CSC 544 - Advanced Data Visualization (Spring 2023)

Mon./Wed. 5:00-6:15pm, Gould-Simpson, Rm 701

Course Syllabus


Description of Course

The is a graduate level course on theory, design, application, and implementation of data visualizations. Students will learn principles and skills for designing, programming, and evaluating data visualizations and demonstrate these skills through coursework. Students will also learn about the research aspects of visualization. Topics include: systems architecture, algorithms, data structures, verification, and software engineering techniques for implementing and managing data visualizations; common classes of data and visual representations; methods of design and evaluation; and capabilities and limits of humans and their effect on design and implementation.

Good data visualization involves a combination of perceptual psychology, mathematics, and computer science. This makes our subject uniquely challenging: sometimes the way our eyes work stands in way of applying some beautiful result from computer science. Sometimes it’s the other way around: something deep about the math in the data will help guide the design process and let us make a picture that is beautiful, informative, and truthful.

Official Catalogue Description

Data visualization is a research area that focuses on the use of visualization techniques to help people understand and analyze data. Visualization allows us to perceive relationships, patterns, and trends. While statistical techniques may determine correlations among the data, visualization helps us frame what questions to ask. Providing efficient and effective data visualization is a difficult challenge in many real world examples. One challenge lies in developing algorithmically efficient methods to visualize large and complex data sets. Another challenge is to develop effective visualizations that make the underlying patterns and trends easy to see. Even tougher is the challenge of providing interactive access, analysis, and filtering. All of these tasks become still more difficult with the size of the data sets arising in modern applications.

This course will explore current research problems in visualizing large and complex data such as social networks with hundreds of thousands of participants and millions of relationships. Modeling such data and developing effective visualization tools is a challenging theoretical and practical task. This course will focus on classical as well as modern methods through projects that utilize real world large datasets from Netflix, IMDB, DBLP, and the Tree of Life.

Course Prerequisites or Co-requisites

No specific courses are prerequisite, but students enrolled in this course are expected to have a foundation in computer science and be able to pick up new programming languages as required by the assignments and project as well as write technical documents.

Students are also expected to have an introductory knowledge of linear algebra and calculus. Completed material in computer graphics topics (CSC 433/533 or equivalent) is helpful but not required, nor is undergraduate data visualization (CSC 444 or equivalent) required. While students majoring in areas other than CSC are encouraged to enroll, certain topics may prove challenging. Please contact the instructor if you are unsure if you satisfy the prerequisites.

Instructor and Contact Information

Course Format and Teaching Methods

Primarily, the format is driven by lectures combined with in-class discussion. Out-of-class activities include readings in relevant textbooks and research papers, programming assignments, take-home exercises, and online discussions.

Obtaining Help

Course Objectives

During this course students will:

  1. study mechanics and principles of visualizing data
  2. implement techniques for visualizing data
  3. study methods and models of visualization design and research
  4. design, refine, and evaluate an interactive interface

Expected Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students will have learned to:


Course Policies

Absence and Class Participation Policy

The UA’s policy concerning Class Attendance, Participation, and Administrative Drops is available at http://catalog.arizona.edu/policy/class-attendance-participation-and-administrative-drop

The UA policy regarding absences for any sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice will be accommodated where reasonable: http://policy.arizona.edu/human-resources/religious-accommodation-policy.

Absences pre-approved by the UA Dean of Students (or Dean Designee) will be honored. See: http://policy.arizona.edu/employment-human-resources/attendance.

Participating in the course and attending lectures and other course events are vital to the learning process. That said, attendance is not required for lectures. To request a disability-related accommodation to this attendance policy, please contact the Disability Resource Center at (520) 621-3268 or drc-info@email.arizona.edu. If you are experiencing unexpected barriers to your success in your courses, the Dean of Students Office is a central support resource for all students and may be helpful. The Dean of Students Office is located in the Robert L. Nugent Building, room 100, or call 520-621-7057.

Nevertheless, failing to stay up-to-date on course content may affect a student’s final course grade. Class participation is an important part of your grade in this course, and it is difficult for a student to participate and the instructor(s) to gauge participation if a student does not attend.

Illnesses and Emergencies

Statement on compliance with COVID-19 mitigation guidelines

As we enter the Spring semester, your health and safety remain the university’s highest priority. To protect the health of everyone in this class, students are required to follow the university guidelines on COVID-19 mitigation. Please visit https://covid19.arizona.edu/.

