Network Visualization Literacy: Novel Approaches to Measurement and Instruction
Zoss, A., Maltese, A., Uzzo, S. M., & Börner, K. (2018). Network visualization literacy: Novel approaches to measurement and instruction. Network Science In Education: Transformational Approaches in Teaching and Learning, 169-187.
Network visualizations, a particular kind of data visualization, can be a useful way to visually represent the relationships in real or theoretical social, physical, or biological systems. Network data can be generated and analyzed without being visualized, but the visualizations are often more compelling and may be more easily understood than numbers that summarize network properties. With the growth of network science research across a variety of domains, there is an increased call for basic literacies in networks and the ability to use network visualization as a powerful tool to understand interactions in complex systems. In this chapter, we discuss the current status of the research on network visualization literacy (NVL), how it is measured, what the current research says about NVL across a variety of contexts, ways experts are teaching to develop NVL, and recommendations based on our current understanding of best ways to improve NVL.