Data visualization, the computer-aided version of tradition visual cognition aides, is an emerging technology in academia that is expected to continue to grow over the coming years, and its use in the classroom has implications on learning and students’ lives well after their formal education ends. Through data visualization, students can get a first-hand look at the earth’s core, for instance. They can put the number of soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan into context, and they can see the number of unemployed people in the United States by state.
It is important for students to be able to understand and manipulate data visualizations because the world we live in is changing, and use of data visualization and other Web-based tools is becoming more prevalent. The best place for students to prepare to use these tools is in the classroom, where they can receive the appropriate guidance and be able to translate those skills to other experiences with data visualization when they are no longer in school.
In its quest to improve and promote data visualization in the classroom, American University would benefit from providing ample resources and support for faculty and staff interested in integrating data visualization into their lectures, coordinate data visualization usage across colleges and highlight and reward those who are doing innovative visualizations in their classrooms.
Key Findings
Visual learning is key to human cognition and new technology, tools and software make it more accessible than ever
Visualization is an emerging and vital part of education at all levels
Institutional support will be necessary for widespread adoption
Best practices are needed for proper use and to counter potential pitfalls
Recommendations
Coordinate data visualization usage across colleges and encourage faculty and staff across disciplines to adopt visualization tools through training
Provide opportunities for faculty and staff to showcase and how they use data visualization in the classroom and demonstrate best practices
Provide appropriate support for faculty, including access to data, software, online tutorials and training, as well as to trained developers who can help guide them through the data visualization process.
Require students entering the university to acquire a laptop meeting certain specifications so classrooms do not need to undergo a major redesign to support data visualization.
Create a system in which faculty and staff can report their use of data visualization in the classroom and make information available to the campus community
Apply for grants to support academic technology efforts such as data visualization (i.e. Georgetown’s Visible Knowledge Project) and encourage faculty and staff to take advantage of free data visualization tools
Highlight and reward those who are doing unique and innovative things with data visualization in the classroom (i.e. Creativity in the Classroom Awards)
Humans have used visualization since the very dawn of their existence. And whether communicating elementary ideas or enabling exploration of complex data sets, the fusion of our natural predisposition for visual communication with information to aid in cognition has consistently advanced human knowledge.[1]These visualizations have taken many forms, evolving from simple projections such as maps and schematics, to complex, interactive experiences whereby data can literally be experienced.
The more recent advancements in computer-aided visualizations and interactivity are made possible by the exponential growth in computing power over the last half century. However, examining early examples exposes much of the root motivation and fundamental concepts that have led to interactivity that we see and consider today for expanded application in higher education.
To understand the various types of visualization found in the academia today, it is necessary to unpack term and look at its various applications. Broadly, there are two types of visualization. The first is data visualization, or visual artifacts built on a body of scientific data. These are found today in science from biology to physics to earth sciences. The second type is information visualization, or the visualization of abstract information.[2] Information visualization is more common to find outside of the sciences or academia, from a diagrammatic projection of subway lines to a classroom comparison of metabolic processes.
In a detailed, epistemological approach to detailing the relationships between the different components of visualization, Stuart Card lays out a hierarchy of concepts involved.
I. External cognition Use of the external world to accomplish cognition
II. Information design Design of external representations to amplify cognition
III. Data graphics Use of abstract, nonrepresentational visual representations of data to amplify cognition
IV. Visualization Use of computer-based, interactive visual representations of data to amplify cognition
IV.a. Scientific visualization Use of interactive visual representations of scientific data, typically physically based to amplify cognition
IV.b. Information visualization Use of interactive visual representations of abstract, typically non-physically based, to amplify cognition
Table reproduced from Using vision to think, Card (1990)
Both information and data (or scientific) visualization have the same purpose, which is to aid in cognition, or the acquisition of knowledge. Elegantly summarized, Door quotes Hamming saying that, “the purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures.”,[3]In Edward Tufte’s seminal work Envisioning Information, he examines early examples of both information and data visualization through the lens of modern theory, finding that many modern applications, while aided by advancements in computing and visual theory, are thoroughly grounded in the pursuit of the enhancement of cognition well back into the late Renaissance.
First known plotting of celestial projection, est. 14c. CE
Galileo, in one of Envisioning Information’s examples, created daily charts of Sunspots in the summer of 1613.[4]Examining individual charts revealed differences within the visible portion of the Sun. Looking at sequential charts it is even possible to identify the same spot by shape, size and position across multiple days. But combining this visualization across the axis of time – again, with daily observations, reveals the Sunspots appearing to traversing the surface of the, as we know now, spherical, rotating star at the center of our solar system. A perfect example of how visualization, well executed, provides insight.
Visualization does present unique challenges of interpretation, attribution, and literacy. It must also find a complimentary role to traditional teaching methods that results in net benefits for students and faculty. It must be used when appropriate and not abused as to obfuscate the point of a lesson. Barriers of training and technology persist.
These challenges can and must be addressed. Steps including intercollegiate working groups, training for both faculty and students alike, institutional support at the technical, instructional, and curricular levels, and the broad adoption of standards and best practices.
Data visualization is being used in a variety of ways in college classrooms across the United States and is considered an emerging technology in academia.
For instance, Harvard scientists are using data visualization from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to measure the expansion velocity of supernova remnants. The Virtual Ocean at Columbia University gives students a three-dimensional view of the earth’s oceans.[5]The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., uses data visualization to aid in medical visualization work.[6]
And Carleton College, a private liberal arts college in Northfield, MN., received a $770,000 grant in March 2009 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for an initiative called Visualizing the Liberal Arts, or Viz, with the hope that it will allow Carleton to develop ways to address challenges staff and students can encounter in data visualization. The grant pays for an exhibits program, a staff development program and a faculty development program. It also pays for a series of workshops that explore visual approaches to teaching and learning
“There have been a lively series of conversations at Carleton College about ways of helping students to both express ideas visually, ways of using visual forms of evidence in argumentation, and visual representations of quantitative information,” said Andrea Nixon, director of curricular research and support at Carleton College.
Nixon pointed to an August 2008 study that looked at the curricular use of visual materials at the college. That study reported that 91 percent of faculty surveyed reported having encouraged or required students to interpret visual materials. About 75 percent of faculty respondents wanted additional support for their use of visual materials in the classroom and school officials expect the use of data visualization in the classroom to continue to grow.
Data visualization is also something used to an extent at American University now. On its Web site, American promotes use of free, informal Web-based resources like Flowing Data and Gapminder.[7] It also provides access to a number of databases with vetted information, like government databases, as well as tips from renowned statistician and professor Edward Tufte. It has also made its way into colleges such as the Kogod School of Business and the School of Education, Teaching and Health.
