CATALOG DESCRIPTION
Study the visualization of ideas using interactive, digital tools: web graphics, 2D and 3D animation, and video. Creatively apply digital tools and theories to various forms of communication: academic, journalistic, narrative, and performance. Prerequisites: Interactive Digital Communication, Junior standing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
This course is about the visualization of ideas using interactive, digital technology. Students will learn how to visually communicate using a variety of different digital tools, and apply visual and communication theories to create both data-driven and narrative-driven visualization forms. The first third of the class will focus on the theories material design, Google’s new and innovative design platform, and apply some of these principles to digital animation; then we will turn towards stories having to do with data, or data visualization, and will draw heavily upon Data Points, by Nathan Yau and classic information theorists such as Edward Tufte. Students will learn how to build interactive data visualizations such as charts, maps, and graphics using Photoshop and Tableau Public. The last third of the class focuses more on learning 2D and 3D compositing techniques (After Effects) and integrating these visuals into code.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
To bring critical thinking to visuals
To develop new digital media skills
To practice design principles
To introduce students to a variety of different visualization styles
To push students’ creative mindsets
To challenge students to reach beyond their abilities
To encourage collaboration
To encourage a constructively engaging classroom atmosphere
COURSE POLICIES
READING:
Please do the reading (or sometimes viewing) for the day listed on the syllabus. Be prepared to be called upon in class and summarize an article due that day. Participation points will be reduced for lack of preparedness.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
The responsibility for attending classes rests with the student. As the citizens of Iowa have every right to assume, students at UNI are expected to attend class. This idea is neither novel nor unreasonable. Students should realize that an hour missed cannot be relived, that work can seldom be made up 100%, and that made-up work seldom equals the original experience in class.
Attendance will factor in the Participation part of the students’ grade.
A note on missing classes: my office hours are for clarifying issues and offering help when needed, not for re-teaching material from a missed class. Students missing class are responsible for making up all class instruction and activities and for finding out from peers what they missed. If graded items were handed back on a day a student was not in class, it is the students’ responsibility to retrieve that material.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
Plagiarism, cheating, improperly sourced work, and other academic misconduct will not be tolerated. The UNI Catalog is clear on this: “Students at the University of Northern Iowa are required to observe the commonly-accepted standards of academic honesty and integrity. Except in those instances in which group work is specifically authorized by the instructor of the class, no work which is not solely the student’s is to be submitted to a professor in the form of an examination paper, a term paper, class project, research project, or thesis project. Cheating of any kind on examinations and/or plagiarism of papers or projects is strictly prohibited. Also unacceptable are the purchase of papers from commercial sources, using a single paper (or project) to meet the requirement of more than one class (except in instances authorized and considered appropriate by the professors of the two classes), and submission of a term paper or project completed by any individual other than the student submitting the work. Students are cautioned that plagiarism is defined as the process of stealing or passing off as one’s own the ideas or words of another, or presenting as one’s own an idea or product which is derived from an existing source.” See the UNI Catalog for full details.
WORK EXPECTATIONS
The College guideline is that one semester hour of credit is the equivalent of approximately three hours of work (class time + out-of-class preparation) each week over the course of a whole semester. In a typical lecture/discussion course, each hour of class normally entails at least two hours of outside preparation for the average student. That means that for every week students should set aside 6 hours outside of class to work on classwork. This standard is the basis on which the Registrar’s Office assigns hours of University credit for courses. It is also the basis on which I plan out assignments and course requirements.
OUTSIDE HELP
Digital Media Hub, Rod Library: Media Consultants are available 9-midnight, M-Th, 9-8 Friday, and 12-10 Sunday. The new DMH at Rod has 35 laptops and numerous desktops that are fully loaded with the Adobe Creative Suite and Tableau. Moreover, Rod is staffing the DMH with some IDS students who may be able to help you with your projects.
DISABILITY SERVICES
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) provides protection from illegal discrimination for qualified individuals with disabilities. Students requesting instructional accommodations due to disabilities must arrange for such accommodation through the Office of Disability Services. The ODS is located at 103 Student Health Center, phone number: 273-2676.
Academic Learning Center’s Free Assistance with Writing, Math, Reading and Learning Strategies
The Writing Center offers one-on-one writing assistence open to all UNI undergraduate and graduate students. Writing Assistants offer strategies for getting started, citing and documenting, and editing your work. Visit the Online Writing Guide and schedule an appointment at 008 ITTC or 319-273-2361.
The Math Center offers individual and small-group tutorials especially helpful for students in Liberal Arts Core math courses. No appointment is necessary, but contact the Math Center at 008 ITTC or 319-273-2361 to make certain a tutor will be available at a time convenient for you.
The Reading and Learning Center provides an Ask-a-Tutor program, consultations with the reading specialist, and free, four-week, non-credit courses in Speed Reading, Effective Study Strategies, PPST-Reading and -Math, and GRE-Quantitative and Verbal. Visit this website and 008 ITTC or call 319-273-2361