Dealing with Data: Instructing with Infographics in an Undergraduate Sociology Course

Abstract

As the collection and dissemination of “big data” become easier, we are exposed to increasing numbers of visuals, or infographics, that convey this data. Students are likely to interact with infographics through news, advertising, and social media platforms, but they may not have the skills in quantitative reasoning or visual literacy to effectively understand how data is employed or framed to tell particular stories. Teaching students about the tools, available data, and communication styles that infographics offer early in their coursework can provide them a basis on which to better develop a variety of analytic and communication tools throughout additional courses in their major field of study. Through the process of learning to locate, evaluate, and use data in infographics, students also become better consumers of data visualization. A series of scaffolded assignments that help accomplish this are detailed here.