The role of higher education and the way it prepares students for the rest of their lives is changing. In 2007, the American Association of Colleges and Universities recommended that emerging technologies like data visualization be employed to give students experience in research, creative work, experimentation and problem-based learning.[8]
Project learning, which data visualization is a part of, engages students in learning knowledge and skills from a series of tasks and aids them in critical thinking, creativity, cross-cultural understanding, communication, technology and self-direction, according to a the Oracle Corporation’s “Power of Project Learning with Thinkquest.” Thinkquest enables teachers to carry out such learning projects. Data visualization will most definitely play a growing role in the classroom in the coming years, particularly as companies such as Oracle create software like Thinkquest to make the implementation of such projects easier.[9]
“Since the days of the cave paintings, graphic depiction has always been an integral part of how people think, communicate, and make sense of the world. In the modern world, new information systems are at the heart of all management processes and organizational activities,” John Sviokla writes on the Harvard Business Blog.[10]
There are several pedagogic reasons to use visualization. It allows for the observation of things that might otherwise be unobservable. It can make complex processes easier to understand, it allows students to construct their own mental images and it can be fun.[11]
Students don’t see what trained geoscientists, for instance, see. Looking and seeing are learned skills. Consequently, those learned skills can be obtained in the classroom with guided practice. Teachers can help students reflect on their experiences and draw the most accurate conclusions. That’s a benefit that youth don’t necessarily receive in an informal setting. Additionally, according to the Horizon report, students need research skills and need to make sense of scientific visualization. That’s also where using data visualization in the classroom becomes important.[12]
Visual data analysis augments people’s natural abilities to seek and find patterns in what they see, can expose relationships and trends among qualitative and quantitative variables, and may expand what we understand about learning itself. It is something that can easily be integrated into traditional teaching methods and can act as a supplement to those methods, not a replacement. Additionally, it is a creative way of presenting information that encourages critical thinking, and is relatable because students are exposed to data visualization in some form every day, be it maps on the subway or diagrams of precipitation during a weather report on television.[13]
While many data visualization tools are easy to use, there’s a risk that the resulting visual may not best represent the data, or leave the data open to misinterpretation. Also, visualizations could encourage students to “substitute gratuitous graphics for more meaningful content in their presentations.”[14] Additionally, data visualization cannot take the place of traditional classroom learning; it must supplement it.[15]
There is also currently a lack of metrics to evaluate how and if data visualization helps learning. While many researchers believe it positively affects learning, there is not a large amount of hard data that supports that theory.
On a more practical level, some uses of data visualization may require a classroom redesign. At the most basic level, it could require that a classroom be outfitted with a computer and projector. Or, it could require that there be a computer for every student available in the classroom, with enough electrical outlets to power those computers. Some classrooms at American lack enough available outlets for every student in the class to power their computers.
However, American University Vice President and Chief Information Officer David Swartz said if every student is required to have a laptop, then classrooms won’t need to have computers installed.
To use data visualization in the classroom, professors will also have to be trained in digital media literacy. In many cases, students may know more about digital media tools than their professors, but they need their professors to help them put the data provided by those tools into context. [16] A learning experience that combines the visualization with context provided by an instructor is likely to better prepare students for life after collage than an experience without context would.
A variety of tools have emerged to make it easy for almost everyone to interpret and visualize data. Many of the tools are free or inexpensive. Those tools make it very easy for professors to create their own visualizations to illustrate a point, and they also encourage visual literacy among educators.[17]
There is also a myriad of software available for purchase, should the university choose to do so, as well as a number of Web sites that create data visualizations that anyone can view and use.[18]
“The quality of cheap mapping tools and the availability of vast quantities of free or inexpensive data is growing. The planet is becoming ‘smart’ in the sense that we can track, monitor and see much more of both the built and the natural environment,” Sviolka writes.[19]
If the university chooses to purchase data visualization tools or accompanying technology, like more computers or projectors, one way to do so is with tuition. Tuition costs result in access to better data, said William Mayer, American University’s chief librarian.[20] There is nothing free. And if there is no access to data, that academic setting is not a successful environment for students to continue their studies.
American already provides access to some data on its Web site, including links to several different types of databases on a variety of topics. It also provides access to free software that educators can use in the classroom.
American also provides resources for instructors via its Social Science Research Lab, which provides technology assistance across disciplines. According to its Web site, the facility has a classroom with 21 stations and a general work area with 13 computers. The staff provides support for specialized statistical software, with expertise ranging from creating an effective research design to interpreting statistical results.[21]
Swartz said the university is also looking into projection and display technology, and how to display multiple feeds on a screen. He said he thinks the university could benefit from a model classroom where technology can be tested and then disseminated to the rest of the school.
“Visualization is one of the most important things we’ll see over the next five years in academia,” he said.
At Carleton, for instance, faculty are interested in using data visualization and animations in their teachings. Cathy Manduca, whose focus is on improving geoscience education for undergraduates, wants to capitalize on that interest to help faculty become better teachers. That means providing them with access to “good” visualizations that they can use effectively.[22]
“We don’t have institutional policies relating to these kinds of curricular activities per se but there is a significant amount of time and resources spent helping faculty and students work as they work with the visual,” Nixon said.
When using data visualization, it is important to determine what you are trying to teach and what you want students to learn. What students see and learn is built on what they already know.[23] When selecting a visualization tool, faculty should consider whether it fits the learning goals of their course and is consistent with the level of expertise of their students. Animations that may be completely clear to geoscientists may not be completely clear to students just learning the field and may not be helpful.
When it comes to data visualization, “best” is almost always subjective[24]. Its definition is dependent upon the creator, subject matter and audience. Thus, the following compilation of best data visualization techniques and software is by no means an absolute listing of all best practices, but rather a snapshot of what the world of data visualization currently offers its users.
The truth is there are thousands of excellent techniques, examples and software for data visualization. Certainly, too many to provide in this report. And, with the Internet, accessibility to data and open-sourced products becoming more and more available and abundant, the pool of data visualization offerings will only continue to grow.[25]
In following standards put in place by Nathan Yau, creator and founder of FlowingData.com – a website which explores how designers, statisticians, and computer scientists are using data to understand things better, mainly through data visualization – the following examples were chosen based on “analysis, aesthetics, and most importantly, how well they told their story (and how well they let you tell yours).”[26]
An interactive animation that examines the evolution of presidential politics across the span of American history. The project offers cinematic visualizations of how Americans voted in the presidential elections from the beginning of the modern party system through 2008. It allows users to see historical developments in American voting patterns as they move across the U.S. landscape.
“Voting America” by the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond
CAVE stands for Cave Automatic Virtual Environment. It is a room consisting of three to six walls in which projectors, coupled with a surround-sound speaker system, create a 3D effect for its inhabitants. Students use it for a variety of purposes, including engineering, physics, chemical, psychological, biological, and geological research, as well as for art courses, tours of the human body, architecture study, mathematics, meteorology and virtual archaeological excavations. UIC was the first to develop the system.[27]
“The CAVE” by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at University of Illinois at Chicago
(Images courtesy ofUniversity of Illinois at
Chicago’s Electronic Visualization Laboratory)
Worldmapper is a collection of nearly 700 world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject. Maps are available across dozens of categories including food, manufacturing, income, education, pollution, violence, death, etc.
“Worldmapper” by The University of Sheffield, University of Michigan, et al.
The super video wall is boasted to be the biggest ever[28]. It provides students and professors the ability to view large data sets, while also drilling down to the smallest elements, on the same screen. The wall is used in areas such as earth systems science, chemistry, astrophysics, medicine, forensics, art and archaeology, computer graphics, visualization, networking, data compression, streaming and human-computer interaction.
“Highly Interactive Parallelized Display Space (HIPerSpace)” at University of California at San Diego
(Image courtesy of University of California, San Diego)
Best Data Visualization Techniques & Examples (Outside Academia)
This animation by Fotoshop lets you zoom from the edge of the universe to the quantum foam of spacetime and learn the scale of things along the way. It was created using Adobe Flash.
