CS 725/825 - Information Visualization
Spring 2019: Wednesdays, 9:30am-12:15pm, Dragas 1102

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Syllabus

Schedule
  summary
  objectives
  this week

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Blackboard
Paper Presentations

Project

Detailed Schedule

Notes:

  • This schedule is subject to change and will be updated throughout the semester.
  • Textbook reading assignments are based on Visualization Analysis and Design by Tamara Munzner
  • Learning Checks (LC) are posted in Blackboard.
  • In-Class Work (ICW) will be discussed and completed during our class meeting time. There will usually be nothing to submit for these.
  • Homework (HW) is individual work. All work must be your own. You may use resources on the Internet for reference, but you must not copy large sections of code and if you use online resources, you must cite your sources (including URL).
  • Project Milestone (M) is individual work. All work must be your own. You may use resources on the Internet for reference, but you must not copy large sections of code and if you use online resources, you must cite your sources (including URL).
    • Note: Visualization is in a large sense about design and the individual design decisions that are made. No matter how simple, it is rare that two charts developed independently will look exactly the same or have identical stylings. Group work on HW or M assignments is not acceptable. Do not start with someone else's solution and make changes -- this is easy to detect.
  • WebEx recordings for each week will be posted in Blackboard within 24 hours of the class meeting.
  • ODU Spring Academic Calendar, Exam Schedule

This Week


Week 1: Introduction, What's Vis and Why Do It? - Jan 16


Objectives

Due before class

  • Reading
  • explore the course website
  • sign up for class mailing list
  • sign up for the ODU-CS Gitlab Community
    • To login, select LDAP login (click the LDAP tab) and use your ODU-CS credentials. If you do not have an ODU-CS account, request one at https://accounts.cs.odu.edu/validate/ or contact the Systems Group (root@cs.odu.edu). You can verify that your account has been created by logging in at https://accounts.cs.odu.edu/. If you have an ODU-CS account but cannot login to the Gitlab Community page, send an email to root@cs.odu.edu for access.
    • Once you can login to the ODU-CS Gitlab Community, send me an email with your ODU-CS username to be added to our class group.
  • Personal Introduction
  • Learning Check (LC) Ch01 (available on Blackboard) -- submit before class on Jan 23 for full credit

Assignment

  • HW1 - Get setup with GitLab, D3 and work through D3 tutorials

Week 2: Data - Jan 23


Objectives

Due before class

In-class

  • In-Class Work (ICW) 1
    Learn how to recognize data set and attribute types, learn how to generate data analysis questions and transform data in ways that enable you to answer them.

Assignment


Week 3: Marks and Channels - Jan 30


Objectives

Due before class

In-class

  • ICW2 - Chart encoding and decoding

Assignment

  • HW3 - Experiment with marks and channels using d3 and BlockBuilder

Week 4: Arrange Tables - Feb 6


Objectives

Due before class

In-class

  • ICW3 - Gain experience designing some basic charts

Assignment:

  • HW4 - Build a bar chart and scatterplot using D3

Week 5: Tasks - Feb 13


Objectives

Due before class

  • HW4
  • Reading: Ch 3 (3.1-3.5)
  • LC-Ch03

In-class

Assignment

  • M1 - begin investigation of a topic for visualization

Week 6: Analysis - Feb 20


Objectives

Due before class

In-class

  • 3 student presentations
  • ICW4 - discussion of M1 topics, questions

Assignment

  • M2 - work through the exploratory analysis process to create a chart from your project data - due in 2 weeks

Week 7: Rules of Thumb, Maps - Feb 27


Ch 6 Objectives, Ch 8 Objectives,

Due before class

In-class

  • 3 student presentations
  • work on FdS sheets

Assignment

  • no new assignment - keep working on M2

Week 8: Map Color and Other Channels, Item Aggregation - Mar 6


Ch 10 Objectives | Ch 13 Objectives

Due before class

In-class

  • 3 student presentations
  • ICW6 - designing colormaps

Assignment

  • M3 - FdS sheets -- due in 2 weeks (after Spring Break)
  • Mid-Semester Course Evaluation (see Blackboard > "Other Submissions")

Week 9: Multiple Views - Mar 20


Objectives

Due before class

In-class

  • 3 student presentations

Assignment

  • M4 - implement your project design in D3 (20 points) -- due in 4 weeks (Apr 17)

Week 10: Storytelling Vis - Mar 27


Objectives

Due before class

In-class

  • 2 student presentations (+ 2 to watch online)
  • ICW: Gather into groups of 2-3 and talk about your project plan (specifically Sheet 5 and any modifications you plan). The goal is to get new feedback on what you're planning, so try to talk to someone you wouldn't otherwise interact with during the week.

Week 11: Manipulate View - Apr 3


Objectives

Due before class

  • Reading: Ch 11.1 - 11.5
  • LC-Ch11

In-class

  • ICW7 - chart critique and remaking

Week 12: Reduce Items and Attributes - Apr 10


Objectives

Due before class

  • Reading: Ch 13.1 - 13.3, 13.4.2, 13.4.3 (already covered 13.4.1 earlier)
  • LC-Ch13

Week 13: Project Demos - Apr 17

Due before class

  • M4

In-class

  • each student shows off project
  • ICW8 - class wrap-up

Week 14: FINAL EXAM - Apr 24