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Description

Computer-based graphical representations, or visualizations, of scientific processes and phenomena have become commonplace in scientific communities. For example, geologists like to visualize plate tectonics; meteorologists like to visualize weather systems; and computer scientists like to visualize algorithms. After briefly surveying the use of visualization in scientific communities, this course pursues an in-depth investigation of its theoretical underpinnings from three diverse perspectives:

• The cognitive perspective: Scientific visualizations promote the efficient cognitive processing of information that viewers need to solve their problems.
• The social perspective: Scientific visualizations serve as valuable communicative resources in negotiating a shared understanding of scientific phenomena.
• The cultural perspective: Scientific visualizations facilitate, and reflect, one's participation in a community of practice.

The overall goal is to gain (a) an appreciation of the issues surrounding the use of visualizations in scientific communities, (b) an understanding of how and why such visualizations may or may not be effective in assisting their users, and (c) an ability to apply various research techniques for studying, designing, and evaluating visualizations in practice.

Course Format

As a seminar, the main activities of this course are the lively discussion, analysis, and synthesis of a strategically-selected sample of literature on scientific visualization, along with foundational literature on cognitive, social, and cultural theories of representations. Thus, its success rests heavily on the active participation of its members. So as to encourage such participation, I will select one student to faciliatate each session. (I will also select myself as the facilitator of some of the sessions.) The responsibilities of the session facilitators include

• critically reading the material to be discussed;
• preparing a brief (20 minutes or less) summary presentation of the material to be discussed;
• preparing a list of at least five discussion questions; and
• leading the discussion.

Non-facilitators in a given section will be expected to critically read the material prior to the session, and to arrive at the session with their own lists of questions and comments.

In addition to engaging in discussions in class, students are encouraged to continue discussions "on-line" through the WebCT course management system. For each week's discussion topic, the instructor will set up a thread in which the week's presentation and discussion questions will be posted for further discussion.

Note on WHETS format: This is the first time I am attempting to offer this course via WHETS. Frankly, I am not sure how the course's seminar format will work via WHETS. I would greatly appreciate it if you could be patient with the course as we work out the kinks. I would also greatly appreciate it if you would provide me with timely feedback, which will help make this course work for everyone.

What is Critical Reading?

One of the important skills you'll be developing in this course is critical reading: the ability not only to identify the key points of the material, but also to analyze and critique its underlying perspective, and ultimately to integrate that perspective into your own. To help you to practice critical reading, consider the following list of questions as you're reading the material:

• Who are the authors? What is their academic history? From what intellectual perspective are they coming? What are their biases?
• What are the key points of the article?
• Are there any gaps in logic or presentation? How could the presentation or argument of the article be improved?
• How does the article compare, and fit in, to others you've read on this topic?
• What do you like about the article? What do you not like? Why?

Grading

Your grade for the course will be based on your performance on the following items (weights are in parentheses):

• Session Facilitation (40%). You will be responsible for facilitating four class meetings (10% each). You will be graded on your performance as session facilitator, according to the following criteria:
  • Discussion questions (20%). Are the facilitator's discussion questions well-conceived and compelling? Do they delve below the surface of the reading ? Do they attempt to connect the reading to other readings? Does the facilitator e-mail the discussion questions to the class one week prior to his/her session?
  • Preparation (20%). To what extent is the facilitator actually prepared to present the readings and lead the discussion? Is it clear that the facilitator has carefully read the readings?
  • Presentation quality (30%). Does the faciliator's presentation use well-designed PowerPoint slides, and are those slides provided on disk to the instructor for publication on the course web site? Is the facilitator's presentation easy to follow and well-organized? Does it cover the important points? Does the presenter make good eye contact and talk clearly? Does the facilitator invite questions when appropriate?

  • Discussion facilitation (30%). How well does the facilitator engage the class in discussion? Does the facilitator take a leading role in keeping the discussion going? Does the facilitator ask questions above and beyond the ones he/she posted, when appropriate?

• Projects (50%). Two individual projects (worth 25% each) will enable you to explore further the course's three major units on the cognitive and social perspectives. Each project will include a combination of hands-on work and writing. Consult the course schedule for the project descriptions and due dates.

• In-Class Participation (10%). As a seminar, this course depends on your lively participation in class. I will give you a participation grade based on my personal assessment of your efforts to participate.

Policies

Please familiarize yourself with the following course policies. By following them, you will get the most out of this course, and you will not encounter any unwelcome surprises down the road:

• Course WebCT site. The site is the primary means of disseminating information on the course, including the course syllabus, course schedule, individual projects, take-home final, and your individual grades (see next item). In addition, as mentioned above, the WebCT site provides both a threaded discussion facility for taking discussion on-line, as well as a news board to which your instructor will post the latest announcements. Obviously, it is in your best interest to visit the course WebCT site regularly.

• Checking your grades. As I grade assignments, I will post to an on-line gradebook (accessible through both WebCT and the course web site) your updated grades, including your current overall percentage and letter grade. Please check the on-line gradebook regularly to ensure that your grades have been entered properly, and please let us know as soon as possible if you detect an error.

• Challenging a grade. If you are unsatisfied with the way in which your work has been graded, you have one week (from the time I hand back the work) to disucss the matter with me. Students have often attempted to bargain for points well after their grades have been posted—often near the end of the semester when they have realized that they needed more points to obtain a certain grade. Please do not attempt to do this! Also, please discuss grade disputes only during office hours, not during class.

• Late policy. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the assigned day. You may hand in an assignment up to two days late, at a penalty of 10% per 24 hours (or fraction thereof) late. (Days are counted from the time at which class begins.) Assignments that are more than 2 days late will not be accepted. Exceptions to this late possible will only be made under extenuating services that you discuss with me in advance of a deadline. The further in advance of the deadline you discuss with me your reasons for needing an extension, the higher the likelihood that the extension will be granted.

• Academic Dishonesty. I hesitate to say anything about this in graduate course (you know this already), but I do want to state my policy clearly. I encourage you to discuss the course material with others; indeed, such discussion is a main objective of this course. However, the written work that you ultimately turn in must be your own. If I suspect that you have worked with someone else on an assignment, I will call a meeting with you and the others involved, and make a judgment based on the results of that meeting. I will deal with violations of this policy according to the following schedule:
  • first violation—A "0" on the assigment;

  • second violation—a grade of "F" for the course, and referral to the academic dean.