ERIC Number: EJ1258152
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Dec
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1545-679X
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Available Date: N/A
Real-Time Visual Analytics: An Experiential Learning Activity for Undergraduates
Stephens, Paul; Young, Jacob
Information Systems Education Journal, v18 n6 p4-12 Dec 2020
We describe a "Day of Giving" university fundraising event that can be used to introduce data visualization to undergraduate students. The project involves integrating data sources, creating a Tableau data model, and designing a heat map that can be embedded into a front-end website. Our activity provides opportunities to discuss various technological concepts, such as: client/server networks, front end web development, backend database servers, database design, sources of data, data preparation and cleaning, data management, webhooks, real-time data collection, and visual analytics. For the purpose of this paper, we focus on concepts related to sources of data, real-time data collection, visual analytics, and webhooks, as well as security and ethics issues that arise from these activities. Additionally, we explain how instructors can choose to implement the activity as an exercise during a single class session or as a team project over a longer period. Both approaches provide students with experiential learning opportunities in data analytics. First, we outline fundamental concepts for instructors to introduce at the start of the activity. Second, we introduce the context for the activity, a heat map to display donation amounts by location in real-time. Third, we discuss the tools we used to feed data to the visualization. Fourth, we describe steps for instructors to follow to replicate the project. Lastly, we provide discussion points to explore security and ethics issues related to data analytics.
Descriptors: Data Analysis, Visualization, Experiential Learning, Learning Activities, Undergraduate Students, Fund Raising, Data Collection, Teaching Methods, Ethics
Information Systems and Computing Academic Professionals. Box 488, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480. e-mail: publisher@isedj.org; Web site: http://isedj.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Author Affiliations: N/A