What Can Educational Science Offer Visualization? A Reflective Essay

In this reflective essay, we explore how educational science can be relevant for visualization research, addressing beneficial intersections between the two communities. While visualization has become integral to various areas, including education, our own ongoing collaboration has induced reflections and discussions we believe could benefit visualization research. In particular, we identify five key perspectives: surpassing traditional evaluation metrics by incorporating established educational measures; defining constructs based on existing learning and educational research frameworks; applying established cognitive theories to understand interpretation and interaction with visualizations; establishing uniform terminology across disciplines; and, fostering interdisciplinary convergence. We argue that by integrating educational research constructs, methodologies, and theories, visualization research can further pursue ecological validity and thereby improve the design and evaluation of visual tools. Our essay emphasizes the potential of intensified and systematic collaborations between educational scientists and visualization researchers to advance both fields, and in doing so craft visualization systems that support comprehension, retention, transfer, and critical thinking. We argue that this reflective essay serves as a first point of departure for initiating dialogue that, we hope, could help further connect educational science and visualization, by proposing future empirical studies that take advantage of interdisciplinary approaches of mutual gain to both communities.