Why is Visualization Important? Visualizing the Earth, its processes, and its evolution through time is a fundamental aspect of geoscience. Geoscientists use a wide variety of tools to assist them in creating their own mental images. For example, we now use multilayered visualizations of geographically referenced data to analyze the relationships between different variables and we create animations to look at changes in data or model output through time. A NAGT On the Cutting Edge emerging theme workshop focused on the use of visualization tools in teaching geoscience by addressing the question "How do we teach geoscience with visualizations effectively?” The workshop held February at Carleton College brought together geoscientists who are leaders in using visualizations in their teaching, learning scientists who study how we perceive and learn from visualizations, and creators of visualizations and visualization tools. Topics for discussion and presentation included : Using visualizations to describe and explain geoscience concepts. Exploring and understanding data with visualizations. Powerful emerging tools and technologies for visualization and their use in geoscience education. Designing visualizations and assessing their educational value Engaging students in drawing. Understanding what students see in visualizations. Research questions related to teaching and learning geoscience with visualizations. serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/visualize04 Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations: Using Images, Animations and Models Effectively—A Workshop Report Design Principles for Effective Visualizations The same things that work well in designing a class or educational activity work well in designing or selecting a visualization. Know what you are trying to accomplish with the visualization: What are you trying to teach? What do you want the students to learn? Ascertain what the students already know as this will determine what they see and learn from the visualization. Obtain feedback on how the visualization is working: Does it convey the intended information? Work in the desired way? Enable the desired learning? Students don’t always see what faculty are seeing when viewing a visualization. Just as in other aspects of learning, what students see and learn from a visualization is built on what they already know. Understanding what students know and see can be addressed on three levels: Cognitive: what do students focus on in a visualization? Educational: how does the visualization promote generation of new questions? Geoscience: how do students understand and interpret the processes that are represented? Simple is usually better. The power of visualizations comes from their ability to clarify relationships rather than from reproducing exactly the natural world. Thus, a design which emphasizes the desired relationships or information is likely to be more successful than one that makes every effort to be realistic. Students can become confused when elements of a diagram closely resemble the actual entity they represent in the real world (Liben, 1999). Context is important and is easily lost. Visualization need to be designed to maintain the context between different parts of the visualization and with the larger world. For example, when a series of diagrams are used to explain a scientific concept or process, it is important to keep the student aware of how a detail, or specific step in a progression, relates to the larger context of that concept or process. Guidance helps. Visualizations present a large number of relationships at a single time. Visual or textual clues can focus attention on meaningful items or guide the learner through the visualization in a particular order. Visualizations are most effective if their organization reflects the mental organization that the student is creating. For example, if students create a series of still images in their mind to represent a geologic process, a series of still images will be most effective in conveying information. Similarly, if students create a mental movie, an animation may be more effective. (Tversky et al., 2002). Workshop Recommendations More research is needed to understand: How geoscientists use visualizations in their thinking. What students perceive in geoscience visualizations. How to design and use visualizations to help students learn. Web-based collections of visualizations are an important resource for faculty. Bringing geoscientists, cognitive scientists, and creators of visualizations together was particularly fruitful and is a model for future partnerships and meetings. Student drawings can be a powerful tool for learning, as well as assisting the instructor in understanding the students mental images. Activities Underway Thematic Mini-collections of Visualizations Database Describing Tools for Creating Visualizations Video Collection of Classroom Demonstrations At the Workshop Website: Workshop program with powerpoints, posters, and discussion summaries. Essays by all participants describing their work with visualizations. Websites of researchers studying teaching and learning with visualizations. Recommended readings and an annotated bibliography. Visualization resources for teaching geoscience. Cathy Manduca, Carleton College ; Michelle Hall, Science Education Solutions, Dave Mogk, Montana State University, Barbara Tversky, Stanford University, Jim Slotta, University of California, Berkeley, Jeff Crabaugh, University of Wyoming