d3 and Cal Answers
Overview
This series of sessions teaches some of the skills and techniques necessary for building simple data visualizations in Cal Answers using d3.js. Participants will primarily use HTML, CSS and Javascript (and JS libraries like D3), and, in some cases, command-line tools.
This will be a technical course, but the primary goal of the course is exposure to d3 and some awareness of its potential; by the end of the sessions, you should have some ideas about how d3 can be used to improve the campus' access to data in Cal Answers.
Your Facilitator
Sara Quigley - resident data viz analyst in the Office of Planning & Analysis
Session Schedule
Sessions will take place on Wednesdays in August for approximately two hours.
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Aug 12
Getting started: configuring your computers, getting software, hacking 101
Overview of HTML, CSS, Javascript and getting up to speed with github, the terminal, and the software you'll need for our sessions. -
Aug 19
Creating a simple bar chart for the 4.5 year grad rate using Cal Answers data
Loading Cal Answers data into a bar chart, adding axes, labels, colors. -
Aug 26
Creating a stacked bar chart for all graduation rates
More colors, a legend, adding interactivity. -
Sep 16
Adding our new stacked bar chart back into Cal Answers
Using the CalAnswers narrative view, debugging within OBIEE. -
tbd
Additional sessions, as time permits
tbd
Useful links
- The D3.js web site is actually a great place to start. From there, you can see the examples gallery. There is also a list of resources (tutorials, techniques, talks/videos) and the d3 wiki begins with info on getting up and running.
- Free to the UC Berkeley community is an O'Reilly book by Scott Murray called: Interactive Data Visualization for the Web