The Washington Monthly takes a long and incredibly fascinating look at Edward Tufte in their May/June 2011 issue. Tufte is a statistician and graphic design theorist who is the leading figure in the emerging field of data visualization. Simply put, Tufte takes complete, multi-set data and converts it into aesthetically pleasing, intuitively understood charts. He’s been used a consultant by both the latter Bush and Obama administrations. Certainly, this is a skill worth having, worth using, and worth teaching. Using graphic design in the classroom like Edward Tufte uses graphic design in the boardroom will promote deep learning.

Converting data into a chart or graph is a widely used best practice; however, it can sometimes represent and promote surface learning, rather than the deep learning that we strive for. Julian Hermida, a professor of law at Algoma University has a nice way of defining deep learning, calling it “an approach and an attitude to learning, where the learner uses higher-order cognitive skills such as the ability to analyse, synthesize, solve problems, and thinks meta-cognitively in order to construct long-term understanding. It involves the critical analysis of new ideas, linking them to already known concepts, and principles so that this understanding can be used for problem solving in new, unfamiliar contexts.”

Tufte often points to the Minard Map as “the best statistical graphic ever drawn,” and this map is a great example of how graphic design can be deep thinking. The Minard Map illustrates Napolean’s advance into, and subsequent retreat from, Russia, or as Tufte states: the map illustrates War and Peace. In a simple and elegant display, it illustrates six different sets of data: geography (a map of Russia); the army’s course through the terrain; the army’s direction both in and out of Russia; the number of soldier’s remaining (via varying thickness of line); the temperature; and chronological time. The map itself isn’t that large and incorporates quite simply and beautifully a large amount of data. It’s War and Peace conveyed on a surface roughly the size of a large pizza box.

The Minard Map and other rich, dense graphic designs are great tools for teaching. They works all along the lines of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I’ve begun challenging students with assignments that ask them to incorporate graphic design containing multiple sets of data. Last semester, the first assignment was to draw a campus map that illustrated their path to graduation. The type of data each student chose to include was fascinating, and the discussion afterwards proved just as interesting.