Development of Inquiry-based Active Learning Pedagogy Approach to Heightening Learners' Critical Thinking Skills in Data Visualization for Analytics Course

Data visualization is a powerful tool for communicating complex and multidimensional information in an effective and engaging way. However, creating effective data visualizations requires not only technical skills, but also critical thinking skills to select, analyze, and interpret data. In this paper, we propose an inquiry-based active learning pedagogy approach to heighten learners’ critical thinking skills for the course Data Visualization Analytics. We describe the design and implementation of a series of learning activities that involve learners in posing questions, collecting and exploring data, creating and presenting visualizations, and reflecting on their learning outcomes by collecting survey questions from 76 students. We also present the results of a mixed-methods evaluation of the approach, which involved all 76 undergraduate students from Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education (Deemed to be University) in Tamilnadu, India. The evaluation showed that the approach improved learners’ critical thinking skills, as measured by a pre-and post-test, and enhanced their engagement and satisfaction with the course, as indicated by a survey and interviews with four input parameters and one output parameter. We discuss the implications of our findings for the data visualization analytics course and suggest directions for students' efficacy by applying regression and correlation analysis.