Graphic designer Michael Paukner created this infographic showing which countries own the many satellites currently orbiting earth. The graphic also shows viewers which satellites are functional and dysfunctional, as well as the amount o floating debris.
“Big Brothers: Satellites Orbiting Earth” by Michael Paukner
MSNBC documents President Barack Obama’s inauguration by stringing user-generated photos together to create a browsable 3-D environment. It was created using a software known as Photosynth.
This visualization provides a closer look at the American service members who have died in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and in other related conflicts around the world. USA Today put this presentation together using Flash.
The creators of PaydayLoans.org, a website dedicated to helping users explore other financial means outside of the payday loan industry, used this visualization to compare the number of payday loan center locations to McDonald and Starbucks locations in various states.
“Payday Loans vs. Starbucks vs. McDonalds” by Paydayloans.org
Author and software developer Kiwitobes made this video showing the opening of Walmart retail locations over time. The video starts very slowly with the first location in Arkansas in 1962 and then rapidly spreads into different regions across the country over time.
Best Data Visualization Tools & Software
*Denotes software is available free
Adobe Flash is commonly used to create animation and web interactivity. It uses scripting language known as ActionScript to create animation, various web page components and rich Internet applications.
Freebase* offers free, high-quality data with powerful tools for crosslinking content. It is an open database of the world’s information built by the community and for the community – free for anyone to query, contribute to, build applications on top of, or integrate into their websites.
Google Visualization API Gallery* allows users to create visualizations and reporting applications. Visualizations can be integrated into a website.
Graphviz* is open source graph visualization software. It has several main graph layout programs, web and interactive graphical interfaces, and auxiliary tools, libraries, and language bindings.
JFreeChart* is a free 100% Java chart library which creates charts such as bar charts, line charts, pie charts, time series charts, candlestick charts, high/low/open/close charts, wind plots, and meter charts.
JGraphpadis an open source graph component available for Java. Application areas include Process diagrams, workflow and BPM visualization, flowcharts, even traffic or water flow, etc.
Microsoft Visio is a Microsoft Office business and technical diagramming program. It creates flow charts, organizational charts, network diagrams, family trees, project processes and office layouts.
New York Times Visualization Lab/IBM “Many Eyes” * allows users to create their own visual presentations using data provided by the paper. Readers can comment on the visualizations, share them with others in the form of widgets and images, and create topic hubs where people can collect visualizations and discuss specific subjects.
OmniGraffle is the premier diagramming application for Mac OS X. It creates flow charts, organizational charts, network diagrams, family trees, project processes and office layouts.
Photosynth*, by Microsoft Live Labs, has the ability to reconstruct a scene or object from photographs. It smartly strings photos together to create a 3-D environment. Creating a “synth” allows users to share their favorite places and things using the cinematic quality of a movie, the control of a video game, and the detail of the real world.
SmartDraw provides thousands of professional-looking business graphics that users can modify and make their own.
Swivelcreates pie charts, diagrams and histograms.
XML/SWF Charts* is a tool to create attractive web charts and graphs from dynamic XML data. The XML source can be prepared manually, or generated dynamically using scripting language.
Xtimeline* lets users create their own timelines. Timelines can also include pictures and videos.
yEd – Java Graph Editor* is a powerful graph editor written entirely in the Java programming language. It can be used to quickly and effectively generate drawings and to apply automatic layouts to a range of different diagrams and networks.
Data visualization is used in a variety of ways on different campuses. In this competitive analysis, we examine the awareness of data visualization at the following institutions: American University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Syracuse University and Emory University. The analysis provides a demographic snapshot of the schools and how data visualization is used by faculty in the classroom.
Average class size: 22 undergraduate; 16.9 graduate
Tuition (2009/2010): undergraduate $17,228 per semester; graduate $1,237 per credit hour
In 2008, the American University Board of Trustees approved a strategic plan for the future of the institution. The plan is guided by 10 transformational goals. Data visualization certainly has a place in the university’s strategic plan. One of the ways American plans to achieve its transformational goals is to “employ technology to empower excellence.” For example, the school will invest in state of the art technology to “facilitate learning, research, knowledge management, sharing and distribution.” (Source: Strategic Plan).[30]
According to Bill DeLone, director of American University’s Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning (CTRL) and chairman of the school’s Strategic Planning Steering Committee, data visualization can be used at both the administrative and academic level.
On the administrative level, DeLone noted that the university is investing in a business intelligence software product for microstrategy. The software will use data visualization to show key performance indicators in the form of dashboard for such things as enrollment. He also noted that in the spring, the strategic plan’s measurement committee will use a data visualization tool called, tracdat, that will measure and track the progress of American University’s strategic plan.
On the academic level, however, DeLone admitted that because of the very nature of academic freedom, it’s more difficult to measure exactly how faculty and students at the university use data visualization. But DeLone disclosed that this spring, as the university focuses on research from a centralized point of view, faculty will be asked to complete a survey asking which research tools they use to get a better sense of what’s needed at the university.
The university also has formed an Academic Technology Steering Committee that would share information on new software and communicate the interest by faculty.
Currently, however, there has not been much of a demand for data visualization software, DeLone said.
“At American, it’s an emerging initiative,” DeLone said. “There may not be much demand for it, but maybe it should be. If it’s an effective tool, then the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning must come forward and hold educational forums to let people know what it is and how it could be used. We should make people aware of it and what it could do.”
According to Assen Assenov, assistant director of the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning, the center does offer workshops on data visualization. Unfortunately, mostly faculty who do quantitative research in areas such as economics, statistics or sociology attends the workshops. But data visualization can be used across all majors, he emphasized.
“Some [faculty] believe it’s above and beyond their knowledge and skill,” Assenov said. “Some don’t understand how it could be applied to their major.”
Faculty in the School of Education, Teaching and Health (SETH) however, use data visualization widely. Sarah Irvine Belson, dean of American’s School of Education, Teaching and Health, wrote in an email, “We consider a broad scope of technologies as data visualization tools that enable deep investigation into policies and practices in education and health, both from theoretical and practical perspectives.”
For example, Irvine Belson has used a literacy map to show the relationship between school-based programs[31] and the tool ManyEyes to show education level by race.[32] Adrea Lawrence, a SETH assistant professor, regulary uses maps for her history classes as well as google maps.[33]
“Our use of visualization tools is built on this underlining philosophy as well as the university and the schools desire for practical application of knowledge through experiential research,” Irvine Belson wrote in an email. “Our professional commitments and organizing principles are emphasized in this course through content in which we attempt, in our research and teaching, to develop an understanding of key issues in the field and to analyze data from multiple perspectives in order to develop depth and breadth in their instructional repertoires.”
Emory University’s Center for Interactive Teaching (ECIT) provides training and support for faculty and students on using technology in instruction and research. The center introduces emerging technologies and shares best practices in using technology in the classroom. The ECIT features three “Smart” classrooms and a Teaching Theatre, which supports technology-enhanced interactive learning.
In addition, Emory holds an annual conference titled EduCATE: Educational Conference on Academic Technology at Emory. The conference showcases technologies that are changing classrooms and how Emory faculty is using the technologies.
