Data Visualization Speech Assignment(about 800 words)

Data Visualization Assignment

 

what will I be doing? For this project, you are going to be communicating research findings using data visualization and design techniques.. Your job is to make a compelling argument to your audience for what you see as the meaning or story behind the data (that's where the name of the project comes from). why am I doing this? I am asking you to complete this project for a few reasons. The first is that I want you to gain experience working with and presenting data in a visual format. The second is that this will give you an opportunity to further develop your information literacy and researching skills while also working on communication skills that require you to present information that may be somewhat technical or complex to a non-expert audience. how will I be evaluated? This assignment is worth 100 points and will be evaluated using the attached rubric.  You will be evaluating yourself using the attached rubric, and submitting the completed rubric with points to this assignment. how do I get started? To get started, I want you to first look at Fact Tank on the Pew Research Center website:  http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/ (Links to an external site.) . Fact Tank takes data from research findings (most often from the Pew Research Center) and makes sense of them - tells the story behind the data. This is what I want you to do in this project. Once you've looked at Fact Tank, the next step is to find the data you want to explore and explain. In order to keep the data exploration process manageable, I want you to only use data from the following sources:

· Pew Research Center:  http://www.pewresearch.org/ (Links to an external site.)

· Gallup:  http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx (Links to an external site.)

· US Government:  http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference-Shelf/Data.shtml (Links to an external site.)

· United Nations:  http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm (Links to an external site.)

If you have an idea for your project that would use data from other sources, let me know. The constraints I've listed above are only meant to make the data discovery process less overwhelming for you, but I am open to other credible sources. what should be included in the presentation? In deciding what to include and how to structure your presentation, you need to first articulate your purpose and message.  Once you have those, you can decide what support you need to include to connect with your audience and achieve your purpose.  Here are the basic guidelines:

· Time:  4-6 minutes

· Structure:  Clear introduction, body and conclusion with smooth transitions from point to point

· Visual Data:  At least 3 visual displays of data - 2 can be borrowed, 1 you need to make on your own.

· Oral Citations:  Needed for any statistics or ideas that are not your own (just tell us where and when that statistic or idea came from)

Here is a great (and short!) article by Nancy Duarte that might help you think through some of your rhetorical choices:   http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/04/the-quick-and-dirty-on-data-visualization/ (Links to an external site.) .

 

Here are some additional sources with information about charts/graphs and how to choose the right ones to display the data you need to communicate:

http://www.perceptualedge.com/images/Effective_Chart_Design.pdf (Links to an external site.)

http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/Whitepapers/Communicating_Numbers.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Okay, that's great, but now what do I do? Don't worry, this is not as complicated as it seems. All I am asking you to do is explore and interpret data, and then obtain/create visuals to explain the data. The links above should give you plenty of data to explore. After you have conducted your research prepared your visuals, you will need to present your project using Screencast-o-matic (as used by Impromptu speech). You will need to make sure you video record yourself using the camera as well as uploading your visuals into the software. The good news is that you can make multiple attempts, but this must be completed no later than Friday, July 23rd by 11:59pm. You can of course complete this assignment at any time if your want. The attached document below is what I will be using for grading criteria.  You will also need to fill out this form after you have recorded your presentation as your submission for your self evaluation:

Data Visualization Rubric-7-2.docx

Instructions:

Please utilize a screen recording software to record your video and submit to this assignment. I recommend using Screencast-o-matic which is the same tool you used to record your Impromptu speech: