• Appreciate the role of Data Visualization in various domains
  
• identify good and bad visualizations, and the criteria to critique
• Select the appropriate visualization for  a specific purpose
• Use various tools and techniques to construct a range of visualizations for both exploration and explanation
• Learn to "tell a story" about your data using visualization

• For the Intro to Data Visualization module of the course, links are provided in the Course Schedule and on Sakai under the appropriate topic.
• For the R module of the course, below are the main links (in effect, the "text" for this part of the cousre).  Additional links are posted in Course Schedule or Sakai topic.
• Jared Lander.  R for Everyone, Advanced Analytics and Graphics, Addison-Wesley, 2014.  ISBN-13: 978-0-321-88803-7.  You do not need to buy the book.  There is a free 48-page preview available at the Pearson site.   There are also many sites online where you can sigh up to be able to download a pdf.  However, I walked through many examples that are inspired by this text.
• Alboukadel Kassambara.  Guide to Create Beautiful Graphics in R,  STHDA, 2013.  isbn:  9781532916960.  Most examples, with small modifications, are available on his wonderful website and his R support website.
• ggplot2 documentation
• O'Reilly text.  Comprehensive book on R, not just for visualization, but chapters on viz also.
• Nice site for playing with R.
• There is no CodeAcademy course in R as of this writing.  However, the resources in R and ggplot are endless!  Datacamp, and many, many more.
• If you are interested in the statistical side of R, you may want this book as an R reference.


• For the Excel and PowerBI Desktop modules of the course:
• Reference (optional):  Stephanie Evergreen.  Effective Data Visualization, The Right Chart for the Right Data, SAGE, 2017.  isbn:  978-1-5063-0305-5.  However, we will be using Evergreen's website for several labs:  http://stephanieevergreen.com  .   
• We will use some of the publicly-available files from two of the Apress books.  Files given to you on Sakai.  But if you want to delve more deeply:
• Reference:  Adam Aspin, High Impact Data Visualization in Excel with PowerView, 3D Maps, Get &Transform and Power BI, Apress, 2016.
• Reference:  Adam Aspin, Pro Power BI Desktop, Apress, 2016.   
• There are also many, many  other sites,, esp StackOverflow, quora, and just google it!

• For general DataViz:
• Tufte's Design Principles
• http://flowingdata.com
• list of some data visualization sites
• One of many data visualization checklists.


• Course Support:
• Assignment submission and grades will be maintained on Sakai.   

Software:

• We will be using R and RStudio for the R module of the course.
• Install R: http://www.r-project.org.   This is shown in detail in the Orientation module on Sakai.
• Install RStudio:  https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download2.  This is shown in detail in the Orientation module on Sakai.
• We will be using Excel 2016, part of LUC's Office 365 subscription.  Instructions are in the Orientation module on Sakai.  There is a set of ppt slides to walk you through the process.
• You will need to install Excel.
• You will need Silverlight (yes, it's deprecated, but it's needed for PowerView.  And it only downloads properly via Internet Explorer, possibly FireFox, see ppt slides on Sakai.)
• If you can't get  this all working as the slides demonstrate, then contact me, and I'll set up a Virtual Machine for you.
• I would not suggest using Excel for the Mac.  Either use Bootcamp with Office on your Mac, or Parallels, or similar, or use a campus computer with Windows, or use a VM.
  

Sakai:
As of this writing, Sakai will be used for course announcements, homework submissions, and grade postings.  While the raw scores posted on Sakai should be correct (although I have encountered some problems with that too!), please do not rely upon Sakai's Course Total calculations.  Usually, they are okay, but there have been problems.  I check the total grade postings periodically, to check up on Sakai's calculations.  Certainly, before the mid-term grade posting on Locus, and before the drop deadlines, check your grades (and I will too!)  Grades are calculated as specified in this syllabus.  If Sakai presents too many problems, we will switch to CourseSites.

