About Coures

We will learn how a computer displays information using computer graphics, and how the human perceives that information visually.
We will also study the forms of data, including quantitative and non-quantitative data, and how they are properly mapped to the elements of a visualization to be perceived well by the observer.

Course Goals and Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe how 2-D and 3-D computer graphics are used to visualize data.
2. Describe how an observer perceives and processes information from a visual display.
3. Utilize a wide vocabulary of visualization methods and how best to apply them to different kinds of data.
4. Decide which design styles and colors work best for different visualization situations.
   Visualize data when it is not numerical.
5. Use techniques for visualizing databases and data mining to help visually sort through massive datasets.
6. Analyze tasks and build visualization dashboards to provide data to support making a decision.

How to Pass the Course

To qualify for a Course Certificate, simply start verifying your coursework at the beginning of the course, get an 80% or higher on all quizzes and assignments combined, and pay the fee.

Week 1 : The Computer and the Human

Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

1. Understand what data visualization is and the different kinds of data visualization.
2. Understand how computer graphics are used to display shapes in 2-D and 3-D, and draw simple 2-D shapes on a web page using Scalable Vector Graphics
3. Understand how we perceive, learn, and reason about information.

Key Phrases and Concepts

Keep your eyes open for the following key terms or phrases as you complete the readings and interact with the lectures. These topics will help you better understand the content in this module.

1. Interactive visualization, presentation visualization, and interactive storytelling
2. Scalable Vector Graphics and the difference between how graphics' shapes are described versus how they are displayed.
3. Photorealistic rendering and non-photorealistic rendering
4. The Model Human Processor and Fitts's law
5. Lateral inhibition