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but some students would like to learn more. The level of detail/abstraction in
teaching InfoVis is not obvious. In general, my solution for this problem is to
offer a seminar back-to-back after the InfoVis course, where interested students
can choose a specific topic and prepare a presentation on it. This allows for
more deeper discussions. Additionally, such a seminar is a good starting point
for subsequent thesis work.
Typically, my courses terminate with an oral examination. Regarding our
survey results, this is consistent with the examination practice of many colleagues
coming from Europe, cp. Section 2.4.
4.3 Jason Dykes, City University London, UK
Introduction and Context:
My background is in geography and the geo-
sciences, where there is a strong tradition in the use of maps and graphics. Tra-
ditionally undergraduate courses in geography have taught and assessed manual
skills in cartography and mapping activities and projects remain at the core of
many geology degrees. Increasingly these activities are being augmented or re-
placed by learning that involves Geographic Information Systems (GISystems)
and other digital techniques, but a focus on cartographic principles for design-
ing effective maps and communicating geographic information effectively is still
regarded as important.
My 'Visualization' Module.
I have been teaching a Masters level module in 'Geo-
Visualization' for eight years. The postgraduate module was originally developed
to provide Geographic Information Science (GIScience) students with skills in
creating, evaluating and using maps and graphics in their analysis and communi-
cation of geographic information. It replaced a cartography module and updated
this with recent advances in the use of dynamic and interactive graphics for ex-
ploratory analysis.
During this time the GIScience community and GIScience students have be-
come more aware of Information Visualization. Equally students from non GI
programs have wanted to learn about cartography and visualization. It is chal-
lenging to develop a coherent module that is relevant to this range of students
whilst embracing Information Visualization and a traditional cartography syl-
labus.
My module consists of 12 sessions with 3 hours contact time and 7 hours
guided individual study. Students are expected to spend another 30 hours par-
ticipating in assessed activities. The module is thus designed such that an average
student spends 150 hours studying for 15 credits—-it uses a shared credit frame-
work that does not conform to the requirements of the Bologna process [5]. The
module is available to distance learners through a managed learning environment
and digital resources ensure distance learners have an equivalent experience those
who attend campus.
Many students go on to do research projects in visualization involving data
sets and applied problems that feed my research and are subsequently used in
teaching. This effective feedback loop is important in perpetuating bi-directional
links between research and teaching.
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