A goal of the course is to learn how to visualize information for a user in an effective way.
Knowledge of cognitive capabilities and limitations, such as information processing speeds of different visualizations, can be used to inform the design of useful and efficient ways of searching, browsing, studying, analyzing and communicating information in a way that is appropriate to a user's task, knowledge and skills. 

A parallel goal of the course is to learn how to find relevant literature, critique the literature from both the content and the writing perspectives.
Participants will learn to identify a research question and contribution, assess the suitability of the chosen evaluation method and analysis of the results in a publication. They will apply this knowledge in the development of their own project.

Assessment
The course learning goals are based on group participation and peer review. The role of the lecturer is to ensure that progress is being made by providing feedback.

• Attendance of meetings is obligatory
• Individual: Oral presentations of various topics during the course
• Assignments to be handed in during the course.
• Group: Report on project that also details the individual contributions
• The final mark is composed of the total of marks gained during the course (around 50%) plus the final report (around 50%).

The previous INFOMMDI seminar, titled Multimedia Discourse Interaction, is now given by Lynda Hardman and Alex Telea and has been changed to "Meaningful (Linked) Data Interaction".

Last year the text on the course website was updated to reflect this but only the old text (from 2019) was published on the 2021 website.
For those who are particularly interested in the topic of Multimedia Discourse Interaction, they can discuss the project topic with Lynda Hardman. Otherwise, the course will follow the visualization topics introduced in 2020.

Meaningful (Linked) Data Interaction addresses the complexity of visualizing and interacting with information presented to users in the context of their particular task.
Their goal may be, for example, to analyze numeric data to understand trends together with their associated bias and uncertainty.
Alternatively, their task may require the exploration of symbolic information, e.g. to understand connections between topics in research literature.

(Linked) data presentation consists of combining atomic pieces of information into a coherent visualization that facilitates users in interpreting the meaning and limitations of the underlying data and understanding the relationship between components.
When appropriate for the task, users can be given access to the raw data underlying a visualization through interaction.

The seminar explores literature from diverse subfields, including linked data, data visualization and user-centred design, and provides a range of perspectives on the challenges.

Course from
The seminar challenges participants to acquire and disseminate knowledge about a complex subject in an interactive way. A pre-selection of relevant research papers is provided at the beginning of the course.
Participants are expected to supplement these with their own literature search. They are expected to take the lead on proposing, preparing, executing and presenting projects. Participants will work in groups of 2 on a joint project. Group meetings are mandatory.

Literature
Research papers, digitally made available.