Visualization Project
The last major component of this course will be the execution of a term
project and research paper. You will pick a topic to research, do background
reading on the subject, produce visualizations to support your analysis of
the subject, and present your findings in an oral presentation and written
research paper.
Phases
Projects will be structured as a sequence of phases. Completion of one
phase is not required for initiation of the next. In many cases, it will
benefit you to be working on multiple phases at the same time. For instance,
you might be creating visualizations of your data while searching for other information on the topic.
Pitch and Design
Describe your plans to meet these requirements in a proposal of approximately
1-2 pages. Give a five to ten minute summary of your proposal to the class.
Your proposal should describe:
-
the topic. What is the subject of your paper and project? What questions do you plan to address?
-
the data. What data will you explore to help understand this topic and support your claims?
-
your approach to the data and questions. What types of visualization do you intend to produce?
Alpha Release
Your initial implementation goal is to produce any visualization of your
data that you plan to use in your paper.
Submit an image and short description (about a
page) of what the image shows and how it was produced.
Beta Release
By beta release, you should have created all visualizations that you intend
to use in your paper.
Turn in a document containing all visualizations and their captions.
Presentation
Prepare and present a 15 minute presentation of your project. Your
presentation should be professional enough to give at a technical
conference (e.g. organized approach, prepared slides).
Dress appropriately for a technical conference.
Paper
Write an approximately ten page research paper describing your findings.
Sections you should plan
to include are: abstract, introduction, previous work, approach,
analysis, unanswered questions, and references.
You may submit earlier, not
necessarily complete, drafts of your paper if you would like feedback earlier
in the writing process.
Correct spelling and grammar count in all submitted work, so
check them before you hand anything in.
Deadlines
Each phase of the project has a due date. In this way, as in others, this
project mimics work in the real world. Phases may be turned in
up to one week after the due date with a 20% grade penalty. Phases
will not be accepted more than a week late.
| Phase | Due Date
| | Pitch and Design | April 26
|
| Alpha Release | May 3
|
| Beta Release | May 10
|
| Presentation | May 15
|
| Paper | May 15
|
Contributions to Grade
Each phase of the project will make an individual contribution to your
grade. If a phase is missed, that portion of the grade will be a zero.
You should consider this a compelling reason to start your project now
and work steadily throughout the rest of the semester,
rather than making a grand
push at the very end of the semester.
| Phase | Percent of Final Grade
| | Pitch | 2.5
|
| Design | 2.5
|
| Alpha Release | 2
|
| Beta Release | 3
|
| Presentation | 2.5
|
| Paper | 7.5
|
| Total for Project | 20
|