     Evaluate a visualization solution based on quantitative metrics such as time and error, as well as more complex and qualitative metrics.

• Articulate issues and techniques for applying visualization to domains such as medicine, finance, science, engineering, the humanities, policy, and government.

Required Resources

Course website: elms.umd.eduLinks to an external site.

This course will use ELMS-Canvas for all course readings, lectures, and assignments. View the current week’s Module for upcoming readings and assignments. I also post   class-wide announcements through ELMS using Announcements. Make sure you have ELMS set up to forward Announcements to your email and/or regularly check your account to ensure you do not miss any class-related information.

Readings and Materials

Great news, all readings and materials for this class are available for free in PDF or hyperlink format through our ELMS-Canvas course site! All readings need to be completed before the class session in which they are assigned. Almost all readings will be in the modules as attached PDFs or links to UMD Libraries resources.

Links to an external site

Software & Required Online Tools

This class explores several tools/programs, most are free tools or at least have a free trial, but may need time to be downloaded or for you to receive a product key.

We will be using Tableau for the final project. Tableau typically provides class licenses for this course and those details will announced when available.

Physical Materials

It would also be helpful if you had access to a set of prototyping materials like graph   paper and colored pencils as well as basic creative tools (e.g., scissors, glue sticks, X- ACTO, etc.) for the data sketches. This is also if you find it helpful or you have decided that more hand-drawn visualizations are in your wheelhouse--as many visual narrative artists have throughout the history of data visualization.

Activities, Learning Assessments, & Expectations for Students

Course Activities

Your final grade will be based on the following components:

Grades

Points in this course are used to document progress toward learning goals, not to invite negotiation. Scores reflect how well the submitted work meets the stated criteria at the  time of grading. Requests for point changes should be based on clear evidence that the work was evaluated incorrectly according to the rubric, not on effort, intention, or comparison to other work. Before emailing about a grade, students are expected to review the assignment rubric and identify which specific criteria they believe were misapplied. Emails that do not reference the rubric may be returned with a request to do so before further discussion.

All assessment scores will be posted on the course ELMS page. Note that the grades are assigned in points and the points add up to 100, so if you want to calculate your grade at any point in the semester, you merely need to add up the points you have earned.

To calculate final grades, the total points earned will be divided by the total possible points to determine the percent of points earned. The equivalence of numeric score to letter grade is as follows:

A+ = 100-97          B = 86-84               C- = 73-70                   F = 59 and below

A = 96-94               B- = 83-80             D+ = 69-67

A- = 93-90             C+ = 79-77           D = 66-64

B+ = 89-87           C = 76-74             D- = 63-60

Rounding Grades: I will round grades up for decimals equal to or above .5. Therefore, if you earn a 93.46, your final grade will be an “A-” while a 93.5 will be rounded to an   “A.”

ELMS Gradebook: Please keep up with the grades feature on Canvas to make sure all your grades are accurate and up-to-date. Any inquiries about missing and/or inaccurate grades need to be made within the week following my announcement that your grades have been posted. Do not wait until the last few days of class to discuss your grades with me because I may not be able to meet with you or adequately address your concerns with such little notice.

Attendance. Class attendance is mandatory and will be taken during each class session using Google Forms. If you are going to miss class, you should check ELMS for course materials and/or speak with a classmate to get notes. You do not need to contact me if you are going to miss 1-3 class sessions. However, if you are going to miss more than three classes, please submit those details and documentation through this form (https://forms.gle/xcSBJDP5AC9MDpit9) to let us know how you plan to stay on track.

Repeated absences throughout the course of the semester will have a negative impact on your overall participation grade.