ClioVis helped me review for the final exam by allowing me to take a theme from the course and trace its development throughout history. I particularly liked being able to see the multiple connections that existed among various people and events in my timeline. It helped me to visualize how the many concepts we studied this semester are very interconnected and build upon one another. Being able to conceptualize particular themes, view them in a timeline format throughout history, and connect them to each other made ClioVis a very useful tool for my studying.

Boston College Student user on ClioVis as a study tool

ClioVis helped me review for the final exam since it was another form of studying. On top of studying for the exam directly, doing this timeline also prompted me to look back at my notes and draw connections between important events.

Boston College Student user on ClioVis as a study tool

It helped me sort through all of my material and consider high-level, overarching themes…It was simple to input the description and reference for each item.

University of Texas at Austin Student user on ClioVis as a study tool

I found ClioVis very helpful in understanding the big picture and realizing that much of what we learned was simultanous and/or continuities of the past…It really helped me place people and events within their historical context, relative to other people and events.

Boston College Student user on ClioVis as a study tool

ClioVis for Term Papers and Class Projects

In large classes

“I’ve used ClioVis for two semesters now in my US history survey courses. In Fall 2020, I used it in an asynchronous online class with over 900 students. In Spring 2021, I used it in an online asynchronous class with over 600 students. 
My experience was that students really liked the project overall. Many reported that doing the assignment helped them to make connections between events and that it was more grounding for their sense of change over time than a traditional essay assignment. I use this assignment to address the cultural diversity flag requirements in particular, and many students have expressed how much they appreciated the opportunity to focus on one historically marginalized group as well.
Once students took a few minutes to experiment with using ClioVis they expressed that it was easy to use, and my Teaching Assistants have expressed that the assignments weren’t challenging to grade either.” Dr. Rachel Ozanne, the University of Texas at Austin 

From Students

The timeline helped me see the progression of ideologies throughout early modern Europe. For instance, I started with Laura Cereta who advocated for a particular “freedom” and saw how that one voice grew into the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen. Additionally, I realize just how many revolutionary voices there were in early modern Europe. Overall, I feel that I understand the periodization in this course because of the timeline.

University of Texas at Austin Student user on ClioVis for project planning

“Students in my large format class (up to 80 students) used Cliovis for their team research projects as a way to visualize and analyze how larger events and processes shaped the particular events they had gathered data for them.  It’s so often very difficult for students to link macro and micro developments.  Cliovis gives them a tool to build their analytical skills, and to take that experience and new confidence on to other projects in other courses and beyond.”

-Dr. Julie Hardwick, John E. Green Regents Professor of History, UT-Austin Academy of Distinguished Teachers, UT System Regents Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Texas at Austin

In order to complete my timeline, I had to read through all of my notes to find people and events that had some impact on my main theme (education). This forced me to look at their historical significance in a new way, in addition to just having more exposure to the material.

Boston College Student user on ClioVis for project planning

On the ClioVis Interface

I liked being able to have multiple timelines with different themes… This particular project was very informative in dealing with my group’s different timelines.

University of Texas at Dallas Student user on the ClioVis interface

The ways we have to put in dates with corresponding descriptions, then an image made a visual and kinesthetic connection for me, so, easier to remember as a sequence of connected events.

Boston College Student user on the ClioVis interface

I like having all of our information laid out in a linear, easy to find way.

University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley Student user on the ClioVis interface

The software interface is straightforward. I liked being able to connect various events and look at larger historical patterns.

Boston College Student user on the ClioVis interface

Easy to understand layout, very intuitive creation buttons.

University of Michigan Student user on the ClioVis interface

I like how different it is, not the same as a typical essay. The ability to choose something that interested us and work independently.

University of Texas at Austin Student user on the ClioVis interface

Easy to make connections between events, easy to create events, and made working as a group easy because it was remote.

University of Texas at Austin Student user on the ClioVis interface

I thought ClioVis was relatively straight forward and easy to add events and different eras to the timeline. It was easy to use and figure out.

University of Texas at Dallas Student user on the ClioVis interface

I like the type of information the software asks for. I like making the connections and visually seeing them all together. Creating a timeline gave me an interesting perspective to view [lectures] with. It’s neat to see the cause and effect.

University of Texas at Dallar Student user on the ClioVis interface

It was a nice way to visualize the events and how they relate to each other. Colors were nice to have.

Boston College Student user on the ClioVis interface

It was very easy to create events in ClioVis…The timeline interface was also easy to maneuver. After I populated all my events it was extremely easy to see the change over time, what events were occurring at the same time but in different areas of the world, as well as what type of ideology/models were circumventing the world.

Boston College Student user on the ClioVis interface

ClioVis for Family & Community Projects

For some time I had contemplated writing a family history using Birth, Wedding, and Obituary records as sources. The ClioVis program allowed this 74 year old grandmother to put together a family history with ease and efficiency. The finished diagram showed the complete family with ties and connections.  This made it simple to visualize all the connections in our family.

Maria, Salt Lake City, Utah