Professor Christopher Andrews
Office 642 McCardell Bicentennial Hall
Email candrews@middlebury.edu
Course Website go/infovis/
Lectures MWF 1:45-2:35p, MBH 632
Discussion forum Piazza
Office Hours
MW 3:00p-4:30p
T 10:30a-12:00p
or by appointment
Murray, "Interactive Data Visualization for the Web, 2nd Edition", O'Reilly Media, 2017.
Fisher and Meyer, "Making Data Visual", O'Reilly Media, 2018.
This course is intended to be a fairly broad, very hands-on introduction to information visualization. By the end of the class, I expect you to:
| Assignments | 65% |
| Labs | 10% |
| Midterm exam | 10% |
| Final project | 10% |
| Participation | 5% |
I expect you to come to class, ask questions, and generally participate. However, participation also extends to use of Piazza. I expect one substantive post from each of you every week. This could be an answer to a fellow student's question (provided it is substantive -- not just 'yes, that's what I did' or something similar), it could be a post about some example you found relating to what we were discussing in class, some cool (or interestingly awful) visualization you found, it could be a reply to someone's post, or it could just be a discussion about some aspect of the lectures that you didn't get.
Approximately once a week (the actual timing will be determined by our movement through the material), we will have an in-class exercise. These will essentially be tutorials, walking you through some technique or concept. Each one will have a deliverable that you will be responsible for turning in. In the event that you do not complete the lab in class, you will be responsible for completing it on your own, typically within 48 hours.
Both the midterm and the final will be timed take home exams. They will cover both conceptual and technical material. Expect to do some coding.
Assignment will be given out weekly, typically due on Wednesdays. Towards the end of the class, more time may be given to allow for longer projects (you should budget the same amount of time, there just may not be a deliverable). Expect assignments to be a mix of written work and programming.
You will have three* "get out of jail" cards that you can use in exchange for not turning an assignment in on time. They are good for 24 hours. I need no explanation for their use, but you can only use one per assignment (and only on assignments). No other late work will be accepted without prior authorization (so turn in what you have even if it isn't done).
We are going to be using Piazza for our class discussions outside of class. Rather than emailing questions to me, please post the questions on Piazza. This will allow other students to answer questions and to benefit from the answers you receive. This system will only work if you use it, so please do so. Note that public questions would satisfy weekly participation...
Short version Help each other, but do not share solutions.
Long version In computer science, we build on the work of developers before us. Most of us learned to code by copying code and finding ways to tweak it to do what we want. Almost no computer programs are built without building on the work of others, either in the form of algorithms, libraries, or even just short snippets of code. In the computer science department, we recognize the value of forming study groups, helping each other debug code, and working together.
On the other hand, there are questions of intellectual property and academic integrity. These are considerably murkier waters than you may face, for example, writing a history paper, or doing a problem set in math. With code, you can "accomplish" spectacular things by copying the right chunks of code without ever knowing how it works.
For the most part, navigating these waters is on your head. I encourage you to help classmates to debug misbehaving code. I encourage you to post questions (and answers!) on Piazza. But you need to do so in a way that respects other people's work and in a way that contributes to your intellectual development rather than hindering it (or trying to mask your lack of it). This is not a race to get a good grade. The grade is at best a carrot to "trick" you into doing the work required to become better educated. As such, don't just go looking for code that you can turn in to satisfy an assignment. You can probably find some, but it won't help you much, and I'll probably be able to tell.
Policies: Do not work collaboratively unless indicated by the assignment. You can help one another, and work together, but you cannot work jointly on the same assignment. I do not want to see identical assignments that differ only in the name at the top. If someone does show you code (as an explanation or asking for debugging help), do not copy it. Retain ideas, and go away and write your own version later. Attribute any ideas, etc, that you pick up (this goes for classmates, books, online resources, etc). Be explicit. Tell me where you got the idea, approach, technique, etc. Explain what your contribution was. Make sure that your contribution demonstrates that you understand what was not your work alone. Finally, if you have any doubts, ask me first.
Students who need test or classroom accommodations due to a disability must be registered in advance with Student Accessibility Services. Please contact Jodi Litchfield (litchfie@middlebury.edu or 802.443.5936) for more information. Students who may need disability-related accommodations are encouraged to make an appointment with me as soon as possible. All discussions will remain confidential.