Teaching Approach / Philosophy

Visual literacy and culture, visualisation design and target audience all account for differences in interpretation and use of visualisations. How do you design to ensure your audience receives the message you intend to deliver?

Our approach to teaching data visualisation is to present first foundational lectures in data visualisation, to build or improve on visual literacy. Successfully designing and implementing visualisations that inform the end user and/or support decision-making and task completion requires a combination of creativity, a scientific approach to methodology, context awareness and/or domain expertise.

We have learnt from experience in the field that a hands-on approach, often harnessing multiple perspectives on a data visualisation task, provides an advantage. Participants may complete the course at a distance and through online access of material (including recorded tutorials and demonstrations) and delivery of assignments and projects only. We will add value with a blended approach that supplements such asynchronous online learning with dedicated discussion and tutorial sessions, and individual 1-1 “consultancy” sessions.

This course has been designed and developed through close involvement with participants, through semi-structured interviews with domain experts, and discussion with other visualisation and visual analytics researchers and practitioners.