BDS Toolbox: Data Visualization
Use the navigation bar above or the links below to find everything you need for this module.
📋 Overview
- Instructors: Abe Hofman, Lilian Ye, Annie Johansson
- Dates: September 30th - October 12th, 2025
- Format: Lectures + Tutorials
- Main Topics:
- Effective data visualization
- ggplot
- Git & GitHub for collaboration
- Effective data visualization
In this module, you will learn a wide set of data visualisation tools for both static and interactive visualizations. We will also focus on why you should look at your data and what makes a good visualization. You will have access to rich data from the Prowise Servers, to design visualizations from.
🗓️ Schedule
| When | Where | Topic | Prepare | During Tutorial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 30/9 15.00-18.00 | GS.11 | Good and Bad Plots / ggplot Basics |
Read: DV ch. 1 Watch video: Fundamentals of Data Visualization Optional: Review ggplot basics in DV ch. 3 |
Kick-off quiz Work on Assignment 1 |
| Friday 3/10 12.30-15.30 | JKB.25 | Interactive Plots |
Kick-off quiz Work on Assignment 1 |
|
| Deadline DV Assignment 1 – Sunday 5/9 23.59 | ||||
| Tuesday 7/10 15.00-18.00 | GS.11 | Better Plots |
Read: DV Book ch. 3.7, 4.3, 5.3, 5.5, 5.6, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 Watch videos: Themes, Recycling themes, Trend lines / stats, Color scheme, Multiple plots, Facets, Saving plots |
|
| Friday 10/10 12.30-15.30 | JKB.25 | Q&A Session | Data Visualizations - First Draft Due |
Work on Assignment 2 Peer Review |
| Deadline DV Assignment 2 – Sunday 12/9 23.59 | ||||
🔗 Quick links
📝 Assignments
You’ll be working with Git and GitHub for both assignments. Refer here for instructions on how to set up your data visualization server account with GitHub.
Indicate your preference for a research question here.
🚨 Deadlines
- Assignment 1 – Sunday 5/10 23.59
- First draft of Assignment 2 – Friday 10/10 12.30
- Peer review of Assignment 2 – Friday 10/10 23.59
- Assignment 2 – Sunday 12/10 23.59
Late submissions will be graded with a max. grade of 6, if submitted within 24 hours of the deadline. Submissions later than that will not be graded.
📚 Materials
Helpful extra resources
💡 How to Use This Site
- Browse the slides before and after class.
- Access the assignments and extra resources.
- Practice workflows with Git. If you are interested in how to setup a GitHub repository and work with Quarto documents, you can clone the repository and explore the files on your own computer.