INSY 4970: Data Visualization

Course Description (Spring 14, 37 Students)

As our information infrastructure evolves, our ability to store, extract, and analyze data is rapidly changing. Large, diverse, complex and/or longitudinal datasets are continuously generated from a variety of instruments, sensors and/or computer-based transactions. As the volume, variety, and velocity of data increase, our existing analytical methodologies are stretched to new limits. These changes pose new opportunities for engineering practitioners and researchers. In this course, we will explore how to approach datasets using graphical methods. The focus will be on how to discover new information and/or new questions based on visual techniques. This will include a discussion of the following: a) basics of effective visualization and human cognition, b) good practices and the differences between effective and creative presentations, c) basic plots for continuous, spatial, spatiotemporal and text-heavy datasets, and d) use of software to develop interactive visualizations. Once these basics are covered, participants will approach real-world problems, of their choice, and create new visualizations that provide new insights about the problems and allow for better decision-making or necessitate further confirmatory analysis.

Additional Information on the Course

For more details on the course, please refer to the Syllabus