Late Instructor

Your instructor will make every effort to be in class on time, or to inform you of any delay or cancellation. In the unusual event that he should not arrive in class or send word by 15 minutes from the class start time, the class is officially cancelled.

Makeup Policy for Students Who Register Late

Students who register after the first class meeting may make up missed assignments at a deadline set in consultation with the instructor.

Course Communications

We will use official UA email and Piazza as the primary mode of contact. D2L will be used only for the instructor to securely distribute the course calendar, class materials, and grades to students.


Course Content

Required Texts and Readings

Additional Reference Reading Materials

Location

Scheduled Topics

Week Date Monday Date Wednesday
1 Jan 09 -- No Class -- Jan 11 Introduction
2 Jan 16 -- MLK Day -- Jan 18 HTML/Javascript Basics
3 Jan 23 d3 Intro Jan 25 d3 Joins and Scales
4 Jan 30 Design Principles Feb 01 Perception
5 Feb 06 Data Abstraction Feb 08 Visual Encoding
6 Feb 13 Color Feb 15 Tasks and Interaction
7 Feb 20 Views, Focus+Context Feb 22 Tabular Arrangements
8 Feb 27 Hierarchies/Trees Mar 01 Graphs
9 Mar 06 -- Spring Break -- Mar 08 -- Spring Break --
10 Mar 13 Cartography Mar 15 Interpolation
11 Mar 20 Isosurfaces Mar 22 Volumetric Data
12 Mar 27 Volume Rendering Mar 29 Transfer Function Design
13 Apr 03 Topology Apr 05 Flow Data
14 Apr 10 Flow Visualization Apr 12 FlowVis: Features, Time
15 Apr 17 Uncertainty Apr 19 Text and Sets
16 Apr 24 Retrospective Apr 26 Project Presentations
17 May 01 Project Presentations May 03 Project Presentations


Readings assigned for individual lectures can be found on the course homepage.

Scheduled Activities (Assignments and Deliverables)

Assignments (55% of total grade)

This class will have seven assignments, worth 55% of your total grade (six programming assignments and one “pre-assignment”). A00 is a warmup assignment to make sure you are comfortable with the tools we will use and the submission system. The remaining six assignments require you to demonstrate a visualization approach, implemented in d3. Each will have a duration of two weeks from their official posted date to when they are due. A00 is worth 1% while the remaining six assignments are worth 9% each.

Each of the six programming assignment will also include a written portion as well. Each written component accounts for 2.5% of your total grade, and thus together these written components will account for 15% of your total grade in this class. Written assignments are in lieu of a midterm or final exam, and will be used to gauge critical understanding of the reading associated with the span of time for the assignment as well as how the concepts mesh into practical implementations.

Name Topic Post Date Due Date Graded By Percentage
Assignment 00 Survey Jan 11 Jan 23 Jan 30 1
Assignment 01 D3 Basics Jan 23 Feb 06 Jan 13 9
Assignment 02 SPLOMs Feb 06 Feb 20 Feb 27 9
Assignment 03 Parallel Coordinates Feb 20 Mar 13 Mar 20 9
Assignment 04 Treemaps Mar 13 Mar 27 Apr 03 9
Assignment 05 Transfer Functions Mar 27 Apr 10 Apr 17 9
Assignment 06 Flow Visualization Apr 10 Apr 24 May 01 9
Total Assignment Percentage: 55


Project (35% of total grade)

This course will include a summative final project, where you will demonstrate your skills in visualization research through a variety of possibilities. Projects can be completed in teams of 1-3 people. There will be four milestones for this project spread throughout the semester.

Name Topic Post Date Due Date Graded By Percentage
Project Milestone 01 Proposal Jan 25 Feb 22 Mar 01 6
Project Milestone 02 Progress Update Feb 22 Mar 29 Apr 05 6
Project Milestone 03 Project Presentation Mar 29 Apr 26 May 11 8
Project Milestone 04 Final Report Apr 03 May 03 May 11 15
Total Project Percentage: 35


Design Critiques (5% of total grade)

Besides assignments and the project, all students will perform one design critique for a visualization of their choice found from popular such as a newspaper, textbook, or magazine. Scientific magazines such as Nature or Science are allowed, but visualization journals and venues, where the topic of the work in question is primarily visualization, is not allowed.

