Data Visualization for Teenage Teaching: A Review of Current Applications, Pedagogical Strategies, and Impact on Learning

Data visualization has long been recognized and applied as a powerful tool for education. However, systematic reviews within the visualization community focusing on this specific area remain limited, and existing studies have focused more on higher education or early childhood education. In this work, we focus on a particular stage of education: teenage education, where students are undergoing significant changes in cognitive abilities and facing increased curriculum demands, making visualization a crucial support tool. We are particularly interested in two research questions: (i) What is the existing method space of implementing visualization in teenage teaching, and (ii) How are the effects of the implemented methods? Driven by these questions, we reviewed 112 papers that provide valuable empirical evidence on how data visualization has been applied in teenage education and analyze three main aspects: (i) visualization applications (e.g., visualization types, forms, tools, educational goals); (ii) its pedagogical integration with curricula and teaching activities; and (iii) how it affects learning performance and user experience. Based on our analysis, we discuss a set of key trends, such as a predominant focus on STEM disciplines and the increasing integration of AR/VR and AI technologies with visualization. We also highlight various implementation challenges, such as the gaps between professional visualization tools and the actual needs of educational settings, as well as the complexity of student characteristics. Through this review, we hope to provide visualization researchers, developers, and educators with in-depth insights to better align the use of visualization with the developmental needs of teenage learners.