Data visualization is one of the technology tools that Emory faculty use to improve student learning. According to Wayne Morse, director of Emory’s Center for Interactive Teaching, and Chris Fearrington, ECIT’s coordinator, many in the Emory community are aware of data visualization. ECIT has recently started training faculty on the various uses of data visualization. In addition, the school’s main library includes data visualization workstations.[35]
Currently, Emory faculty in the sciences, environmental studies and public health uses data visualization in the classroom. They use such tools as Google Earth, Gap Minder and timelines. ECIT also offers quantitative analysis packages like SAS, STATA and GIS. But other disciplines are gaining an interest, said Fearrington and Morse: “As we offer more training on the tools and ease of use, we believe more faculty will jump aboard.”
For example, Emory’s Candler School of Theology offers digital tools for theology and religion including visualization tools such as Media Cloud and ManyEyes.[36]
In addition to training faculty on the use of data visualization, ECIT also collaborates with Emory’s Electronic Data Center, which offers assistance with research involving quantitative and geospatial data.[37]
“We are moving into more of a visual world. The students we see are asking for more visual aids and projects. The faculty that are using data visualization are seeing the benefits and it also gives them a new way to engage the students,” Fearrington and Morse wrote in an email.
Syracuse University’s Information Technology and Services (ITS)[39] department provides the Syracuse community —students, faculty, staff — with technology resources that promote creative learning, teaching and research. Under the Information Technology and Service department are the Academic Applications and Support Centers.[40] The centers provide faculty training for online learning technologies. These include presentations and discussions on how to integrate technology into the classroom to expand the learning process.
There’s also the Learning Environments and Media Production (LEMP)[41] department. LEMP provides academic technology services including new technology tools for use in the classroom and Web-based course management tools.
Faculty have the opportunity to learn new technology in ITS’ Technology Classroom orientation,[42] which are held in mini sessions, full sessions and portable equipment sessions.
According to Syracuse’s Sue Long of the School of Management, the Syracuse faculty is aware of data visualization in the classroom and its benefits. Data visualization techniques are used especially in Business, Geography and Information Systems. Faculty in Syracuse’s Maxwell School, a top graduate school of Public Affairs, also uses data visualization. However, the university’s Technology Leadership Committee[43] is charged with monitoring technology trends in higher education and identifying which of those is best for the Syracuse community. Currently, faculty at Syracuse use data visualization software such as SAS/STAT for statistical courses and GIS for geography classes.
Georgetown University’s Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship[45] (CNDLS) supports faculty enrichment with the latest educational technology tools. The center helps educators design new learning programs as they refine their educational approach. CNDLS works to improve the university’s learning environments by equipping educators with the resources they need to create dynamic curriculum that engage students.
Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship is supported by several grants. The university also participates in the Visible Knowledge Project (VKP),[46] “a five-year, four million dollar project aimed at improving the quality of college and university teaching through a focus on student learning and faculty development in technology-enhanced environments.” VKP features 50 faculty from 25 campuses across the nation. It is one of the largest projects in the country on technology and learning, especially in the humanities, social sciences and interdisciplinary culture fields. The project encourages interactive learning environments and asks faculty to focus on new media technology tools that would enhance innovation in the classroom.
Georgetown’s College Curriculum Renewal Project (CCRP)[47] also encourages innovation in the classroom. The effort challenges faculty to engage students in new ways and implement a curriculum to deepen student learning.
Data visualization is one way Georgetown faculty has improved student learning. Georgetown Digital Commons[48] is where faculty go to learn new and innovative online tools. Data visualization is one of the tools faculty can explore under the Digital Commons’ Experimental Blog.[49]
In the school’s Digital Commons wiki on New Media for Teaching and Learning,[50] Georgetown provides data visualization resources for faculty such as the New York Times Visualization Lab and “7 Things you Should Know About Data Visualization.” Earlier this year, faculty were invited to a workshop on how to use tools such as ManyEyes and Dipity in the classroom.
Professor Lisa Singh of Georgetown’s Department of Computer Science has worked with students on a two-year project to create a social network visualization program called Invenio, “a visual data mining tool that allows social network information to be accessed and understood in unprecedented ways.” Singh talks about her visualization work in a video on the school’s Web site.[51]
Rusan Chen, Ph.D., Senior Statistician & Academic Coordinator for the Social Sciences at Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), said data visualization can be used in almost every department at every level at the institution, but it depends on the technical level of the faculty member. Most data visualization software, he said, is designed to be used in a broad range.
“The technology is ten times better than just looking at numbers,” Chen said. “You remember a lot and students learn from it.”
Tuition (2009/2010): undergraduate $41,610; graduate $1,118.00 per credit hour
In a 2007 self-study report,[53] George Washington University (GW) emphasized the institution’s mission to “provide vision, planning, and technical support for endeavors related to academic technologies.” The school also strives to support innovation and initiatives that strengthen teaching, learning and research.
GW’s Academic Technologies[54] department supports the school’s computer labs and numerous computer classrooms that feature more than 360 computers. As of 2007, the school has more than 90 technology-enhanced classrooms that include equipment such as AMX touch-panel systems, enhanced audio systems and motorized display screens. Their Faculty Workstation Initiative[55] provides about 250 new computers to nearly a third of all faculty every three years. In addition, GW has more than 110 installed software applications on laptops in each of the school’s six 24-hour computer labs. The Academic Technologies Solutions Center[56] provides training sessions for faculty and its technicians are on-call to assist with classroom problems.
GW’s Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning[57] assists faculty with using instructional technology in the classroom. The center provides workshops, grants and print and web-based resources for faculty who are interested in introducing technology into their classrooms.
According to Yianna Vovides, Ph.D., director of Instructional Design at the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, various faculty use data visualization techniques especially in Geography and Information Systems. Nevertheless, the Center’s Instructional Technology Lab[58] offers faculty hands-on training, seminars, and curriculum development consultations. In addition, the center’s Teaching Studio[59] allows faculty to learn research and teaching methods, test course materials on focus groups and practice their presentation of new skills. The Faculty Learning Communities[60] also offer an opportunity for faculty to learn about new technology and use in the classroom from peers.
Overall, the schools profiled were all aware of data visualization. Unfortunately, none of the schools were aware of how faculty uses data visualization in the classroom. Obviously, data visualization is used in the courses with quantitative information. But its use in other subjects is scarce. This presents an opportunity for faculty and staff from across disciplines to share innovative technology techniques and to enhance, expand and improve the college learning experience.
Citations
[1] Friendly, Michael (2008). “Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization”
[2] Card, S., Shneiderman, B., & Mackinlay, J. (1999). Readings in Information Visualization. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
[3] Hamming, R., & Hamming, R. (1986). Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers. Mineola: Dover.
[4] Tufte, E., (1990). Envisioning Information. Cheshire: Graphics Press.
[15] Gordin, Douglas N., and Pea, Roy D. (1995) “Prospects for Scientific Visualization
as an Educational Technology.” Journal of the Learning Sciences, Vol. 4.
[29] Fast Facts. American University Fast Facts – http://www.american.edu/discoverau/fast-facts.cfm; Tuition. American University – http://www.american.edu/finance/studentaccounts/Tuition-and-Fees-Information.cfm)
[47] College Curriculum Renewal Project. Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship. Georgetown University. http://cndls.georgetown.edu/programs/ccrp/site/whyccrp/
[51] Lisa Singh. Department of Computer Science. Georgetown University: http://www1.georgetown.edu/college/research/43303.html.
