Course syllabus
Course-PM
CIU187 / TIA109 Information visualization VT20 (7,5hp)
Revised December 30th, 2019
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Course purpose
In this course we will study the science, craft and art of visualizing information. A basic premise in this endeavor is that visualization is an extension of our minds into the world and a powerful cognitive tool to both perceive and communicate information. It extends our senses and provides new ways to express our ideas, facilitating both exploration of the world (and data representing the world) and sharing of information and understanding. As such, an understanding of human perception as well as the technological means for creating visualizations provides the basis for knowledgeable work with information visualization.
Course start
The course starts 10:15 Tuesday January 21st, in Svea 239.
Schedule
Contact details
Teachers
Daniel Sjölie <daniel.sjolie@hv.se> will do the lecturing and be responsible for most scheduled events.
Yemao Man <yemao.man@chalmers.se> will help out during exercises, workshops and seminars, as well as be responsible for the grading.
Course responsible and Examiner
Yemao Man, yemao.man@chalmers.se
Student representatives
Jens Hulteberg, jenshu@student.chalmers.se
Matilda Broberg, matbrob@student.chalmers.se
Amanda Kullberg, amakul@student.chalmers.se
Elio Venero, venero@student.chalmers.se
Course communication
All course participants should receive an invitation to a Slack workspace called SynchronizedReality. The best way to ask quick questions relating to this course is to use this Slack, and the channel course_infovis_2020 on there. Invites to this Slack should go out Monday Jan 20th. Please send Daniel Sjölie an email (see above) if you have not received an invitation to Slack once the course has started, or if you have trouble accessing it.
Course literature
Mandatory reading (for exam).
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Ware, C. (2012). Information Visualization: perception for design.
- Should be available as e-book via Chalmers Library.
- Which chapters to focus on.
- Segel and Heer. (2010). Narrative Visualization: Telling Stories with Data.
- Roberts et al. (2014). Visualization beyond the Desktop--the Next Big Thing.
- Billger, Thuvander and Wästberg. (2017). In search of visualization challenges: The development and implementation of visualization tools for supporting dialogue in urban planning processes.
Further non-mandatory reading:
You are encouraged to look through the Tools and resources module in preparation for the workshops. In particular, it may be helpful to check out the Basic introductions part of the Web technologies resources if you are not already familiar with HTML/SVG/CSS/Javascript.
Course design
Theory introduced in lectures will be combined with workshops to introduce tools and technologies and group exercises with accompanying seminars will be used to promote practical experience and discussion. The last part of the course will revolve around a project, initiated in group and finalized individually.
The grade will depend on the project in combination with a home exam. See below for more details.
Lectures. Slides will be provided after lectures but they will be designed to be presented live and provide material for discussion and explanations at lectures. They will not be designed to be read independently afterwards.
Workshops are guided assignments meant to introduce you to tools and techniques, with instructions for what to do. You are encouraged to work in pairs and help each other as needed. Tutors will be present. The work assigned for workshops will be examined in the final home exam.
Exercises are independent group work, completing an assignment. All exercises are followed by an associated seminar, discussing the exercise.
Seminars are based around presentation and discussion of student work in groups. Most seminars will be with different parts of the class each hour and your group will be responsible for giving feedback to another group.
The project starts with a group phase allowing you to work in groups to decide on a project concept, locate and prepare data and setup an initial version of the project visualization including infrastructure such as loading and plotting data in context.
As the project ends with an individual phase you need to individually deliver 1) a version of the project visualization you created with the group, and 2) a visual report with self-evaluation and explanations related to your project visualization. Depending on how far you got in the group phase of the project individual improvements may be necessary or recommended.
Changes made since the last occasion
The most prominent changes from 2019 are:
- The web-technologies part will focus on SVG.
- With CSS and Javascript to style and manipulate the SVG.
- Only rudimentary HTML expected.
- Clarifications related to project progression and the role of workshop tasks in the final home exam.
Examination form
The course is examined by means of three modules, namely:
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Assignments 1.5 credit (fail/pass)
- Attendance to Seminars, and the corresponding turn-ins (also covers Exercises).
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Project 2.0 credits (fail, 3, 4, 5)
- Largely done in group but finished individually
- Group deadline: March 04
- Individual deadline: March 13
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Home Exam 4.0 credits (fail, 3, 4, 5)
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Literature Home exam early on, before project work starts
- Deadline for full points: Feb 07
- Late submissions can get half the points.
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Final home exam after project work.
- Focus on connecting literature to course activities.
- Includes reflections on assignments and the project.
- Workshop tasks should be finished to be used as a basis for exam question.
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Literature Home exam early on, before project work starts
Home exam deadline: March 20
Note that a higher course grade (4 or 5) requires a corresponding higher grade on both the project and the home exam. That is, a 3 and a 5 on the graded modules give the course grade 3.
Learning objectives and syllabus
Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)
Knowledge and understanding
...explain well-known information visualization techniques, including the pros and cons they have in respect to types of data and contexts
...describe how the cognitive and perceptive abilities of humans affect the possibilities of information visualization
Skills and abilities
...create concepts for information visualizations taking into consideration specific data sets, users, technologies, and use context
...develop visualizations from concepts to functional prototype
Judgement and approach
...evaluate different interactive visualization techniques to judge their effectiveness and suitability for both generic and specific use
...analyze and provide creative criticism on specific solutions to visualize information
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|