Category Archives: Visualizations and Statements

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This mapping visualization is based on cultural immersion among northern Minnesota Ojibwe over a 3 week course. Processing my positionality in places where I was a visitor in their country. The medicine wheel is purposely dis-oriented per its significance to the Ojibwe. These colors are orientations and became a means for me to locate my emergent understandings and embodied experiences. There are text excerpts from my field journal that inform what is seen and not seen. The file is very large so this version is a bit blurry, but you can see the affordances and limitations of the approach to a mapping visualization.

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Jennifer Brannigan
3/30/17
Data Visualization

For this first data visualization, I decided to map visually my students understanding to the key concepts of two-point perspective and its key components. As a wrap up activity, I asked students to chart where they thought they might be in each category. The first category was vanishing points and the midway, i.e finding the center to where everything begins to pull back into space and to one of the vanishing points, the second was placing objects in a two dimensional space, and the third was the horizon line. For these three categories, students received three post-it notes. They were asked to initial the back, so that it would stay anonymous. Once they did this, they were asked to one post-it note under each category. They had three options for this also. The first- I understand this 100 percent, the second- I understand some of this, 75 percent, and the third- I really don’t understand this at all, less than 50 percent. Students charted themselves on their own personal bias, and they were asked to be honest so that I could better help them.

Once students mapped their post-it notes, I took them down section by section and listed their names so that I could see where everyone was feeling confident, or not understanding what we had been doing. This was for my own personal data collection and use, and it helped me better understand the key concepts that I had to re-teach for the next couple days.

For the actual visualization, I started with one cerulean blue wash. Blue being clarity, and my presence in the classroom. I originally put two colored washes, but didn’t plan of planning things out as far as background color in connection to what I actually graphed and collected in terms of data.On top of these ink washes, I started to make a different rectangular marks for each one of the sections. After I completed these marks, I went back and created dots around these marks. Each dot represents the number or class that each student is on. For example, one ring= freshman, four=senior.

With this visualization, I was able to see that my sophomores, except for one student all understood the three concepts at 100 percent. Which tells me that they way that I teach, or the way that they understand what I am teaching are almost perfectly aligned. My freshman were mostly in the 100 percent to 75 percent range. I had only two students under “ placing objects in a two dimensional space” say that they didn’t understand this concept at all. One student has a 504 plan, and the other has an IEP.

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For my second visualization, I wanted to directly visualize and represent part of my experience visiting MoMA and relate it to the ideas of engagement of the viewer/visitor, and resources immediately available (two key points from my lit review). I found as I made the visualization, I began to consider how the colors I use can contribute to the imagery of data I put in. Next to each exhibit title, I included a colored line that is representative of my experience and feeling while in the exhibit itself (“Revolutionary Inside” was particularly overwhelming). Creating this visualization also made me have to look closer at how information was presented to the viewers and any times that visitors were either encouraged/discouraged from interacting with the art and how so. I think as I continue to visit MoMA and continue these types of observations, I will also be able to better compose the data.

I was really inspired by a project I recently found called Dear Data (interestingly enough, it was recently acquired for MoMA’s permanent collection). I thought it was interesting how the images from each post card came together as both an individual image, as well as a collection for data/observations. I am interested in further studying the way that the data that the two artists observed is transformed into imagery for my own observations at MoMA.

 

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For my second visualization, I created a web of words that are related to my research topic of Place and my literature review information. The five big ideas within my literature review are memories, environment, the classroom, interdisciplinary value and place-based education. When dealing with place, these five words are closely related to how students can perform better within their classroom and community. I have been learning a lot about place-based education and how understanding the students community and  personal memories can lead to students that are more engaged and interested in the work they are doing. I kept the same format as my first visualization, placing the big ideas in their own colored blotches of paint and the words that are associated with them within the blotches. They are also specifically placed. Some words are in the middle of blotches while others are closer. I did this because, based on my research, I feel that they work together to further my research.

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Mentions the colors in their art work as a positive 1111111

Mentions their content as a positive 11111111111

Mentions drawing as a positive11111

Mentions the washes or painting as a negative 1111111111

Mentions everything as a negative 1

Mentions drawing as a positive11

Mentions fixing certain components 11111111111

The tallying above is from a written assignment that I asked my students to work on this week. This is right after we started to get into our Julie Mehretu inspired art works. Students were asked to pick a place, and abstract that place with layered drawings, light washed of acrylic paint and finally adding details back in. I asked student to write about five sentences for the following prompts 1) Write about all the positives that you have been seeing in this work, what have you enjoyed or liked about your work this far. 2) Write about all of the negatives that you have been experiencing within this work. Once I had all of the students work that were in class that day, I started to read through them. I took notes of the commonalities that I was seeing and after I made the categories that are above. I found that students listed about fixing things also, which was not asked from them.

For my corresponding visualization, I tried to make it more concrete than last time. I decided to use objects that looked like air molecules. I thought about how we are all breathing and moving constantly and that the only thing that is similar to all of the students places that they picked, was air. We all need to breath. I made the molecules larger if there were more tally’s that were in connection to that idea. I then, colored all of the positive molecules bright colors, and all of the negative colors dark. This way I could, and the viewer could, make connections to what was the most popular theme for both and whether or not it was a negative or positive response. All of the red circles are freshman responses and all of the blue circles are sophomore response. Unfortunately my senior has been out for about a week and hasn’t been back. On the paper I also placed all the positive responses on the bottom and all the negative on the top. I tried not to leave anything up to chance so it congruent to the data I collected.

This project is also in connection with my literature topics that I have been exploring this entire time. I am looking at visual culture impacts on students and their responses to these ideas. Although it is not present in this data set, it is present in the artwork that students are completing in class. Community and place is a large portion of everything that I have been doing and is present in the research that I have been collections and the literature review in which I have gathered all my information to help aid this project.