[52] George Washington University Facts. George Washington University. http://www.gwu.edu/explore/aboutgw/facts)
[53] “Academic Excellence: Sustaining Momentum, Maximizing Strength. Middle States Commission on Higher Education 2007 Self-Study. August 2007, Revised November 2007. The George Washington University.
[54] Academic Technologies. The George Washington University. http://web.cats.gwu.edu/
[55] Faculty Workstation Initiative. Academic Technologies. The George Washington University. http://web.cats.gwu.edu/pages/facultycomputers
[56] Academic Technologies Solutions Center. Academic Technologies. The George Washington University. http://web.cats.gwu.edu/pages/support
[57] Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning. George Washington University. http://citl.gwu.edu/
[58] Instructional Technology Lab. Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning. The George Washington University. http://citl.gwu.edu/pages/servicesIT.html
[59] Teaching Studio. Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning. The George Washington University. http://citl.gwu.edu/pages/teachingstudio.html
[60] Faculty Learning Communities. Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning. The George Washington University. http://citl.gwu.edu/pages/flc.html
Data Visualization
Overview
Data visualization, the computer-aided version of tradition visual cognition aides, is an emerging technology in academia that is expected to continue to grow over the coming years, and its use in the classroom has implications on learning and students’ lives well after their formal education ends. Through data visualization, students can get a first-hand look at the earth’s core, for instance. They can put the number of soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan into context, and they can see the number of unemployed people in the United States by state.
It is important for students to be able to understand and manipulate data visualizations because the world we live in is changing, and use of data visualization and other Web-based tools is becoming more prevalent. The best place for students to prepare to use these tools is in the classroom, where they can receive the appropriate guidance and be able to translate those skills to other experiences with data visualization when they are no longer in school.
In its quest to improve and promote data visualization in the classroom, American University would benefit from providing ample resources and support for faculty and staff interested in integrating data visualization into their lectures, coordinate data visualization usage across colleges and highlight and reward those who are doing innovative visualizations in their classrooms.
Key Findings
Recommendations
What is visualization?
Humans have used visualization since the very dawn of their existence. And whether communicating elementary ideas or enabling exploration of complex data sets, the fusion of our natural predisposition for visual communication with information to aid in cognition has consistently advanced human knowledge.[1] These visualizations have taken many forms, evolving from simple projections such as maps and schematics, to complex, interactive experiences whereby data can literally be experienced.
The more recent advancements in computer-aided visualizations and interactivity are made possible by the exponential growth in computing power over the last half century. However, examining early examples exposes much of the root motivation and fundamental concepts that have led to interactivity that we see and consider today for expanded application in higher education.
To understand the various types of visualization found in the academia today, it is necessary to unpack term and look at its various applications. Broadly, there are two types of visualization. The first is data visualization, or visual artifacts built on a body of scientific data. These are found today in science from biology to physics to earth sciences. The second type is information visualization, or the visualization of abstract information.[2] Information visualization is more common to find outside of the sciences or academia, from a diagrammatic projection of subway lines to a classroom comparison of metabolic processes.
In a detailed, epistemological approach to detailing the relationships between the different components of visualization, Stuart Card lays out a hierarchy of concepts involved.
I. External cognition Use of the external world to accomplish cognition
II. Information design Design of external representations to amplify cognition
III. Data graphics Use of abstract, nonrepresentational visual representations of data to amplify cognition
IV. Visualization Use of computer-based, interactive visual representations of data to amplify cognition
IV.a. Scientific visualization Use of interactive visual representations of scientific data, typically physically based to amplify cognition
IV.b. Information visualization Use of interactive visual representations of abstract, typically non-physically based, to amplify cognition
Table reproduced from Using vision to think, Card (1990)
Both information and data (or scientific) visualization have the same purpose, which is to aid in cognition, or the acquisition of knowledge. Elegantly summarized, Door quotes Hamming saying that, “the purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures.”,[3] In Edward Tufte’s seminal work Envisioning Information, he examines early examples of both information and data visualization through the lens of modern theory, finding that many modern applications, while aided by advancements in computing and visual theory, are thoroughly grounded in the pursuit of the enhancement of cognition well back into the late Renaissance.
First known plotting of celestial projection, est. 14c. CE
Galileo, in one of Envisioning Information’s examples, created daily charts of Sunspots in the summer of 1613.[4] Examining individual charts revealed differences within the visible portion of the Sun. Looking at sequential charts it is even possible to identify the same spot by shape, size and position across multiple days. But combining this visualization across the axis of time – again, with daily observations, reveals the Sunspots appearing to traversing the surface of the, as we know now, spherical, rotating star at the center of our solar system. A perfect example of how visualization, well executed, provides insight.
Visualization does present unique challenges of interpretation, attribution, and literacy. It must also find a complimentary role to traditional teaching methods that results in net benefits for students and faculty. It must be used when appropriate and not abused as to obfuscate the point of a lesson. Barriers of training and technology persist.
These challenges can and must be addressed. Steps including intercollegiate working groups, training for both faculty and students alike, institutional support at the technical, instructional, and curricular levels, and the broad adoption of standards and best practices.
Current use of data visualization in the classroom
Data visualization is being used in a variety of ways in college classrooms across the United States and is considered an emerging technology in academia.
For instance, Harvard scientists are using data visualization from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to measure the expansion velocity of supernova remnants. The Virtual Ocean at Columbia University gives students a three-dimensional view of the earth’s oceans.[5] The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., uses data visualization to aid in medical visualization work.[6]
And Carleton College, a private liberal arts college in Northfield, MN., received a $770,000 grant in March 2009 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for an initiative called Visualizing the Liberal Arts, or Viz, with the hope that it will allow Carleton to develop ways to address challenges staff and students can encounter in data visualization. The grant pays for an exhibits program, a staff development program and a faculty development program. It also pays for a series of workshops that explore visual approaches to teaching and learning
“There have been a lively series of conversations at Carleton College about ways of helping students to both express ideas visually, ways of using visual forms of evidence in argumentation, and visual representations of quantitative information,” said Andrea Nixon, director of curricular research and support at Carleton College.
Nixon pointed to an August 2008 study that looked at the curricular use of visual materials at the college. That study reported that 91 percent of faculty surveyed reported having encouraged or required students to interpret visual materials. About 75 percent of faculty respondents wanted additional support for their use of visual materials in the classroom and school officials expect the use of data visualization in the classroom to continue to grow.
Data visualization is also something used to an extent at American University now. On its Web site, American promotes use of free, informal Web-based resources like Flowing Data and Gapminder.[7] It also provides access to a number of databases with vetted information, like government databases, as well as tips from renowned statistician and professor Edward Tufte. It has also made its way into colleges such as the Kogod School of Business and the School of Education, Teaching and Health.
