The following journal entries were written each week over the course of the quarter. Most of these entries are reflections on the coursework and concepts learned in class, as well as personal reflections on how the quarter was progressing. The journals were also effective in communicating our understanding of the course content to Professor Trujillo, as many of the questions related to our own individual progress. In writing my reflection essay, I frequently referenced my journal entries, as they showed the progress I had made throughout the quarter.
Journal 1
Address the following questions to help me understand your perspective:
Why are you taking this course? (1-3 sentences)
What do you hope to learn from this course? (1-3 sentences)
What does visualizing data mean to you? (1-3 sentences)
What is one thing I should know about you to help you learn? (1-3 sentences)
I am taking this course because I feel that learning data visualization techniques will help in rounding out my studies as a media and communications major. Being proficient in data visualization would be helpful in this field. During this course, I hope to learn how to work with and process data into readable representations. I have never really worked with any coding software, and I hope to learn more in that category as well. To me, visualizing data is a way to present information to large groups of people, in easily digestible formats for people to understand. I think for a lot of people, seeing data represented in a visual way allows for a better understanding of the information. I am a visual learner, so having examples and/or walkthroughs during class would be beneficial.
Journal 2
This week we worked with design elements of data visuals. Reflect on your work by answering the following questions:
What is one thing from the week that comes easily and why do you feel that way (1-3 sentences)?
What is one thing from the week that you find challenging and why do you feel that way (1-3 sentences)
What is one strategy you used to overcome this challenge (1-3 sentences)?
Something that came easily to me this week was catering to an audience, especially in terms of accessibility. I have worked a lot teaching children and those with special needs, and adapting content into easy to understand information is something I have done a lot of, as we all process information differently. In general, the whole "Considerations for Design" section resonated most for me and came easiest.
One thing that was challenging this week was understanding the different data measurement scales we talked about in class. I think that for me, the table was confusing and I had a hard time making connections between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales, and their subsequent visualization examples.
In overcoming this challenge, I found that a Google search, and the homework assignment "Numbers 47 and 75" to be helpful. Being able to physically visualize data through the assignment was helpful in exploring the quantitative and qualitative data the four scales represent.
Journal 3
Reflect on your experiences as a student at UW Bothell as it relates to the student success project and high impact practices. Discuss the following questions in 2-5 sentences each:
What do you think it means to you to be successful as a student? (2-5 sentences)
What do you think it means to peers to be successful as a student? (2-5 sentences)
What have your experiences been with high-impact practices? (2-5 sentences)
To me, being a successful student entails engaging with coursework and staying on track with class assignments. I think success can also be determined by grades, as it is one of the ways we can gauge our understanding of materials. For me, understanding course material is an indicator of success as well.
I think that for many of my peers, being successful would have a similar definition as my own. However I think that there is a standard definition of success we are taught through the American education system that differs for students from other backgrounds. Generally, success as a student would mean doing well in classes and understanding what is being taught.
I have taken some HIP classes at UWB, in the form of CBLR courses. In the Media and Communications Studies concentration specifically, I think I have taken 4 community-based learning classes. I really liked these classes, because the coursework directly impacted others and gave me an opportunity to engage with professionals in an educational setting. These classes were by far some of the more engaging classes I have taken so far at UWB.
Journal 4
This week we worked on exploring data and thinking about potential research questions. Reflect on your work by answering the following questions:
What is one thing from the week that comes easily and why do you feel that way (1-3 sentences)?
What is one thing from the week that you find challenging and why do you feel that way (1-3 sentences)?
What is one strategy you used to overcome this challenge (1-3 sentences)?
This week, something that came easy to me was doing research and finding articles for the final project. This is something that I have had a lot of experience and practice in during my time at UWB, which has been helpful so far. I really like doing research, so I think that helped as well.
Something I had trouble with this week was using Tableau. For me, it isn't very straightforward, which was difficult. Additionally, I am new to the software which adds to the challenge.
In order to mitigate the trouble I was having, I rewatched class videos as well as videos on the Tableau website and on YouTube. Using these resources helped in overcoming some of the challenges I had with the interface.
Journal 5
We are approaching the half-way point of the quarter, which means it is a good time to reflect on what we are learning and how your professor can improve the course. Consider the homework activities, major assignments (labs), journals, out-of-class work, the online textbook, pre-readings, or other activities as you answer the following:
What is working well in the course to support your learning? (2-5 sentences)
What changes to the course would enhance your learning? (2-5 sentences)
Are there areas or topics related to data visualization that pique your interest? (2-5 sentences)
What big questions do you have about the field of data visualization? (2-5 sentences)
Something that I have found helpful in the course is the discussion board assignments. Since class is online this quarter, it is nice to see what my classmates think about the coursework and assignments because they often contribute insights that I would not have noticed on my own.
