Teaching Information Visualization - Information Visualization: Human-Centered Issues and Perspectives - page 86

been achieved. Amongst other competencies, outcomes require that students are
able to . . .
- explain the complex issues associated with GeoVisualization with clarity and
from an informed perspective by drawing upon recent academic research;
- design maps and data graphics that are effective, informative and consistent
and that exhibit graphical excellence and graphical integrity;
- use data graphics, maps and visualization tools to present and explore mul-
tifaceted data sets in a manner that is professional, informed and ethically
sound;
- evaluate data graphics, maps and visualization tools by drawing upon prin-
ciples and theories of design.
The approach seems to work nicely and addresses some of the issues discussed at
the Dagstuhl meeting. It may be useful for those wishing to help students learn
to critique and assess their developing skills. I have received favorable feedback
from students and internal and external evaluators.
It seems particularly appropriate for developing skills in graphicacy where
Tufte's concept of 'redesign' is a key element. Portfolios or long-term developing
group projects that provide opportunities for feedback and critique can be very
beneficial here. It should be noted that portfolios are frequently used in the arts
where critiquing and redesign are key learning activities.
Conclusion: These arguments are personal perspectives, developed through
reflections on discussions at Vis 2006 and the Dagstuhl seminar and the Dagstuhl
survey, in the light of my teaching experience. I suggest a focus in Information
Visualization education not on curriculum (which may vary to suit particular
disciplines and student groups) but on general qualities and competencies that
can be applied across a range of curricula. I've identified what some of these
might be and presented some ideas on how they might be supported and assessed
through the example of my GeoVisualization module.
The critiquing and 'doing' themes support the notion that underlying skills
in the use and evaluation of graphics are broadly (I hesitate to say 'universally')
valuable. They may be a way of helping Information Visualization educators
bridge the multiple multi-disciplinary divides and certainly help justify the ap-
proach taken on my GeoVisualization module.
They may also help us deal with change—we are in a discipline where the
specifics of curricula change very rapidly. Perhaps we're moving away from a
text-book based model of teaching as disciplines change so quickly and student's
expectations and abilities to access information increase. This is good news from
the perspectives of information sharing and efforts to link research and teaching,
which many are evidently doing very effectively, cf. Section 4.1. The bad news is
that we need more flexibility in terms of course content and perhaps structure.
This is no bad thing in itself, but is dicult to achieve when the levels of docu-
mentation that are expected by students and (in the UK at any rate) required
for quality assurance and to gain approval for changes in provision are consid-
ered. Guided approaches in which links to a selected set of papers and examples