Teaching using interactive visualization

Project-based learning at UVA

We are explorings offering a new way to connect students directly with faculty researchers in authentic inquiry using the latest digital technology. Our new Research Seminars Initiative (RSEM) offers small classes that connect undergraduate students and faculty in creating interactive visualizations that invite deep inquiry into that faculty member’s research interests. 

This inquiry is done within undergraduate seminars co-taught by faculty members from multiple disciplines. These seminars bring together students, faculty, and outside scholars to develop highly interactive visualizations while advancing a broadly collaborative research agenda across multiple disciplines of study. It combines the best of liberal arts and discipline-specific education with training in visual thinking and the application of new technologies. As importantly, it offers undergraduates an opportunity to present original research for peer review and online publication, adding value and purpose to their work.

The ability to visualize primary sources and information presents a new opportunity for digital scholarship, using data to support inquiry and argument. The seminars utilize tools from UVA’s SHANTI suite of digital tools to weave images, maps, charts, video and data into highly interactive and compelling dynamic visualizations and presentations, and seamless access to other web-based applications such as online maps and Google documents.

Writing about visualization is like "dancing about architecture", so I encourage you to look at our website (www.viseyes.org) to get a better sense of the value of interactive visualization in the university environment. 

Each small group seminar of 15 to 20 students is designed and taught by a content instructor, whose scholarly interests frame the course and help to define the research agenda, and a visualization instructor, who sets the visualization portion of the curriculum and helps realize the project's goals in a digital form. 

Over the course of the semester, students gain mastery of the course content, an understanding of basic academic research methodologies, and a proficiency with visualization technologies. The seminar’s collaborative research environment encourages faculty mentoring and hands-on learning. For prospective graduate students, it offers a glimpse of new educational models that are transforming our disciplines and the world of academic scholarship.

Students are actively engaged in inquiry with direct and constant interaction with faculty members and each other. They are encouraged to seek the help of outside scholars, make use of special collections, archives, and other information sources of data beyond "The Google."

In short, they learn how to do research.