I do not think there is anything I would change about the course so far, as it is for the most part suited to my learning style. Something I would like more of however, would be in-class demos or walkthroughs of the software we are using, as some of the aspects can be confusing at times.
So far what has interested me is interactivity in data visualizations. I enjoyed the Tableau walkthrough where we created an interactive map with sales information, and I would like to work more on visualizations like that. Overall, I really enjoy being able to make visual representations of data sets, and would like to continue learning different types of data visualizations.
Some questions I have about the field of data visualization are:
- Are there times when data visualization is not necessary? If so, how/when?
- How do data visualization professionals make sure their work is not affected by bias?
- Is there some type of code of ethics, or is it up to the individual?
Journal 6
This week we worked in RStudio and submitted our proposals. Reflect on your work by answering the following questions:
What is one thing from the week that comes easily and why do you feel that way? (1-3 sentences).
What is one thing from the week that you find challenging and why do you feel that way? (1-3 sentences).
What is one strategy you used to overcome this challenge? (1-3 sentences).
This week, the research proposal was the assignment that came easiest to me because it is something that I am used to doing, as many of my previous classes required research papers for final projects. I also really enjoy doing research, and this project allowed for that as well.
Something that I had difficulty with initially was working in RStudio, as I found it hard to follow along with the tutorials and book chapters, and work with the interface. I think it just took me longer than I would have thought to finish the assignments.
In order to overcome this challenge with R, I leaned on my partner for help, and they were able to help me with the R assignments. Getting in-person assistance from someone knowledgeable was helpful this week. I felt like I was able to learn a lot from this.
Journal 7
Learning Tableau and RStudio can sometimes lead you to explore unexpected things. It is okay to play with the program. In this journal, I want you to talk about a time that you explored Tableau or RStudio. If you haven't played with Tableau or RStudio, take some time to do that and reflect on what happened.
Describe playing with Tableau or RStudio and what you learned. (5-7 sentences).
For me, RStudio has been more difficult to get a grasp of so I decided to spend more time this week exploring it. Something that I found was a section called "Cheatsheets." In this section, the user is able to download pdfs of RMarkdown syntax as well as how to use RMarkdown and ggplot. I found both of these to be helpful, in conjunction with the textbook and other class resource materials. I also figured out how to change the colors of the text and background of the RStudio interface, as the preset color scheme was hard for me to work with.
Journal 8
Stephen Few argued in a book called "The Data Loom" that as more people learn how to use data analysis, machine learning, and data visualization skills, there is a greater need for critical thinking and deep subject area knowledge. He argues that intelligence does not simply emerge from data and that these new tools for working with data may make logical fallacies harder to dismiss.
Why are people, who may want evidence of a claim, easily misled by data visualizations? (3-5 sentences)
How has this course developed your critical thinking skills? (3-5 sentences)
Data visualizations are digestible representations of usually large amounts of data. Therefore people who are looking for evidence to support their claims can be misled by these representations because they choose to look only at the information given to them through a visual. While data visualizations are important in showing important data and figures, it is also important that people do not simply take them as complete fact. Understanding data visualizations and the rationale and results behind the data are important steps in showing evidence of a claim, as opposed to a visual alone.
I have noticed that because of this class, I pay closer attention to the information presented in graphs and visualizations, like sample size, variables, and aesthetic choices. It is easy to look at a graph for something like covid cases, see an upward trend and assume rates are rising, but looking closer and thinking critically about the data being presented can allow for different ways to read and interpret the information. This is an important skill to have, especially since it seems like data visualizations are more present since the start of the pandemic.
Journal 9
Explain what has changed, since starting this course, in how you think about data visualization.
What is one thing from the course that changed how you think about data visualization? (3-5 sentences)
What does visualizing data mean to you? (1-3 sentences)
Something I have learned that has changed the way I think about data visualization is how to read, and how to be discerning about, a data visualization. In creating visualizations, I have seen how easy it is to be influenced by personal or societal biases, and see that reflected in my work. This has made me more critical of the visualizations I do view, especially those on news media platforms, as sometimes they do not convey the entirety of the data.
To me, visualizing data means creating appealing, accessible visuals in order to present data to an audience. I think it is important to reach a large audience in order to eliminate any sort of academic or field-specific gatekeeping.