Each week several students will post a design critique on our Piazza site. You are responsible to post one design critique during the semester and to actively participate in a discussion of a critique each week. Thus, the due dates for these are rolling.

Class Participation (5% of total grade)

This class participation grade is the instructor’s subjective judgement of the student’s contribution to a lively classroom atmosphere. He will consider mainly active, informed participation in classroom discussions, and homework reviews. Obviously, students not attending class are not contributing in this way.

While the instructor does not grade on attendance, nor is attendance required for the course, you are obligated to participate in class to receive credit for this portion of your grade. Participation will also take place as a component of design critiques – on the weeks that you are not posting a critique, you should take the opportunity to discuss it on Piazza.

Final Examination

There will be no final examination for this course, as you will conduct a summative final project.


Grading Policies

Grading Scale

Grades will be assigned based on the following scale:

Grading will be based on performance on the set of assignments, project, design critiques, and class participation:

Each assignment description will include a specific rubric for how it is graded. Scores on such assignments will be weighted according to the relative point value of each assignment as highlighted above.

Department of Computer Science Grading Policy

  1. Instructors will explicitly promise when every assignment and exam will be graded and returned to students. These promised dates will appear in the syllabus, associated with the corresponding due dates and exam dates.
  2. Graded homework will be returned before the next homework is due.
  3. Exams will be returned “promptly”, as defined by the instructor (and as promised in the syllabus).
  4. Grading delays beyond promised return-by dates will be announced as soon as possible with an explanation for the delay.

Requests for incomplete (I) or withdrawal (W)

Request must be made in accordance with University policies, which are available at http://catalog.arizona.edu/policy/grades-and-grading-system#incomplete and http://catalog.arizona.edu/policy/grades-and-grading-system#Withdrawal, respectively.

Dispute of Grade Policy

After receiving any grade for any submission, a student has 24 hours to respond to the instructor with any disputes in an email with the subject “Grade Dispute”. Such a response must enumerate a specific set of disputed items for the submission and provide evidence that each item was improperly graded. The instructor will then completely regrade the entire submission, including both the disputed items as well as non-disputed items, with the potential for all aspects of the grade to change.

Submission, Lateness, and Revision Policy

All graded work has a fixed due date. Revisions and resubmissions after grading will not be accepted.

Submission for programming assignments will be due on 4:59:59PM of the due date unless otherwise noted. A late submission will receive a penalty of 10% per day for each work day it is late, up to a maximum of 5 days late. Grades for assignment submitted late may not be posted within the same time frame as assignments submitted on time, but the instructor will make their best effort to expedite the grading of late submissions.


Department and University Policies

Department of Computer Science Code of Conduct

The Department of Computer Science is committed to providing and maintaining a supportive educational environment for all. We strive to be welcoming and inclusive, respect privacy and confidentiality, behave respectfully and courteously, and practice intellectual honesty. Disruptive behaviors (such as physical or emotional harassment, dismissive attitudes, and abuse of department resources) will not be tolerated. The complete Code of Conduct is available on our department web site. We expect that you will adhere to this code, as well as the UA Student Code of Conduct, while you are a member of this class.

Classroom Behavior Policy

To foster a positive learning environment, students and instructors have a shared responsibility. We want a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment where all of us feel comfortable with each other and where we can challenge ourselves to succeed. To that end, our focus is on the tasks at hand and not on extraneous activities (e.g., texting, chatting, reading a newspaper, making phone calls, web surfing, etc.).

Students are asked to refrain from disruptive conversations with people sitting around them during lecture.

Some learning styles are best served by using personal electronics, such as laptops and iPads. Nevertheless, these devices can be distracting to other learners. While all students are welcome to use personal electronics in class, they must be used in a way that does not disrupt either the instructor or other students’ experience.

Students observed engaging in disruptive activity will be asked to cease this behavior. Those who continue to disrupt the class will be asked to leave lecture or discussion and may be reported to the Dean of Students.

Threatening Behavior Policy

The UA Threatening Behavior by Students Policy prohibits threats of physical harm to any member of the University community, including to oneself. See http://policy.arizona.edu/education-and-student-affairs/threatening-behavior-students.

