The Week in Vis: Week 01

in Weeks in Vis

This is the first of a weekly posting called The Week in Vis that explains what is going on in class during the week. It also should give you context for why we are doing things, and how it all fits together (so it is part of the “content” for the course). Each week, it will be posted as a Canvas Announcement. It is also a page on the course web (see The Week in Vis: Week 01).

Usually, I make this posting on Friday (before the week), but this is not a normal week.

If you haven’t already done so, please go through the course web, and specifically the Getting Started posting. Be sure to understand how we communicate with you: the course web, Canvas, Piazza, and (infrequently) email.

The class is organized by week. Each week there is a key question that sums up the learning goals (often there is a related secondary question), and the “activities” of the week support that. In most weeks, these activities follow Rhythm, but because the first week is short, it will be a bit different.

This week’s key questions are:

  1. What is Visualization?
  2. How are we going to learn about it? (How does class work? How do we work together to learn it?)

Hopefully, by the end of the week you’ll know the answers to those questions.

In order to understand how the class works, please make sure you’ve gone through everything on the Getting Started page.

This week is like other weeks in that it has the usual Parts of Class, but the timing is adjusted because of the short week. This week we will have:

  1. Wednesday class “lecture” - lectures are “in person” in Room 312 Wendt Commons, Monday and Wednesday at 11am. Normally, you need to bring “art supplies” - this week, you might not know in advance, so its OK if you start next week.
  2. Readings 01: What is Visualization? - each week we have a reading. Usually, these should be done before lectures or concurrently with lectures. This week, they may come afterwards.
  3. Online Discussion 01: What is Vis? (due Fri, Sep 9): normally, “initial” postings are due on Tuesday. For this week, things can be later (due Friday). We expect students to continue the discussion beyond the initial posts.
  4. Seek and Find 01: Find a Visualization! (due Fri, Sep 9) - this will be a weekly event, so the first one is good practice. See the Seek and Finds instructions for more info.
  5. End of Week Survey 01 (due Fri, Sep 9). Surveys are designed to get you to think about the material. Their primary focus is to help you learn, they are less about assessment. See the End of Week Surveys for info.

Hidden in those are some “getting started” things - like setting up your Canvas notifications, and having a sense of the class policies. (those are explicitly part of the readings and discussion)