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Jennifer Brannigan
2/19/17
Data Visualization

For this first data visualization, I decided to map visually my students understanding to the key concepts of two-point perspective and its key components. As a wrap up activity, I asked students to chart where they thought they might be in each category. The first category was vanishing points and the midway, i.e finding the center to where everything begins to pull back into space and to one of the vanishing points, the second was placing objects in a two dimensional space, and the third was the horizon line. For these three categories, students received three post-it notes. They were asked to initial the back, so that it would stay anonymous. Once they did this, they were asked to one post-it note under each category. They had three options for this also. The first- I understand this 100 percent, the second- I understand some of this, 75 percent, and the third- I really don’t understand this at all, less than 50 percent. Students charted themselves on their own personal bias, and they were asked to be honest so that I could better help them.

Once students mapped their post-it notes, I took them down section by section and listed their names so that I could see where everyone was feeling confident, or not understanding what we had been doing. This was for my own personal data collection and use, and it helped me better understand the key concepts that I had to re-teach for the next couple days.

For the actual visualization, I started with layering two colors of inks, one a cerulean blue, and the other a red iron oxide. I picked these two colors because I felt as though they were fitting for the ideas that surrounded this data. Blue being clarity, red being the uncertainty that students felt during this process. I washed both inks under the faucet in my apartment so that they would mix with one another, and create a misty or cloudy like quality. My thought behind this, was that even the students who marked themselves at 100 percent for all of the sections, still struggled, even slightly, with the application of these concepts. On top of these ink washes, I started to make a different looped mark for each one of the sections. After I completed these marks, I went back and created either a ring, or a dot around these marks. Each ring represents the number or class that each student is on. For example, four rings= freshman, one=senior.

With this visualization, I was able to see that my sophomores, except for one student all understood the three concepts at 100 percent. Which tells me that they way that I teach, or the way that they understand what I am teaching are almost perfectly aligned. My freshman were mostly in the 100 percent to 75 percent range. I had only two students under “ placing objects in a two dimensional space” say that they didn’t understand this concept at all. One student has a 504 plan, and the other has an IEP.

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I am doing my research on place and the impact it has on an artist. My own teaching philosophy centers on promoting metacognition, encouraging equal respect for each other, and fostering deeper connections among the classroom community as well as the outside community. Thinking and community are my two main topics that relate to both my research topic and teaching philosophy. I wrote some words that related to my process when reflecting on my art and some words that also relate to my pedagogy n the classroom. There is no formula to viewing or making art, but I aim to interpret how an environment can impact an artist. I find myself asking students to think beyond what can be seen or known. The arts are essential in building confidence, cognitive ability, and critical thinking. In a broad sense, art expands students’ ability to use it as a tool for deconstructing the world around them but to also explore and reflect on individuality and the role they play in the world. I encourage students to learn from the inside out. By contemplating and examining their own personalities, interests and relationships, they may better understand the world around them. This same approach to art making and thinking in the classroom is what shaped me into the artist and thinker that I am today.

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For this Visualuzation, I wanted to find specific connections currently between my own pedagogy and MoMA, whether it is through exhibits, events, or other educational opportunities. I found that doing a concept map gave me an opportunity to find connections between things I did not immediately consider to be related. I also coordinated the information  by color, with my own pedagogy practices in blue and MoMA resources/practices in red. The purple was then utilized to visually demonstrate the correlations between the two. I found looking more into resources and opportunities at MoMA to be extremely helpful and I already have specific exhibits/events I am interested in going to and possibly begin utilizing teaching practices from the museum into my own teaching.  I feel that this map is a good starting off point in beginning my research in visiting the museum. Ultimately, I want to expand the map further to get more details as I go to the museum and further analyze the actual teaching methods they utilize to visitors.

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Melissa Mizerak ARE 518​Visualization 1 = Your topic + Ecological Pedagogy
Additionally, each visualization is to be accompanied with a statement of purpose that discusses your intentions and analysis 400-600 words [5 points].
As I continue on with my research and teaching, I have come to realize that the most important thing in teaching—for me—is community. I am constantly moved around in my district, and I have become tired of getting to know my kids over and over again. I love my School 12 community because I have seen several kids grow from kindergarten and they are now approaching third grade. Watching them grow and having them know that I am there supporting them and caring for them is highly important to me. The relationships that you foster as a teacher are highly important. I am struggling this year because I feel that my bonds at School 12 are weakening for School 28. My School 28 kids are receiving most of my effort because I cannot seem to manage a foundation with the kids. It feels like a daily struggle. So, as I approached my Pedagogic Ecology, I realized that—as a military kid—I was constantly moving; maybe community is what I have always been seeking? That is why I want to find the school where I can have a strong community built and supported every year. That way struggles with the kids will result in them knowing I am fighting for them not against them.
As I approached the physical visualization, I used the same method I will for my research. I will be incorporating maps into my research as well as the nails and thread. The thread is wrapped around a central point. The radius was measured for each year I lived in a location. Each year was represented by an inch. Thus, for Germany my radius is two and half inches which represents the two and half years I lived there. I only included areas where I lived. Nothing under a year. However, I had trouble representing New York because I had lived in several locations. The map was too small in size to fit all the locations with the threading. So, I just included a nail since I did a zoomed in location with Farmington, NY.
As I approach my research with this method, I will include city streets. Each street will have a central point and a radius. I have not worked out the radius. I think that will depend on the number of murals, graffiti, or billboards in each location. If anything, I will make each point a half inch radius, and the points will represent one of the three visual culture representations. The thread will distinguish the differences.