Abstract:

In a world of massively mediated information and communication, ordinary educational models might fail in both using those tools to improve education and to prepare the students for their future. Therefore this on-going research project investigates how a Visual Analytics (VA) and tools for Knowledge Visualization (KV) in school settings (within social science as school subject) could be combined to generate synergies in a learning process which not only aims at unveiling hidden facts but also to develop knowledge that includes all its accompanying facets such as experiences, attitudes, perspectives and opinions. The aim is to explain how VA together with KV interfere and can shape learning in social science classes in K 12 schools (from visualization on the screens to a growing body of personal knowledge). Another aim is to develop guidelines for didactic design and develop a web-based information visualization and visual analytics framework for educational purposes. The study is conducted in K 12 schools and empirical data is gathered through three case studies. The results will contribute to knowledge about visual literacy and its relations to different didactic designs. Researchers in the field of VA and KV can as well be supported in their questions to construct useful tools for these kind of analyse processes and different ways of knowledge formation.

Keywords:

Visual Analytics, Knowledge Visualization, Visual literacy, Silent reading, Reading as design.