Course syllabus for Scientific Illustration and Data Visualisation

Vetenskaplig illustration och datavisualisering

Specific entry requirements

Bachelor degree, English B

Outcomes

Purpose

This course will enable the participant to obtain knowledge and skills in scientific illustration and visualisation: how to use digital tools to create images and figures to communicate scientific ideas, concepts, results, and interpretations to different target audiences and in different formats.

Intended learning outcomes

After the course, the participant is expected to be able to:

- critically evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of scientific illustrations and visualisations for different target groups and contexts

- create effective scientific illustrations by using appropriate software

- reflect critically on ethical and legal aspects of scientific visualisation.

Content

- General principles of illustration and graphic design
- Data visualisation: diagrams and figures
- Photographs, photomicrographs, and other images in science
- Softwares and file formats
- Ethical and legal aspects on visualisation
- Visual research communication in context: figures, presentations, posters, graphical abstracts

Teaching methods

The course emphasises interactivity and practical skills training. Lectures will be used to introduce and cover theoretical aspects. Practise in working with digital tools for illustration and visualisation will be performed during practical workshops with supervision. We will use well-established software packages that are open source. Participants will create their own illustrations and visualisations and submit them during the course; these will be discussed in group seminars, revised based on the feedback, and resubmitted.

Examination

Compulsory components

Seminars for discussion of participants’ submitted illustrations and visualisations will be mandatory. In case of absence, a written reflection can be submitted instead.

Forms of assessment

Examination takes place through a final illustration/visualisation exercise which will be submitted and discussed.

Absence from or non-fulfillment of mandatory course elements

The examiner decides whether, and if so how, absence from compulsory course elements can be made up for. Study results cannot be reported until the participant has participated in compulsory course elements or compensated for any absence in accordance with instructions from the examiner. Absence from a compulsory course element could mean that the participant can not retake the element until the next time the course is offered.

Possibility of exemption from the syllabus' regulations on examination

If there are special grounds, or a need for adaptation for a participant with a disability, the examiner may decide to deviate from the syllabus' regulations on the examination form, the number of examination opportunities, the possibility of supplementation or exemptions from the compulsory section/s of the course etc. Content and learning outcomes as well as the level of expected skills, knowledge and attitudes may not be changed, removed or reduced.

Transitional provisions

If the course is discontinued or undergoes significant changes, information about transitional provisions will be specified here.

Other directives

Course evaluation will be conducted according to the guidelines established for education at Karolinska Institutet.

The course is conducted in English.

Literature and other teaching aids

Recommended literature:
- Tufte, E. (2001). The visual display of quantitative information. ISBN: 0961392142.
- Munzner, T. (2015). Visualization Analysis and Design, 2015. ISBN: 9781466508910.
- Franconeri, S. L., Padilla, L. M., Shah, P., Zacks, J. M., & Hullman, J. (2021). The science of visual data communication: What works. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 22(3), 110–161. https://doi .org/10.1177/15291006211051956
- Schwabish, J. (2021). The Practice of Visual Data Communication: What Works. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 22(3), 97-109, https://doi.org/10.1177/15291006211057899