was responding to Stephen Hornsby’s position paper, in which he comments on the poor cartographic quality of most GIS visualizations. He says, “Fourth, the GIS that I have seen always seem clunky. The aesthetic representation of data in a GIS hardly seems to have been addressed. I have yet to see a GIS that comes close to the work of a good cartographer.” Cartography is a powerful form of communication, but to be effective, a cartographic representation must be carefully designed to convey the desired message. A GIS visualization will seldom accomplish this end because it is frequently cluttered with data that distracts from what the creator wants to communicate and the current GIS software packages still do not permit cartographic production of the highest quality. Frankly, many GIS users do not know much about cartography. Maps and other forms of visual information can certainly carry narratives, as David Staley asserted, but to do so, they must be well designed to communicate clearly the intended message. David has written about the need for such effective visualization designs.
Joe Polman on 26 Aug 10"The CoMPASS project integrates two modes of learning science: digital linked text in a hypertext system, CoMPASS, and accompanying design challenges. Several CoMPASS units have been developed covering a range of topics in mechanics and enable students to learn about key concepts such as work, energy, force, acceleration, mechanical advantage etc. The principle guiding the design of CoMPASS materials is to enable students to see relationships between concepts and principles. Concept maps that change dynamically based on the concepts selected by students, supplementing the text in the CoMPASS system, help students to see these relationships. The design challenges provide students with a context for their hands-on science investigations, and enable them to see the interconnections between the concepts (e.g., force and distance). "
