The physical entities which seem to serve as elements of thought are certain signs and more or less clear images which can be 'voluntarily' reproduced or combined (Einstein, 1945).
From a 19th century scatter plot used to isolate the source of a cholera epidemic to supercomputer-based weather models, visualization tools have revolutionized problem solving, research, and communication in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Today, researchers can explore and combine images of complex weather events like hurricanes, molecular structures such as pockets on the surface of proteins, or the environmental impact of factors such as deforestation. Advances in technology have led to personal computers capable of generating powerful visualizations and simulations in real time, while the rise of the Internet has increased access to the high end tools and datasets of scientific and engineering practice. Capitalizing on these advances, designers of learning technologies have in recent years developed tools that enable students to learn concepts and ways of thinking previously accessible only to experts. For example, several of the lead scientists for our Center, including Roy Pea and Nancy Songer, have created learning environments for student investigations using real-time weather data from satellites and supercomputer processing.
The Visualization and Modeling (VisMod) theme team seeks to support the design and use of innovative visualization and modeling tools in K-14 education. During the first three years of CILT's activity, the theme team's efforts centered on five focus areas ranging from understanding the cognitive value of different representational forms to refining innovative instructional frameworks that help shape the context in which the tools are used. The theme team attempted to disseminate this knowledge through seminars and courses at various institutions.
At CILT2000, these foci have evolved into a new trajectory, which seeks to synthesize and generalize the existing knowledge in the field, and forge it into general design principles and guidelines. The fourth and fifth years of VisMod's theme team activities therefore, centered around this mission through the Design Principles project.