Skip to content

Wentao Wang

Daily Practice – 4

This is a board game I designed based on chess. As you can see, the rules only give you information about four animals, but the actual game includes much more animals. So to play this game, you need to communicate with other players, and come up with your own set of rules.

This game design resembles the limitation of teaching inside classroom. We can only receive limited amount of knowledge in the classroom, but when we go outside and connect with the real world and the society, there are many unknown things to you. To work them out, you need to communicate with others or form your own set of rules.

Assignment 2 – Topic

Topic: Education, Pedagogy, AI teacher

System map:

This is a system map I made focusing on the big topic – pedagogy. I might narrow it down to a smaller topic. For now, I’m interested in how AI could replace teacher in class. How would it solve problems in traditional pedagogy.

Stakeholders: students, teachers, parents

Critical Analysis: There are many problems in traditional pedagogy, for example, teacher could not put equal amount of time and effort on every student; students learn things in different paces, but they have to learn the same thing in class; students have different interests and talents, but many are buried due to lack of attention and encouragement; the qualification of teachers are sometimes not guaranteed; etc. I would like to stress these problems and limitations in my project. And maybe provide a possible solution: AI teacher.

Form/Affordances: I want to use game as the form, haven’t decided whether it’s a table top game or computer game.

Metaphor: teaching / learning is a game

Tone: sarcastic

Intended experience/outcome: there are limitations with traditional pedagogy and teachers, what if there is no human teacher anymore. How would it change the way we learn and teach.

Daily Practice – 3

This is a concept I made based on the researched I did on the topic pedagogy. Pedagogy is a very big topic, and the concept of pedagogy developed and changed overtime. At the beginning, teacher was considered a key role in pedagogy, students learn from a teacher, a teacher facilitates students’ learning. With the development of society, people started to see more problems in traditional pedagogy. As stressed in critical pedagogy, there are many limitations like inequality, power abuse, etc. To achieve better education, the function and power of teachers had to change.

As pedagogy kept developing, student-centered learning appeared, in which, teachers hold lesser control, while students become the learner as well as the facilitator. This makes me wonder how pedagogy would be like in the future. Would it be possible that the role of teacher is totally removed from the class. Currently, there are already products and programs that utilize artificial intelligence and virtual reality to facilitate teaching. I wonder if AI could actually replace teacher, creating a new pedagogy without real human teacher.

Daily Practice – 2

This is the second game I designed to stress education problems. The rule is simple, players role a dice to determine how to move on the map. Different points on the dice represent different kind of movements and activities. The first image shows the rules and the second image shows the map. The starting point ins marked green and the end goal is marked red.

Looking at the map, the goal is very simple and obvious, you will win this game by taking a simple step to the front. But if you follow the rules of the dice points, you will find this goal hard or even impossible to reach.

I want to use this game to represent the conflict between complex and maybe useless rules with simple solution in education. I also want to use English teaching in China as an example. Teachers spared a lot of effort on teaching grammar. There are many complicated rules, and students do tones of exercises to become experts in grammar. But this couldn’t make them good English speakers. Sometimes, focusing to much on rules and regulations might lead you further from your real goal.

Daily Practice – 1

For the second project, I’m think about using board games to stress different problems in education using a sarcastic tone. The games are designed to be hard or impossible to finish, which resembles real world educational or pedagogical problems.

This is the first game I designed. Players can collect different Chinese words. There are no high-frequency words, many of the them are advanced words, academic words, or traditional words, etc. The player’s mission is to use the characters in these big words to assemble a very simple sentence.

In my opinion, this game reflect the conflict between what students learn in class and real world application, especially in English education in China. Teachers often ask students to recite good words and sentences to write good essays. But when it come to real world communication, many students couldn’t speak English at all, regardless of all these words they recited in class.

Post-Mortem Reflection: Plantation

  • What did you learn?

