Learning Design Framework for Constructive Strategic Alignment with Visualizations

Abstract

Prior research on integrating computer-based visualization tool in teaching has shown that the use of constructivist strategies has led to positive learning outcome. Yet multiple surveys report that instructors face difficulty in integrating visualizations in their teaching. A probable cause is that instructors, on their own, are unable to achieve effective alignment between the instructional strategy used with visualization and their instructional objective. Currently no guidelines exist for instructors for attaining such alignment while teaching with technological tools like visualizations. To address this problem, we propose the Customized Visualization Integration (CVI) framework based on outcomes-based teaching approach that targets „constructive strategic alignment‟ i.e. alignment between student-centered instructional strategies and instructional objectives with the visualization. CVI provides instructors with „easy-to-use‟ guidelines that can be combined to create learning designs (LDs) customized to their set of instructional objectives with visualization. Furthermore, it provides LDs customized to individual objectives based on these guidelines. In current paper, we also present empirical validation for a subset of the proposed guidelines through a field experiment with 144 engineering under-graduates.