Class Format:
The class sessions will be a mostly lab, with lecture for the first class meeting.  Expect to participate, and we will be moving quickly during lab.  Unlike some of my other courses, I have not made videos for this course, so it's important that you follow along, as we have a lot to cover.   If you have a laptop, you will want to bring it to class, unless I let you know in advance. There are lab checks after most labs, and these are worth a couple of points each.  This is to ensure participation.  Right now the plan is that  labs and lab notes will be made visible only shortly before the class begins, as I want to make sure that you participate in building the lab itself.  The learning is in the process.  However, if I see that we are falling behind, we may shift to a "flipped" approach, where you can work on the labs before coming to class, and we can review problematic or difficult areas together in class.   Reading materials, lab assignments and homeworks are all posted (or in the case of the labs, will be posted shortly before the classes_, either on Sakai or linked to on this syllabus.

Because we are not relying on a traditional text, I will be presenting examples and demonstrating code from various sources, which I cite in the labs themselves.  Many examples are ones that I created, so there is no source. You are responsible for what is presented in class.  This is not an online course, so there is an expectation that you will be in class, completing the work that is covered. If you choose not to attend, that is your prerogative; however, make sure that you find out what you missed, and check to see if you can make up the points.  Sometimes, you cannot.  

Cell Phones: Only you know the relative importance of any particular cell phone call, and whether it is important for you to answer a call immediately rather than later. I do want you to be respectful of your classmates and disrupt the class  as little as is practical. If you get cell phone calls with fair frequency, be sure to have the ring muted before coming to class. If you rarely get calls, you might not mute it ahead, and your cell phone may happen to ring. Get rid of the noise as soon as possible, and do not get flustered. I assume you will move outside the classroom for a conversation. If you get fairly frequent calls that you are likely to consider important answering, sit in a place where your exit and re-entrance are as unobtrusive as possible.

• Using or copying an outside person's work on an exam or assignment in any fashion. "Outside person" includes a person who put something on a web page. It has become depressingly familiar for me, most every semester, meting out penalties for using someone else's work on the web. Do not do it.
• Anything that vaguely resembles something from any Instructor's Manual anywhere.
• Work includes outlines, pseudocode, code, and documentation.
• Allowing your own work to be copied or used by an outside person.
• Submitting as your own work something that has been written by an outside person (or web site).
• Using any unauthorized reference on an exam or assignment
• Not acknowledging and describing in writing on an assignment any help you received or gave.
• If you are working on a pair or group project, an "outside person" only refers to people other than your assigned partner or team.
• Note that cheating goes both ways: both giving and receiving.
• Consultation is allowed with the TA (if we are fortunate enough to get one) and with me. If you consult with the TA and/or with me, still make a comment at the top of your work about the substance and depth of the help.

• The meaning of program or query specifications (not the plan for the solution or the actual solution).
• The tools used to write programs.
  
• The restrictions of the current programming language syntax.

If you must miss the exam, let me know well in advance. Then if you have a good reason we can possibly make other arrangements. I have little sympathy for people who inform me after the fact for no good reason. Exam absences will be veririfed.  If they can't be verified, you will not be excused. 

*No second try*: If you have an excuse for not being prepared to take an exam, but decide to take it anyway, you don't get to change your mind after you see a poor grade. Being sick is not a way to get one more chance than everyone else. I may allow you to delay an exam due to illness, but I will not let you be reexamined due to a poor grade.

Students with Disabilities:  If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (773-508-3700 and SSWD@luc.edu) as soon as possible.  Students with documented disabilities who provide me with a letter from the SSWD office will be fully accommodated as per the terms of the letter.  Students who are allowed to take their exams in the SSWD office are encouraged to do so.  Should you choose to take the exam in the classroom, I cannot guarantee that the classroom environment will be quiet enough to provide you with the environment that your disability may require.  If you choose to take the exam in the classroom, you are taking that risk.

• No extra credit opportunities will be provided.  It is neither practical nor fair to the other students.  
• Late assignments are worth only half credit, and only with permission.  This is true even if you have a valid reason for submitting the homework late.   Usually, late assginments must be submitted within one week of the due date for half credit.  Further, even with permission, they can only be submitted late if I have not posted the answers to the homework.   After one week (or the late submission deadline), you will receive zero points for any unsubmitted assignments. No exceptions.

The dates below give the sequence and a general idea of the time spent, though we may get ahead or behind this time schedule at different points, depending on the needs of the class.  Be sure to keep up with where we really are in class.  There will be weekly updates on Sakai, reflecting what we actually cover (and therefore what is due, and when).