Future use in the classroom
The role of higher education and the way it prepares students for the rest of their lives is changing. In 2007, the American Association of Colleges and Universities recommended that emerging technologies like data visualization be employed to give students experience in research, creative work, experimentation and problem-based learning.[8]
Project learning, which data visualization is a part of, engages students in learning knowledge and skills from a series of tasks and aids them in critical thinking, creativity, cross-cultural understanding, communication, technology and self-direction, according to a the Oracle Corporation’s “Power of Project Learning with Thinkquest.” Thinkquest enables teachers to carry out such learning projects. Data visualization will most definitely play a growing role in the classroom in the coming years, particularly as companies such as Oracle create software like Thinkquest to make the implementation of such projects easier.[9]
“Since the days of the cave paintings, graphic depiction has always been an integral part of how people think, communicate, and make sense of the world. In the modern world, new information systems are at the heart of all management processes and organizational activities,” John Sviokla writes on the Harvard Business Blog.[10]
Relevance for teaching and learning
There are several pedagogic reasons to use visualization. It allows for the observation of things that might otherwise be unobservable. It can make complex processes easier to understand, it allows students to construct their own mental images and it can be fun.[11]
Students don’t see what trained geoscientists, for instance, see. Looking and seeing are learned skills. Consequently, those learned skills can be obtained in the classroom with guided practice. Teachers can help students reflect on their experiences and draw the most accurate conclusions. That’s a benefit that youth don’t necessarily receive in an informal setting. Additionally, according to the Horizon report, students need research skills and need to make sense of scientific visualization. That’s also where using data visualization in the classroom becomes important.[12]
Visual data analysis augments people’s natural abilities to seek and find patterns in what they see, can expose relationships and trends among qualitative and quantitative variables, and may expand what we understand about learning itself. It is something that can easily be integrated into traditional teaching methods and can act as a supplement to those methods, not a replacement. Additionally, it is a creative way of presenting information that encourages critical thinking, and is relatable because students are exposed to data visualization in some form every day, be it maps on the subway or diagrams of precipitation during a weather report on television.[13]
Challenges in using data visualization
While many data visualization tools are easy to use, there’s a risk that the resulting visual may not best represent the data, or leave the data open to misinterpretation. Also, visualizations could encourage students to “substitute gratuitous graphics for more meaningful content in their presentations.”[14] Additionally, data visualization cannot take the place of traditional classroom learning; it must supplement it.[15]
There is also currently a lack of metrics to evaluate how and if data visualization helps learning. While many researchers believe it positively affects learning, there is not a large amount of hard data that supports that theory.
On a more practical level, some uses of data visualization may require a classroom redesign. At the most basic level, it could require that a classroom be outfitted with a computer and projector. Or, it could require that there be a computer for every student available in the classroom, with enough electrical outlets to power those computers. Some classrooms at American lack enough available outlets for every student in the class to power their computers.
However, American University Vice President and Chief Information Officer David Swartz said if every student is required to have a laptop, then classrooms won’t need to have computers installed.
To use data visualization in the classroom, professors will also have to be trained in digital media literacy. In many cases, students may know more about digital media tools than their professors, but they need their professors to help them put the data provided by those tools into context. [16] A learning experience that combines the visualization with context provided by an instructor is likely to better prepare students for life after collage than an experience without context would.
How can you bring data visualization to the classroom?
A variety of tools have emerged to make it easy for almost everyone to interpret and visualize data. Many of the tools are free or inexpensive. Those tools make it very easy for professors to create their own visualizations to illustrate a point, and they also encourage visual literacy among educators.[17]
There is also a myriad of software available for purchase, should the university choose to do so, as well as a number of Web sites that create data visualizations that anyone can view and use.[18]
“The quality of cheap mapping tools and the availability of vast quantities of free or inexpensive data is growing. The planet is becoming ‘smart’ in the sense that we can track, monitor and see much more of both the built and the natural environment,” Sviolka writes.[19]
If the university chooses to purchase data visualization tools or accompanying technology, like more computers or projectors, one way to do so is with tuition. Tuition costs result in access to better data, said William Mayer, American University’s chief librarian.[20] There is nothing free. And if there is no access to data, that academic setting is not a successful environment for students to continue their studies.
American already provides access to some data on its Web site, including links to several different types of databases on a variety of topics. It also provides access to free software that educators can use in the classroom.
American also provides resources for instructors via its Social Science Research Lab, which provides technology assistance across disciplines. According to its Web site, the facility has a classroom with 21 stations and a general work area with 13 computers. The staff provides support for specialized statistical software, with expertise ranging from creating an effective research design to interpreting statistical results.[21]
Swartz said the university is also looking into projection and display technology, and how to display multiple feeds on a screen. He said he thinks the university could benefit from a model classroom where technology can be tested and then disseminated to the rest of the school.
“Visualization is one of the most important things we’ll see over the next five years in academia,” he said.
Teaching policies
At Carleton, for instance, faculty are interested in using data visualization and animations in their teachings. Cathy Manduca, whose focus is on improving geoscience education for undergraduates, wants to capitalize on that interest to help faculty become better teachers. That means providing them with access to “good” visualizations that they can use effectively.[22]
“We don’t have institutional policies relating to these kinds of curricular activities per se but there is a significant amount of time and resources spent helping faculty and students work as they work with the visual,” Nixon said.
When using data visualization, it is important to determine what you are trying to teach and what you want students to learn. What students see and learn is built on what they already know.[23] When selecting a visualization tool, faculty should consider whether it fits the learning goals of their course and is consistent with the level of expertise of their students. Animations that may be completely clear to geoscientists may not be completely clear to students just learning the field and may not be helpful.
Best Practices
When it comes to data visualization, “best” is almost always subjective[24]. Its definition is dependent upon the creator, subject matter and audience. Thus, the following compilation of best data visualization techniques and software is by no means an absolute listing of all best practices, but rather a snapshot of what the world of data visualization currently offers its users.
The truth is there are thousands of excellent techniques, examples and software for data visualization. Certainly, too many to provide in this report. And, with the Internet, accessibility to data and open-sourced products becoming more and more available and abundant, the pool of data visualization offerings will only continue to grow.[25]
In following standards put in place by Nathan Yau, creator and founder of FlowingData.com – a website which explores how designers, statisticians, and computer scientists are using data to understand things better, mainly through data visualization – the following examples were chosen based on “analysis, aesthetics, and most importantly, how well they told their story (and how well they let you tell yours).”[26]
Best Data Visualization Practices in Academics
“Voting America” by the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond
An interactive animation that examines the evolution of presidential politics across the span of American history. The project offers cinematic visualizations of how Americans voted in the presidential elections from the beginning of the modern party system through 2008. It allows users to see historical developments in American voting patterns as they move across the U.S. landscape.
“Voting America” by the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond
“The CAVE” by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at University of Illinois at Chicago
CAVE stands for Cave Automatic Virtual Environment. It is a room consisting of three to six walls in which projectors, coupled with a surround-sound speaker system, create a 3D effect for its inhabitants. Students use it for a variety of purposes, including engineering, physics, chemical, psychological, biological, and geological research, as well as for art courses, tours of the human body, architecture study, mathematics, meteorology and virtual archaeological excavations. UIC was the first to develop the system.[27]
“The CAVE” by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at University of Illinois at Chicago
(Images courtesy of University of Illinois at
Chicago’s Electronic Visualization Laboratory)
“Worldmapper” by The University of Sheffield, University of Michigan, et al.
Worldmapper is a collection of nearly 700 world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject. Maps are available across dozens of categories including food, manufacturing, income, education, pollution, violence, death, etc.
“Worldmapper” by The University of Sheffield, University of Michigan, et al.
“Highly Interactive Parallelized Display Space (HIPerSpace)” at University of California at San Diego
The super video wall is boasted to be the biggest ever[28]. It provides students and professors the ability to view large data sets, while also drilling down to the smallest elements, on the same screen. The wall is used in areas such as earth systems science, chemistry, astrophysics, medicine, forensics, art and archaeology, computer graphics, visualization, networking, data compression, streaming and human-computer interaction.
