Data Visualisation
„A picture says more than a thousand words“ – usually plain numbers and data sets hardly succeed in capturing tendencies and interconnections. In contrast, visualisation enables statements to be described graphically. By completing this course on data visualisation participants will familiarize themselves with various types of visualisation and learn what kinds of data they are suitable for. Additionally, they will learn about basic tips for creating a successful design and presenting graphs and images in a term paper, a presentation, or a poster.
The introductory chapter explains how and why visualisations are used in academic context and what functions they fulfil in regards to learning and teaching. The second chapter describes various forms of presentations (e.g. bar charts, scatter plots, network diagrams, or maps) and allocates certain types of data to them. It also introduces suitable visualisation tools. The third chapter deals with standards of design and demonstrates creative means of emphasising certain data and statements. The final chapter focuses on visualisation of critical information, namely on the fine line between influencing and manipulating perception. In this regard, we introduce the principles of good academic practice and suggest proper academic ways of avoiding unsafe data.
This course is divided into four chapters of approximately 15-30-minute length each. The learning materials include videos, graphs, short texts as well as various quizzes. Our materials are also available for download. Participants are free to work at their own pace and choose the sequence and intensity of their work. They can either tackle the whole course or focus on individual chapters instead. Participants can take the final test at the end of the course and receive a confirmation of participation.
This course is incorporated in the ILIAS Learning module on Stud.IP and can be found at „Angebote der Universität zum Selbststudium“. The course is also available for non-members of the university at the OpenILIAS-platform „Angebote der Universität zum Selbststudium“ and may be used under the terms of the licence CC-BY-SA, 4.0.