Extended Abstract: What to Expect When You Are Learning Data Visualization: A Textual Analysis of Course Syllabi

Abstract

This article discusses the content coverage of introductory data visualization courses in U.S. higher education. I conducted a corpus-assisted textual analysis of 20 publicly available course syllabi. The findings suggest that existing courses predominantly focus on the practical experience of producing visualization design (e.g., tools, techniques, methods), but rarely devote time to broader sociocultural factors and ethical issues involved in the process. I concluded by suggesting that technical and professional communication can illuminate the pedagogical approaches to data visualization through its ethical, humanistic, and contextual concerns.