“Highly Interactive Parallelized Display Space (HIPerSpace)” at University of California at San Diego
(Image courtesy of University of California, San Diego)
Best Data Visualization Techniques & Examples (Outside Academia)
“Scale of the Universe” by Fotoshop
This animation by Fotoshop lets you zoom from the edge of the universe to the quantum foam of spacetime and learn the scale of things along the way. It was created using Adobe Flash.
“Scale of the Universe” by Fotoshop
“Big Brothers: Satellites Orbiting Earth” by Michael Paukner
Graphic designer Michael Paukner created this infographic showing which countries own the many satellites currently orbiting earth. The graphic also shows viewers which satellites are functional and dysfunctional, as well as the amount o floating debris.
“Big Brothers: Satellites Orbiting Earth” by Michael Paukner
“TheGlobalWarming” Infographic by Seungho Yang
This infographic available on Flickr provides an illustrated guide of how the global warming phenomenon works.
“TheGlobalWarming” Infographic by Seungho Yang
MSNBC Inauguration Coverage
MSNBC documents President Barack Obama’s inauguration by stringing user-generated photos together to create a browsable 3-D environment. It was created using a software known as Photosynth.
MSNBC Inauguration Coverage
“Behind the Numbers” by USA Today
This visualization provides a closer look at the American service members who have died in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and in other related conflicts around the world. USA Today put this presentation together using Flash.
“Behind the Numbers” by USA Today
“Payday Loans vs. Starbucks vs. McDonalds” by Paydayloans.org
The creators of PaydayLoans.org, a website dedicated to helping users explore other financial means outside of the payday loan industry, used this visualization to compare the number of payday loan center locations to McDonald and Starbucks locations in various states.
“Payday Loans vs. Starbucks vs. McDonalds” by Paydayloans.org
“Walmart Growth Video” by Toby Segaran
Author and software developer Kiwitobes made this video showing the opening of Walmart retail locations over time. The video starts very slowly with the first location in Arkansas in 1962 and then rapidly spreads into different regions across the country over time.
Best Data Visualization Tools & Software
*Denotes software is available free
Competitive Analysis
Data visualization is used in a variety of ways on different campuses. In this competitive analysis, we examine the awareness of data visualization at the following institutions: American University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Syracuse University and Emory University. The analysis provides a demographic snapshot of the schools and how data visualization is used by faculty in the classroom.
American University[29]
Demographic Snapshot:
Status – Private, liberal arts institution in Washington, D.C.
Faculty – 591 full-time faculty with more than 90 percent holding the highest degree in their field.
Enrollment – 6,023 undergraduate; 3,297 graduate; 1,667 law; 1,199 non-degree
Average class size: 22 undergraduate; 16.9 graduate
Tuition (2009/2010): undergraduate $17,228 per semester; graduate $1,237 per credit hour
In 2008, the American University Board of Trustees approved a strategic plan for the future of the institution. The plan is guided by 10 transformational goals. Data visualization certainly has a place in the university’s strategic plan. One of the ways American plans to achieve its transformational goals is to “employ technology to empower excellence.” For example, the school will invest in state of the art technology to “facilitate learning, research, knowledge management, sharing and distribution.” (Source: Strategic Plan).[30]
According to Bill DeLone, director of American University’s Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning (CTRL) and chairman of the school’s Strategic Planning Steering Committee, data visualization can be used at both the administrative and academic level.
On the administrative level, DeLone noted that the university is investing in a business intelligence software product for microstrategy. The software will use data visualization to show key performance indicators in the form of dashboard for such things as enrollment. He also noted that in the spring, the strategic plan’s measurement committee will use a data visualization tool called, tracdat, that will measure and track the progress of American University’s strategic plan.
On the academic level, however, DeLone admitted that because of the very nature of academic freedom, it’s more difficult to measure exactly how faculty and students at the university use data visualization. But DeLone disclosed that this spring, as the university focuses on research from a centralized point of view, faculty will be asked to complete a survey asking which research tools they use to get a better sense of what’s needed at the university.
The university also has formed an Academic Technology Steering Committee that would share information on new software and communicate the interest by faculty.
Currently, however, there has not been much of a demand for data visualization software, DeLone said.
“At American, it’s an emerging initiative,” DeLone said. “There may not be much demand for it, but maybe it should be. If it’s an effective tool, then the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning must come forward and hold educational forums to let people know what it is and how it could be used. We should make people aware of it and what it could do.”
According to Assen Assenov, assistant director of the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning, the center does offer workshops on data visualization. Unfortunately, mostly faculty who do quantitative research in areas such as economics, statistics or sociology attends the workshops. But data visualization can be used across all majors, he emphasized.
“Some [faculty] believe it’s above and beyond their knowledge and skill,” Assenov said. “Some don’t understand how it could be applied to their major.”
Faculty in the School of Education, Teaching and Health (SETH) however, use data visualization widely. Sarah Irvine Belson, dean of American’s School of Education, Teaching and Health, wrote in an email, “We consider a broad scope of technologies as data visualization tools that enable deep investigation into policies and practices in education and health, both from theoretical and practical perspectives.”
For example, Irvine Belson has used a literacy map to show the relationship between school-based programs[31] and the tool ManyEyes to show education level by race.[32] Adrea Lawrence, a SETH assistant professor, regulary uses maps for her history classes as well as google maps.[33]
“Our use of visualization tools is built on this underlining philosophy as well as the university and the schools desire for practical application of knowledge through experiential research,” Irvine Belson wrote in an email. “Our professional commitments and organizing principles are emphasized in this course through content in which we attempt, in our research and teaching, to develop an understanding of key issues in the field and to analyze data from multiple perspectives in order to develop depth and breadth in their instructional repertoires.”
Emory University [34]
Demographic Snapshot:
Status – Private, research university in Atlanta, Ga.
Faculty and staff – 3,124 full-time faculty
Enrollment – 6,980 undergraduate; 5,950 graduate and professional
Average class size: 18
Tuition (2009/2010): undergraduate $37,500; graduate $32,800
Emory University’s Center for Interactive Teaching (ECIT) provides training and support for faculty and students on using technology in instruction and research. The center introduces emerging technologies and shares best practices in using technology in the classroom. The ECIT features three “Smart” classrooms and a Teaching Theatre, which supports technology-enhanced interactive learning.
In addition, Emory holds an annual conference titled EduCATE: Educational Conference on Academic Technology at Emory. The conference showcases technologies that are changing classrooms and how Emory faculty is using the technologies.
Data visualization is one of the technology tools that Emory faculty use to improve student learning. According to Wayne Morse, director of Emory’s Center for Interactive Teaching, and Chris Fearrington, ECIT’s coordinator, many in the Emory community are aware of data visualization. ECIT has recently started training faculty on the various uses of data visualization. In addition, the school’s main library includes data visualization workstations.[35]
Currently, Emory faculty in the sciences, environmental studies and public health uses data visualization in the classroom. They use such tools as Google Earth, Gap Minder and timelines. ECIT also offers quantitative analysis packages like SAS, STATA and GIS. But other disciplines are gaining an interest, said Fearrington and Morse: “As we offer more training on the tools and ease of use, we believe more faculty will jump aboard.”
