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Case study:
Data City: Integration and visualisation of spatial and socio-economic data in an urban context

Pedagogy

Subject area: Urban Design, Urban Studies

LTSN Subject Centre: Built Environment, Cardiff University, http://cebe.cf.ac.uk/index.html [opens in a new window].

Applicability to other subject areas: The aim of the case study is to allow for the comprehension of complex data sets and the relations between them. All subjects dealing with spatial and socio-economic aspects of cities could benefit from the proposed mode of visualisation.

Ease of transferability of ideas to other subject areas: Each subject area had particular requirements with regard to which data sets would be relevant to their discipline and the way the information should be best displayed. It is the method of visualisation, rather than one particular case study, which will be transferable to a wide range of disciplines dealing with urban issues.

Level: Masters degree level. It may be possible to transfer the experience to Diploma level students

Participants: Seven students, at Masters level, and one member of staff were involved in developing the case study. The input of each member of the team varied significantly. In fact one student, whose role was to bring together the other students' individual inputs and the member of staff made, by far, the largest contributions to the case study.

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Independent study/group work: Project work, in which both independent study and group work were involved

Study mode: Full time

Pedagogical approach: The case study supports resource-based learning

Teaching methods: Project work involved both independent study and group work supporting resource-based learning. Each student completed a specific task which was integrated into an overall model.

The case study was developed mainly using seminars, one-to-one tutorials, discussions and workshops. Although the objectives were clear at the start of the process, the means had to be worked out during the development of the case study. The discussions leading to the development of a coherent model were perhaps the richest learning environments of the project.

Typical learning time: We expected students to use approximately 80 hours to complete their input to the case study. This was subdivided into 10% of seminars, tutorials and presentations, 80% for data collection and model building, and 10% for integration of their input into the overall model.

Although all students completed their tasks, the actual input of each student varied substantially.

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Prior knowledge required: The students on the Masters Programme are usually qualified architects with several years work experience. The majority come with working knowledge of CAD software [Autocad, Intergraph, Archicad, etc.]. Should a student not have CAD experience the School runs several suitable courses. Introduction to the use of the Alias Wavefront software to be used in the model was provided.

Assessment: The criteria used in the assessment of student work in the case study was: data gathering thoroughness and accuracy, clarity of communication in modelling the data, and ease of integration into the overall model.

Evaluation: Evaluation of the material was done through discussion amongst the staff involved in the project and through the Quality Assurance procedures set up in the school to monitor learning and teaching strategies.

Prior experience: The project has run for this first year

Last updated: August 4, 2003