COSEE-Networked Ocean World (NOW)

1. Creating Real-time Displays of OOS Data for Classroom and Informal UseSage LichtenwalnerRutgers UniversityInstitute of Marine & Coastal SciencesOcean Sciences, February 25, 2010

2. COSEE-Networked Ocean World (NOW) Linking ocean scientists and educators in the virtual world 265 Members 100 Scientists • COSEE NOW is facilitating Ocean Observing partnerships to: • assess the knowledge & needs of Ocean Observing audiences • improve collaboration & coordination between scientists and educators • increase public awareness to improve society’s ocean literacy

3. Where are we going? • The need for Ocean Data Visualization in Education • Visualization Design Strategies • Strategies to improve data visualizations • Design frameworks for using data in education • The power of Narrative • Potential Future Projects

4. What is “Visualization”? Info Aesthetics Data Visualization Visual Analysis Information Design Visual Analytics Explorative Visualization Infographics Visualization Information Visualization (InfoVis) Information Art Data Art Charting Infoporn Bioinformatics Mapping Chart Junk Cartography Pragmatic Visualization Artistic Visualization Graphing Scientific Illustration “Visual analysis is not primarily about the pictures, but about finding ways to use our powerful visual systems to analyze data. It's analysis done in a visual way. It's visual exploration, visual data analysis, and visual presentation of results.” Robert Kosara, eagereyes.org

5. Why is data visualization needed in educational environments?

6. We face numerous global challenges… …that can only be solved by digging into huge datasets for solutions.

7. U.S. Science Majors NSF Science and Engineering Indicators: 2010

8. Understanding Data is in the Standards Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry: Grades K-4 • Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses • Use data to construct a reasonable explanation • Communicate investigations and explanations Grades 5-8 • Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze and interpret data National Science Education Standards (1996)

9. 2009 NJ Core Curriculum Standards Science Education in the 21st Century Students’ K-12 lab-science experiences should include the following: • Physical manipulation of authentic substances or systems: • Interaction with simulations • Interaction with authentic data • Access to large databases • Remote access to scientific instruments and observations 21st-Century Life and Careers • Use data accessed on the Web to inform solutions to problems and the decision-making process. 9.1.4.A.4 • Present resources and data in a format that effectively communicates the meaning of the data and its implications for solving problems, using multiple perspectives. 9.1.12.B.1

10. The Need for Ocean Data Visualization There is a… “need to develop the tools necessary… to effectively translate the results of that research in ways that are useful to resource managers, policy-makers, and the general public.”

11. What Do Educators Want? Top requested features: • Data visualization tools (ability to graph, map, chart data) • Inquiry-based lessons/activities • Lesson plans for teaching science concepts with RTD • Locally relevant data sets • Map interfaces • Stories or case studies that show how scientists use real-time data. Middle-school teachers were more likely to have students use: • Computers at school as part of their lessons • The Internet/websites at school as part of their lessons • Real-time data (mostly student-collected data) as part of their lessons NERRS Real-Time Data Needs Assessment 2006 COSEE NOW Educator Survey 2008

12. 1) Increase the effectiveness of data visualizations

13. Follow Visualization Design Theory Ben Fry’s seven stages of visualizing data: • Acquire • Parse • Filter • Mine • Represent • Refine • Interact

14. How to Approach a Problem Iterative Development Cycle

15. Usability Testing An digital media evaluation method that measures the effectiveness of your digital [Web] product with members of your target audience. • Test Subjects: • Fishermen/woman: n = 7 • Ages: all 45+ • Professions: varied • Fish at least weekly, mostly offshore for tuna and shark • Use of Internet: 5 of 7 daily • Why this Approach? • Verify appeal of current design • Verify effectiveness of current design • Modernize existing design • Determine usefulness of content • Determine how best to display data so that it’s useful to the data users

16. Real-time Surface Currents • 5/7 users recognized the arrows as the flow of water, but many were not sure. [3] did not realize this until the animation. • 3/7 users identified the colors as temperatures, even after noting the colorbar axis showing velocity • Some users wanted to click on the image to zoom in to see smaller regions • Users did not like the units (cm/s). Because of the range of values (0-50), one user mistook them as wind speeds (i.e. mi/hr).

17. 2) Consider How People Learn

18. Learning-for-Use Motivation Experience demand Experience curiosity Knowledge Construction Observe Receive communication Knowledge Refinement Apply Reflect (Edelson 2001) Visualization for Learners Inquiry-based learning units must include: Motivating context Learner-appropriate activities Appropriate datasets Scaffolding interfaces Support for learning (Edelson & Gordin 1998) Incorporate Learning Sciences Theory

19. COOL Classroom Pilot Evaluation The Hudson River Plume Adventure 2008 Pilot - 18 teachers For more, see C. Ferraro’s poster this evening

20. 3) Use Data Visualization to tell a story

21. Pilot Program: RU27 Site & Education For more, see D. Goldinger’s poster this evening

22. The Future Formal: Real-Time Worksheets of IOOS Data Using the Learning-for-Use framework Example: Heat Capacity Curiosity - RT Buoy Data Observe - Air/Sea temps over a week Apply - Air/Sea temps over a year Reflect - Compare with land station Other possibilities: The Seasons, Climate & Weather, Ocean Currents, Wind Energy transfer Informal: New Stories for GAIA & The Global Microscope / Science on a Sphere These efforts will require collaborative “design teams” of educators and scientists

23. Summary • Data from Ocean Observing Systems provides a great opportunity to connect learners with real-world ocean science • Design frameworks do exist for developing data displays, often for “public” consumption, though most do not (yet) consider the specific needs of learners in formal and informal environments • Understanding how people learn can aid in the development of effective data displays • Like a good storyteller, good visualizations engage viewers and motivate them to explore further

25. Elements of Data Translation Usability (Interface Design) Science (Cool Content) Art (Information Aesthetics) Storytelling (Persuasive Visualization) Programming (Technical Feasibility)

26. Pilot Program: GAIA Rutgers COOLroom Liberty Science Center Informal Science Education Center with ~1,000,000 visitors per year, serving the NY/NJ school systems including urban largely minority schools facing challenges. Cutting-edge OOS Research & Real-time Data

27. Telling RTD Stories with LSC’s “GAIA” “Students appreciate the fact they’re getting straight-out data. They can come up with their own conclusions. It becomes more personal and they take a greater interest.” - Katie Gardner, LSC Educator