For example, Emory’s Candler School of Theology offers digital tools for theology and religion including visualization tools such as Media Cloud and ManyEyes.[36]
In addition to training faculty on the use of data visualization, ECIT also collaborates with Emory’s Electronic Data Center, which offers assistance with research involving quantitative and geospatial data.[37]
“We are moving into more of a visual world. The students we see are asking for more visual aids and projects. The faculty that are using data visualization are seeing the benefits and it also gives them a new way to engage the students,” Fearrington and Morse wrote in an email.
Syracuse University [38]
Demographic Snapshot:
Status – Private institution in Syracuse, N.Y.
Faculty – 955 full-time
Enrollment – 13,040 undergraduate; 3,297 graduate and law school
Faculty to Student ratio- 1:15
Tuition (2009/2010): undergraduate $33,630; graduate $38,522
Syracuse University’s Information Technology and Services (ITS)[39] department provides the Syracuse community —students, faculty, staff — with technology resources that promote creative learning, teaching and research. Under the Information Technology and Service department are the Academic Applications and Support Centers.[40] The centers provide faculty training for online learning technologies. These include presentations and discussions on how to integrate technology into the classroom to expand the learning process.
There’s also the Learning Environments and Media Production (LEMP)[41] department. LEMP provides academic technology services including new technology tools for use in the classroom and Web-based course management tools.
Faculty have the opportunity to learn new technology in ITS’ Technology Classroom orientation,[42] which are held in mini sessions, full sessions and portable equipment sessions.
According to Syracuse’s Sue Long of the School of Management, the Syracuse faculty is aware of data visualization in the classroom and its benefits. Data visualization techniques are used especially in Business, Geography and Information Systems. Faculty in Syracuse’s Maxwell School, a top graduate school of Public Affairs, also uses data visualization. However, the university’s Technology Leadership Committee[43] is charged with monitoring technology trends in higher education and identifying which of those is best for the Syracuse community. Currently, faculty at Syracuse use data visualization software such as SAS/STAT for statistical courses and GIS for geography classes.
Georgetown University [44]
Demographic Snapshot:
Status – private Catholic, liberal arts international research university in Washington, D.C.
Faculty – 1,268 full-time faculty; 689 part-time
Enrollment – 7,092 undergraduate; 5,330 graduate; 2,083 law; 813 medical school
Student to Faculty Ratio – 11:1
Tuition (2009/2010): undergraduate $38,616; graduate $36,744
Georgetown University’s Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship[45] (CNDLS) supports faculty enrichment with the latest educational technology tools. The center helps educators design new learning programs as they refine their educational approach. CNDLS works to improve the university’s learning environments by equipping educators with the resources they need to create dynamic curriculum that engage students.
Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship is supported by several grants. The university also participates in the Visible Knowledge Project (VKP),[46] “a five-year, four million dollar project aimed at improving the quality of college and university teaching through a focus on student learning and faculty development in technology-enhanced environments.” VKP features 50 faculty from 25 campuses across the nation. It is one of the largest projects in the country on technology and learning, especially in the humanities, social sciences and interdisciplinary culture fields. The project encourages interactive learning environments and asks faculty to focus on new media technology tools that would enhance innovation in the classroom.
Georgetown’s College Curriculum Renewal Project (CCRP)[47] also encourages innovation in the classroom. The effort challenges faculty to engage students in new ways and implement a curriculum to deepen student learning.
Data visualization is one way Georgetown faculty has improved student learning. Georgetown Digital Commons[48] is where faculty go to learn new and innovative online tools. Data visualization is one of the tools faculty can explore under the Digital Commons’ Experimental Blog.[49]
In the school’s Digital Commons wiki on New Media for Teaching and Learning,[50] Georgetown provides data visualization resources for faculty such as the New York Times Visualization Lab and “7 Things you Should Know About Data Visualization.” Earlier this year, faculty were invited to a workshop on how to use tools such as ManyEyes and Dipity in the classroom.
Professor Lisa Singh of Georgetown’s Department of Computer Science has worked with students on a two-year project to create a social network visualization program called Invenio, “a visual data mining tool that allows social network information to be accessed and understood in unprecedented ways.” Singh talks about her visualization work in a video on the school’s Web site.[51]
Rusan Chen, Ph.D., Senior Statistician & Academic Coordinator for the Social Sciences at Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), said data visualization can be used in almost every department at every level at the institution, but it depends on the technical level of the faculty member. Most data visualization software, he said, is designed to be used in a broad range.
“The technology is ten times better than just looking at numbers,” Chen said. “You remember a lot and students learn from it.”
George Washington University [52]
Demographic Snapshot:
Status – Private, liberal arts institution in Washington, D.C.
Faculty – 1,576 full-time faculty
Enrollment – 10,000 undergraduate; 14,000 graduate; 1,000 non-degree
Average class size: 28 undergraduate
Tuition (2009/2010): undergraduate $41,610; graduate $1,118.00 per credit hour
In a 2007 self-study report,[53] George Washington University (GW) emphasized the institution’s mission to “provide vision, planning, and technical support for endeavors related to academic technologies.” The school also strives to support innovation and initiatives that strengthen teaching, learning and research.
GW’s Academic Technologies[54] department supports the school’s computer labs and numerous computer classrooms that feature more than 360 computers. As of 2007, the school has more than 90 technology-enhanced classrooms that include equipment such as AMX touch-panel systems, enhanced audio systems and motorized display screens. Their Faculty Workstation Initiative[55] provides about 250 new computers to nearly a third of all faculty every three years. In addition, GW has more than 110 installed software applications on laptops in each of the school’s six 24-hour computer labs. The Academic Technologies Solutions Center[56] provides training sessions for faculty and its technicians are on-call to assist with classroom problems.
GW’s Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning[57] assists faculty with using instructional technology in the classroom. The center provides workshops, grants and print and web-based resources for faculty who are interested in introducing technology into their classrooms.
According to Yianna Vovides, Ph.D., director of Instructional Design at the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, various faculty use data visualization techniques especially in Geography and Information Systems. Nevertheless, the Center’s Instructional Technology Lab[58] offers faculty hands-on training, seminars, and curriculum development consultations. In addition, the center’s Teaching Studio[59] allows faculty to learn research and teaching methods, test course materials on focus groups and practice their presentation of new skills. The Faculty Learning Communities[60] also offer an opportunity for faculty to learn about new technology and use in the classroom from peers.
Overall, the schools profiled were all aware of data visualization. Unfortunately, none of the schools were aware of how faculty uses data visualization in the classroom. Obviously, data visualization is used in the courses with quantitative information. But its use in other subjects is scarce. This presents an opportunity for faculty and staff from across disciplines to share innovative technology techniques and to enhance, expand and improve the college learning experience.
Citations
[1] Friendly, Michael (2008). “Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization”
[2] Card, S., Shneiderman, B., & Mackinlay, J. (1999). Readings in Information Visualization. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
[3] Hamming, R., & Hamming, R. (1986). Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers. Mineola: Dover.
[4] Tufte, E., (1990). Envisioning Information. Cheshire: Graphics Press.
[5] 2010 Horizon Report. (2010) The New Media Consortium and Educause Learning Initiative. Retrieved http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2010-Horizon-Report.pdf
[6] George Washington University Web site. www.gwu.edu
[7] Social Science Research Lab. American University. http://www.american.edu/provost/ctrl/ssrlvisdata.cfm
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