Teaching Students to Focus on the Data in Data Visualization

Joanna Wolfe Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract

Although most technical communication pedagogy provides students with solid advice on how to visualize particular numerical representations, it underproblematizes the rhetorical decisions we make in choosing which numbers to display in the first place. This pedagogical reflection uses Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca’s concept of interpretative level to foreground the rhetorical choices that underlie our decisions on how to summarize, aggregate, and synthesize the data we visualize. It then describes two informal classroom activities that emphasize the importance of interpretative level and help students see the recursive nature of data visualization and invention.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2015-07-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651915573944
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (19)

  1. Written Communication
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 19 →
  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. College Composition and Communication
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  8. Technical Communication Quarterly
  9. Technical Communication Quarterly
  10. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  11. Technical Communication Quarterly
  12. Technical Communication Quarterly
  13. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  14. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (3)

  1. Computers and Composition
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Also cites 1 work outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311846.001.0001
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