ETX2250/ETF5922: Data Visualisation and Communication
Unit Summary
This unit provides a comprehensive introduction to data visualisation, developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills for interpreting, evaluating and creating visualisations using contemporary tools. Topics include foundational design principles, choosing appropriate visualisations for different data types, single-variable and multivariable plots, and data wrangling for cleaning datasets. You will engage in iterative refinement, visual storytelling, and designing inclusive, accessible visualisations that consider diverse audiences. Advanced topics such as interactivity and animation are also covered. Combined with hands-on practice and real-world business applications, this equips you to communicate data-driven insights effectively in your future career.
Learning outcomes
Critique data visualisations using principles of graphical excellence, sound design judgement, and statistical thinking
Create data visualisations from complex data sets using contemporary technologies for business applications
Communicate data-driven insights tailored for audience, message and medium
Design interactive data visualisations and animations for data discovery and communication of complex dynamic patterns.
Formulate research questions from a data set with exploratory data analysis.
Design inclusive and accessible data visualisations for audiences with diverse perspectives, identities, skills and abilities
Teaching Team
- Kate Saunders - Chief Examiner
- Fonti Kaur
Teaching schedule
3 hour workshop on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week: 9 am - 12 pm
2 hour revision session on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week: 1 - 3 pm (optional)
| Lecture | Date | Topic | Tutorial | Solution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 Nov | Introduction to Data Visualisation | ||
| 2 | 25 Nov | The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Data Visualisation | ||
| 3 | 27 Nov | Visualisations in Power BI | ||
| 4 | 30 Nov | Visualisations in R: Part 1 | ||
| 5 | 02 Dec | Wrangling your Data for Visualisation | ||
| 04 Dec | —— No lecture —– | |||
| 6 | 07 Dec | Visualisations in R: Part 2 | ||
| 7 | 09 Dec | Iterating and Polishing your Visualisation | ||
| 8 | 11 Dec | Communication Theory | ||
| 9 | 14 Dec | Building a Data Narrative | ||
| 10 | 16 Dec | Advanced Topics: Infographics, Uncertainty and Missingness | ||
| 11 | 18 Dec | Advanced Topics: Animation and Interactivity | ||
| 12 | Revision |