Data Visualization

CS 360/560 • Spring 2020

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Homework Feedback

Each homework assignment has an associated participation assignment to provide peer feedback on the visualizations. Whereas the homework grading is as objective as possible, the homework feedback will be purposely subjective. It is important to understand how other people perceive your visualizations.

Associated Assignments Homework 1 Peer Review Submission
Homework 2 Peer Review Submission
Homework 3 Peer Review Submission
Homework 4 Peer Review Submission

Instructions

After the homework submission deadline, Canvas will automatically assign all students that submitted a link 2 or 3 other submissions to peer review. The feedback is due the following week.

To find the assigned submissions to review, go to the “Peer Review Submission” assignment for that homework in Canvas after the deadline. There will be an “Assigned Peer Reviews” section. To complete each review, click on the submission name. The submitted website should be displayed along with a “Show Rubric” button. Open the website in a new window or tab to review. When ready to enter comments, click the “Show Rubric” link in Canvas and enter comments in each of the boxes. Click the “Save Comment” button when done.

After all peer reviews, double-check that there is a checkmark next to each submission name. The associated feedback assignment will be manually updated after the feedback deadline.

See the “How do I submit a peer review to an assignment” Canvas guide for details.

Guidelines

The goal of this assignment is to provide subjective feedback. However, your feedback must be professional, substantive, and constructive. Here are some general guidelines:

  • Aim for 3 to 5 sentences per visualization and 20 minutes per assignment overall. For example, “Good job!” alone does not qualify.

  • If there is something you like about the visualization, be specific about why you liked it (for example, did it help you learn something) and use appropriate visualization terminology. For example:

    “I really liked your diverging color scale for the values. It helped me find the maximum and minimum values more quickly, and the results were surprising.”

    “I found the annotations on the first visualization easy to read and understand, without being distracting from the data. Where did you find that font?”

  • If there is something you do not like about the visualization, be specific about why you did not like it and provide an example of what else the person could try. For example:

    “I do not personally care for the color choice on the second visualization. It is hard to tell the difference between a and b and color c seems way more prominent than the others. Did you consider using x from instead and making the annotations lighter gray?"

Keep in mind the Student Code of Conduct that you must adhere to in this (and all USF) classes.

Grading

The homework feedback grade will be based on the following:

  1. Your homework website was properly submitted on time.

    • If you accidentally submit the repository link instead of the website (e.g. submitted a github.com link instead of a github.io link), you will receive a 10% point deduction for the feedback exercise.

    • If the wrong link is submitted, you will receive a 20% point deduction for the feedback exercise.

    • If no link is submitted at all, Canvas will not assign you any submissions to peer review and you will receive a 0% for the feedback exercise.

  2. You completed the peer review process for all assigned submissions.

    • If you did not complete all the peer reviews, you will receive a point deduction per missing review for the feedback exercise. For example, if you were supposed to complete 3 reviews and are missing 2 of those reviews, you will receive a 2/3 = 67% point deduction. If you were supposed to complete 2 reviews and only completed 1 review, you will receive a 1/2 = 50% point deduction.

    • If you did not complete any peer reviews, you will receive a 0% for the feedback exercise.

  3. Your feedback meets the guidelines and adheres to the Student Code of Conduct.

    • If one or more of your peer reviews fail to meet the guidelines, you will receive a 20% point deduction per review for the feedback exercise.

    • If any of your peer reviews violate the Student Code of Conduct, you will receive a 0% for the entire feedback exercise.

The lowest possible score is a 0%. Receiving a 100% for the feedback exercise does not guarantee your comments met the guidelines; only a random selection of comments will be verified for each homework assignment.

Troubleshooting

The Canvas Student Guides provide the following guides related to peer review:

There are a few other things that can go wrong in the peer review process. See below for common questions and answers.

I do not see any submissions assigned to me to peer review in Canvas!

If you did not submit a link for the homework assignment, then Canvas will not be automatically assigned you submissions to peer review. In this case, you will receive a 0% for the entire feedback exercise.

If you did submit a link for the homework assignment, make sure you are looking at the original homework assignment on Canvas and not the feedback assignment. See the guides above for how to find the assigned reviews.

If it is before the homework deadline, resubmit the assignment with the correct link. There will be no point deduction in this case.

If it is after the homework deadline, add a comment to your homework submission with the correct link as quickly as possible. See also the grading guidelines above for how this will affect your feedback grade.

What do I do if other students are unable to peer review my submission (either because of a broken website or broken visualization)?

If there is a simple fix (e.g. a typo that is causing a network error), make a private post on Piazza visible to all instructors asking for permission to make the fix after the homework deadline.

Try your best to figure out the correct link. For example, you can usually figure out the correct link if the student submitted the repository instead of the website. Or, sometimes the student will add a comment with the correct link. In those cases, fill out your comments as normal except make sure to mention the incorrect link in your feedback comments.

If you are unable to figure out the correct link, state as much in the “Website” feedback comments and enter “N/A” in the other comment boxes. You will not receive a point deduction for the feedback assignment.

What if I did not complete the homework but still want to complete the feedback assignment?

To participate in the feedback exercise, you must still submit a link to your homework website even if most of it is incomplete. Students will attempt to peer review what they can on your website, and you will still be able to review other submissions.

What do I do if a visualization or website I was assigned to peer review is empty or does not work?

Double check that you are running the latest version of Firefox or Chrome, and make sure there are no network errors reported in the browser console. It might also help to clear your browser cache and perform a “hard reload” in your browser.

If individual visualizations are still non-functional, enter the issues you ran into and what you tried in the associated comment boxes. If the entire website is non-functional, enter what you tried in the “Website” feedback comments and “N/A” in the other comment boxes. You will not receive a point deduction for the feedback assignment.

What do I do if the submission I was assigned to peer review contains text that does not adhere to the Student Code of Conduct?

Please make a private post on Piazza visible to all instructors ASAP. If possible, try to complete your feedback as best as you can without addressing the offending text. Otherwise, wait for instructions on how to proceed.

What do I do if the feedback I received does not adhere to the Student Code of Conduct?

Please make a private post on Piazza visible to all instructors ASAP. Do not confront the student yourself.