First of all, I definitely learned more about the concept of plantation and coffee plantation situations around the world. I learned about ecological influences and economical impacts of plantations during the research. Secondly, this thinking process was a new experience for me. The methods of making system maps, thinking about metaphor, analyzing critical lens and audience were very helpful for me to get a better idea of what I would do for my project. The last but not the least, I learned more about doing research and utilizing research results, not to mention the coding techniques I learned to make my interactive map.

  • What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on critique itself?

The feedbacks I received were focused on user instructions and critical information. I agree that I should add more guides for the users to understand the functions on the webpage. What’s more, I could also add more critical information to stress the problems more strongly. Other than showing the facts and data I researched, I could also illustrate more on how these numbers reflect certain underlying social problem, and maybe providing possible solutions.

  • What might you do differently in terms of process or content?

For the process of this project, I might put more effort on researching social problems relating to plantations and possible solutions. As for the content, I might focus on other kinds of plantations like cotton, sugar cane, etc. I might also go an entirely different track, researching on planation in space. This is an idea I received in my interview.

  • What was inspiring? What parts?

The process of this project was very inspiring. This is the first time I researched on something non-scientific, and to create an artistic form. Making concept maps and thinking about metaphor was inspiring, these processes help me cleared and organized my thoughts. And by studying my own though process, I was able to come to a more detailed goal and applicable goal.

  • Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts, in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc…

I think my project related to most of the points in the prompt. The final product is usable, audiences are able to gain more information on plantation. And by showing the facts of social problem, it inspires audiences to think more about social issues of local plantations. I kind of switched between metaphors when developing this project. Although in the end I chose the metaphor of iceberg, it was not very clearly suggested in the interactive map. I think that’s what I need to think more in later projects.

  • How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from

Personally, it’s easier for me to do research. I like to dig into different topics and learn more about things. When it comes to representing my thought, it was pretty hard for me to think of metaphors and design artistic forms. That’s the part I need to improve in later projects. And I think starting from learning from other projects and doing more user research and user testing would be helpful.

Topic 1 guide: Interactive coffee plantation map

Link to the interactive map: https://wangwentao97.github.io/Connections-Lab/midterm%201/

Presentation link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1y7IIG6MQHQvo_2zzAbT4QXpd5zObdUmxyi2I8sgPgmU/edit?usp=sharing

 

For the guide of topic 1, I made an interactive map showing the coffee plantations all over the world.

I used mapbox api to create a world map. On the map you can see many circles. Each circle represent a country that produces coffee. And the size of the  circle represent the amount of coffee production each year. All the circles are clickable. By clicking on a circle, an image of local coffee plantation will show up. Facts about the coffee plantation in that country will also shown below the image. These facts are based on research finding, aiming to inspire more questions and thoughts when users read them.

You can also enter any city name you are interested in. After clicking the button, the city of choice will shown on the map. You can still click on other circles. Now more interactions will appear. Lines will appear, connecting coffee production countries with the city you choose. There are numbers marked on the lines, representing coffee export data of the country.

System map:

Explanation:

Plantation is an iceberg. Take coffee for example, we drink coffee everyday, but it takes a huge effort for coffee to arrive on our table from its original plantation. This map aim to raise the awareness of how plantation influences our life, while oppressions and ecological impacts are happening beneath the water.

 

General research findings:

  • The low wages typically paid to plantation workers are the basis of plantation profitability in some areas.
  • Plantation plays an important role in current world market.
  • Plantation agriculture grew rapidly with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonialism.
  • The longer a crop’s harvest period (tropical crops: eg. coffee), the more efficient plantations become. Economies of scale are also achieved when the distance to market is long.

