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Students must prepare at least one post (or notebook) on a topic in data visualization. This guide provides details on those datavis posts.
Associated Assignments
Data Vis Post Topic (Undergraduate)
Data Vis Post Topic (Graduate)
Data Vis Post 1 (Due 4/3)
Data Vis Post 2 (Due 5/7)
Data Vis Post Presentation Date (Due 4/3)
Data Vis Post Presentation
Required Tools
All students, regardless of section, must create one Observable notebook on a topic in data visualization. To learn more about Observable notebooks, see the Introduction collection of notebooks. I recommend starting with the following notebooks in that series:
- Five-Minute Introduction
- Introduction to Code
- Introduction to HTML
- Introduction to Data
- Observable’s not JavaScript
For a quick reference, I suggest the Observable User Manual notebook. Notebooks must be published to receive credit. For details on publishing a notebook, see the How Saving Works notebook.
Students that opted to create an additional data visualization post instead of presenting may use another tool for their second post. For example, those students could create a second post using Medium instead. For an example of that a Medium post might look like, see the Nightingale series from the Data Visualization Society.
Allowed Topics
Undergraduate students in CS 360 may choose any topic related to data visualization. Each student must select a unique topic. Possible topics include any tools, techniques, examples, books, blogs, podcasts, or important persons (historical or current) in data visualization that have not already been discussed during class. The topics can be from the broader field of data visualization, such as scientific visualization, visual analytics, information dashboards, data storytelling, informative art, and infographics. The DataVis Resources Guide from last year may be helpful in selecting a topic.
Graduate students in CS 560 must choose a research paper related to data visualization published in an academic venue such as an academic conference or journal. This does not include white papers produced by companies. Each student must select a unique research paper. Students are encouraged to choose a research paper that (a) the authors have posted a free PDF, (b) there is an available online demo, and/or media (such as high-resolution screenshots), and (c) there are presentation or demonstration videos publicly available. The Open Access VIS resource may be especially helpful for selecting a paper.
Notice that the final project proposal is due around the same time as the datavis post topic. The two may be related if you want!
Submitting Topics
Undergraduate students should submit their topics in the Data Vis Post Topic (Undergrad) discussion board on Canvas. Before posting a topic, make sure another student has not yet selected that topic. When posting a topic, please be as specific as possible. Do not post a broad area such as “sports visualization”; post a more specific topic area such as “basketball player statistics” instead. That allows other students to post about other topics that fall within the broad category of sports visualization.
Graduate students should submit their selected research paper in the Data Vis Post Topic (Graduate) discussion board on Canvas. Before posting a research paper, make sure another student has not yet selected that paper. When posting the paper, include all of the relevant details such as paper title, paper authors, the conference or journal that published the paper, and the year.
Students that are completing two notebooks instead of presenting should post both topics at the same time.
Recommended Content
All notebooks should have the following content:
- Enough content to require 5 to 10 minutes to present to an audience. (This is true regardless of whether you are signed up to actually present the notebook.)
- Clear organization via multiple section headers.
- A mix of text-oriented cells (via Markdown or HTML) and media-oriented cells (with images or embedded movies). It may include code cells, but that is not required.
- Author information, including your name, degree, expected graduation date, brief biography, and why you chose this topic.
The other content depends on the topic and course section. See below for details.
Undergraduate Notebooks
Most undergraduate students in CS 360 should write their notebooks in a conversational-style for a general audience. Tutorial-style notebooks (similar to the ones prepared for lecture) may instead assume a technical audience that has basic knowledge of programming and data visualization concepts.
- A brief introduction to the notebook topic.
- Proper attribution for any resources used in the notebook. For media, this attribution should be attached to the media in a caption, not in a “References” section at the end.
- For any visualizations included, a discussion of how the data is encoded and other design/evaluation aspects such as the lie factor, data density, and data-ink ratio.
Beyond that, the content depends entirely on the specific topic. If you are uncertain what to include, please make a public anonymous post on Piazza asking for help.
Graduate Notebooks
Graduate students in CS 560 should write their notebooks for a technical audience. Assume the audience has basic knowledge of programming and data visualization concepts. In addition to the required content listed above, the notebook content should include:
- The research paper title, paper authors, the conference or journal that published the paper, the year the paper was published, and a link to the officially published paper.
- Proper attribution for any additional resources used in the notebook.
- A brief description of the research paper. Do not copy and paste the abstract! Describe the paper in your own words in 1 or 2 paragraphs of text.
The remaining content depends on the specific research paper. Some examples of what could be included are:
- A brief discussion of the related work.
- A brief discussion of the major contribution(s) and why the paper is important.
- A brief discussion of how the authors conducted the research.
- A brief discussion of the future research directions.
- A brief discussion of the obstacles the authors overcame.
- A brief description of the academic conference or journal that published the paper.
- A brief description of the authors (or authors’ lab) that published the paper.
- A brief description of new research papers that cite this work.
Make it clear when you are using text, figures, or other media that you did not create. For example, if you are including a figure from the paper in your notebook, there should be a caption immediately underneath that figure clearly stating as much.
Submission
Students must submit a link to their published, public datavis notebooks via the Data Vis Post 1 assignment in Canvas. The link may be submitted early (strongly encouraged), without affecting the ability to continuing work on that post up until the deadline.
Students that are completing two notebooks instead of presenting should see an additional Data Vis Post 2 assignment in Canvas to submit their second post.
Note that if your Observable notebook link looks something like this:
https://observablehq.com/d/f5a585b2acc8dcce
You are not submitting a link to a published, public datavis notebook! The post should look like this instead:
https://observablehq.com/@observablehq/how-saving-works
…replacing the last part with the title of your published notebook. See the How Saving Works notebook for details.
Presentations
Students chose to either create two data visualization posts or present their notebook. Notebook presentations (including motivation and Q&A) should be 10 minutes.
See the Presentation Requirements guide for how presentations are graded. Notebook presentations do not require preparation of additional content. It is expected to present from the notebook itself, scrolling through the sections and media already included in the notebook.
Presentation Dates
See the Data Vis Presentation Signup assignment in Canvas for how to sign up for a specific presentation date. The current presentation schedule is as follows:
| Time | Tuesday 04/07 |
|---|---|
| 4:40p | Presentation 01 |
| 4:55p | Presentation 02 |
| 5:10p | Presentation 03 |
| 5:25p | Presentation 04 |
| Time | Tuesday 04/21 | Time | Thursday 04/23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:40p | Presentation 05 | 4:40p | Presentation 09 | |
| 4:55p | Presentation 06 | 4:55p | Presentation 10 | |
| 5:10p | Presentation 07 | 5:10p | Presentation 11 | |
| 5:25p | Presentation 08 |
| Time | Tuesday 05/05 | Time | Thursday 05/07 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:40p | Presentation 12 | 4:40p | Presentation 16 | |
| 4:55p | Presentation 13 | 4:55p | Presentation 17 | |
| 5:10p | Presentation 14 | 5:10p | Presentation 18 | |
| 5:25p | Presentation 15 | 5:25p | Presentation 19 |