In the 21st century knowledge economy, there is a growing need for the types of creative thinkers who can work effectively with individuals of varying backgrounds, combining multiple types of skills. However, doing so requires a new approach towards the training and curriculum development of students at the university level. The newly formed Digital Culture undergraduate curriculum at Arizona State University is one such approach, and it structures the way students navigate through their courses in a manner that is markedly different from other curriculums. Instead of prerequisites for each course, the Digital Culture curriculum uses incoming and outgoing proficiencies which informs the student of the skills required to take the course (incoming proficiencies) and the skills gained from taking the course (outgoing proficiencies). This not only helps students in determining what courses they want to take but to also determine what set of skills they would like to have when they graduate. In order to support this type of planning, we are designing a course planning system where students can simulate, in real time, various possible course paths through their four year education. In this system, we use visual semiotics principles, such as the universal understanding of graphics and colors, to reduce the user's cognitive burden and thus improve the user's experience. In the next phase of this project, we will be focusing narrative data visualizations which will assist the student in weaving a narrative about the course path that they have taken.
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Hari Sundaram
Zhen Li
David Tinapple