Design Challenge: Create a New Visualization

You are preparing to finish a unit of study with your students. As an assessment, design an assignment that challenges your students to create the specifications for a new visualization on Sefaria.

Step 1: Create a new sheet on Sefaria

Step 2: Add some content (texts, media, etc.) that speaks to the content that you are teaching. Did you just finish a chapter of the Torah? Did you study a theme, character, or story? This is an opportunity for synthesis. You may choose to add some or all of the content, links to texts, highlights, or review questions.

Step 3: Write instructions appropriate to your subject matter and setting to ask your students to:

- Select content from which to draw a data set

- Decide what data this visualization will display, and why. Ask them content specific questions about what they want to teach others about this material. What will this visualization teach people? What did you learn this semester (year, unit, etc.) that you want to highlight for others?

- Decide what this visualization should do. Consider having them write specific instructions for the engineers. "When you load the page, you will see x. When you click z, y happens."

- Decide what this visualization will look like. This instruction, if included, provides a real-world visual element. Here is library of D3 Javascript visualizations that can be reused for any purpose.

- Pitch this visualization to others: Will they make a video explaining their idea? Write it up in an essay? Create a slide show? Give your students clear instructions! (Consider integrating with your school's computer science class, or engaging parents or community members who are computer programmers!)

Thoughts? Questions? Contact me anytime to discuss.