Content Warning

While the instructor does not intend to include topics and/or course material includes content that are explicit or offensive in any way. The instructor will make every effort to provide advance notice when such materials may potentially be or potentially violate this intent. Please contact the instructor to discuss any content-related concerns, as alternative materials may be available.

Accessibility and Accommodations

At the University of Arizona, we strive to make learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience barriers based on disability or pregnancy, please contact the Disability Resource Center (520-621-3268, https://drc.arizona.edu/) to establish reasonable accommodations.

Code of Academic Integrity

Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded work/exercises must be the product of independent effort unless otherwise instructed. Students are expected to adhere to the UA Code of Academic Integrity as described in the UA General Catalog. See https://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/policies/code-academic-integrity.

Uploading material from this course to a website other than D2L (or the class Piazza) is strictly prohibited and will be considered a violation of the course policy and a violation of the code of academic integrity. Obtaining material associated with this course (or previous offerings of this course) on a site other than D2L (or the class piazza), such as Chegg, Course Hero, etc. or accessing these sites during a quiz or exam is a violation of the code of academic integrity. Any student determined to have uploaded or accessed material in an unauthorized manner will be reported to the Dean of Students for a Code of Academic Integrity violation, with a recommended sanction of a failing grade in the course.

The University Libraries have some excellent tips for avoiding plagiarism, available at http://new.library.arizona.edu/research/citing/plagiarism.

Selling class notes and/or other course materials to other students or to a third party for resale is not permitted without the instructor(s)’ express written consent. Violations to this and other course rules are subject to the Code of Academic Integrity and may result in course sanctions. Additionally, students who use D2L or UA e-mail to sell or buy these copyrighted materials are subject to Code of Conduct Violations for misuse of student e-mail addresses. This conduct may also constitute copyright infringement.

Nondiscrimination and Anti-harassment Policy

The University of Arizona is committed to creating and maintaining an environment free of discrimination. In support of this commitment, the University prohibits discrimination, including harassment and retaliation, based on a protected classification, including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information. For more information, including how to report a concern, please see http://policy.arizona.edu/human-resources/nondiscrimination-and-anti-harassment-policy

Our classroom is a place where everyone is encouraged to express well-formed opinions and their reasons for those opinions. We also want to create a tolerant and open environment where such opinions can be expressed without resorting to bullying or discrimination of others.

Additional Resources for Students

UA Academic policies and procedures are available at http://catalog.arizona.edu/policies. Visit the UArizona COVID-19 page for regular updates.

Campus Pantry

Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact the Dean of Students for support. In addition, the University of Arizona Campus Pantry is open for students to receive supplemental groceries at no cost.

Please see their website at: https://campuspantry.arizona.edu/ for open times.

Pronouns and Preferred Names

My pronoun preference: he, him, his

This course affirms people of all gender expressions and gender identities. If you prefer to be called a different name than what is on the class roster, please let us know. Feel free to correct instructor(s) on your preferred gender pronoun. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us directly in class or via email. If you wish to change your preferred name or pronoun in the UAccess system, please use the following guidelines:

Preferred name: University of Arizona students may choose to identify themselves within the University community using a preferred first name that differs from their official/legal name. A student’s preferred name will appear instead of the person’s official/legal first name in select University-related systems and documents, provided that the name is not being used for the purpose of misrepresentation. Students are able to update their preferred names in UAccess.

Pronouns: Students may designate pronouns they use to identify themselves. Instructors and staff are encouraged to use pronouns for people that they use for themselves as a sign of respect and inclusion. Students are able to update and edit their pronouns in UAccess.

More information on updating your preferred name and pronouns is available on the Office of the Registrar site at https://www.registrar.arizona.edu/.

Safety on Campus and in the Classroom

Familiarize yourself with the UA Critical Incident Response Team plans: https://cirt.arizona.edu/

Department of Computer Science Evacuation Plan for Gould-Simpson: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iR1IcGcV_BgbGnEFBzZ2-do0FbLC3cvo/view?usp=sharing

Also watch the video available at https://ua-saem-aiss.narrasys.com/#/story/university-of-arizona-cert/active-shooter

Confidentiality of Student Records

See http://www.registrar.arizona.edu/personal-information/family-educational-rights-and-privacy-act-1974-ferpa?topic=ferpa

Land Acknowledgment

We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.

Subject to Change Statement

Information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policy, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor(s).