 

Research results and resources:

  • Coffee world production and trading data.

https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/coffee-world-markets-and-trade

  • A living wage for workers on coffee farms in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil would be R$1629 (477 US dollars) per month, according to new research. The current prevailing wage is R$1307 (383 US dollars) per month.

https://www.comunicaffe.com/new-research-highlights-living-wage-coffee-workers-brazil/

  • During the harvest, about 40-50 percent of labourers work informally, without being registered,” says Silva. He reports that plantation owners frequently offer workers a higher wage to work without a contract. “Forty percent of those with official contracts still experience violations of their rights. Typically they can neither read nor write, and so they lose out on things like vacation pay and overtime pay. They simply sign the documents without knowing what they are agreeing to,” says Barbosa.

https://old.danwatch.dk/en/undersogelseskapitel/kapitel-3-cirka-halvdelen-af-brasiliens-kaffeplukkere-arbejder-uden-kontrakt/

  • Workers at Cooxupé, the world’s largest coffee cooperative, had up to 30% of their wages deducted to pay for the use of portable harvesting machines that their employers should have provided for free. The violation occurred on the Pedreira farm in Minas Gerais state, which is owned by the family of the Cooxupé president, Carlos Augusto Rodrigues de Melo. Cooxupé, which sells coffee to major international brands such as Nespresso and Starbucks, nearly doubled its profit in 2020 to $61 million, on revenue of $1 billion. In 2020, 140 workers were rescued from slave-labor-like conditions at coffee plantations in Brazil, all of them in Minas Gerais state, according to labor inspectors.

https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/labor-rights-violations-at-brazil-coffee-farm-linked-to-starbucks-nespresso/

  • As such, we find much younger workers in Ethiopia than in Costa Rica or Indonesia. So young that 21.6 per cent of its coffee workers are reported to be 14 years old or less. Another element of interest is the high share of workers aged 66 or older in Costa Rica. Moreover, most +65 year old Costa Rican coffee workers are self-employed (75.6 per cent), a group that tends to remain longer in the workforce.

https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_protect/—protrav/—travail/documents/projectdocumentation/wcms_765134.pdf

  • The U.S. Department of Labor reports an estimated 34,131 children laborers growing coffee in Vietnam, 12,526 of which are under the age of 15.

https://borgenproject.org/labor-exploitation-in-coffee-production/

  • Hundreds of Colombia’s small coffee growers have stopped cultivating the bean in the face of low prices and reduced harvests linked to a shifting climate. In the last 18 months, Colombia has lost nearly 100,000 acres of coffee plantations, more than 4 percent of the land under coffee cultivation, according to a statement issued last week by Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers (Fedecafé).

https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-climate-changes-colombias-small-coffee-farmers-pay-the-price

  • The average age of coffee farmers, at 55 years, the same as Jose Fernando Tavárez, is no accident.

https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/colombias-coffee-plantations-struggle-aging-workforce

  • In India, among all workers in coffee plantations, 62% are women workers. The wage ratio between male and female workers is 0.97.

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2541816235?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

  • Coffee is among the products produced by child labor in Uganda. In harvest season, a decline in school attendance is observed. Children perform hazardous work in coffee-growing families to support the farm and household activities.

https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/resource-item/origin-issue-assessment-uganda-coffee/

 

 

Plantation guide progress – draft

For the guide, I’m making an interactive map showing the world trading of plantation products, I’m using coffee as my first plantation product for demonstration.

I first did a research on the data of coffee production and world market trading. I found the data on the website of United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service. Here is the link to the website. https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/coffee-world-markets-and-trade

Here is a draft of the interactive map I made:

I used the mapbox api to draw the world map on the webpage. I extracted production data and trading data to make my own database. On this draft there are many circles with different sizes. The sizes of the circles represent the amount of production of coffee bean in that country.

For further development, I will make all these circles interactive. Users would be able to click on the circles, and more data showing local plantation situations will pop up. I will also try to add connection between each countries to show the trading process.

Topic I Interviews: Plantation

I interviewed a friend who is an engineer currently working at the China Agricultural Machinery Research Institute. He’s research direction is on coating materials for agricultural machines

  • How do you understand the word plantation

I understand it as defining an area and planting specific crops in this area to generate economic benefits.

  • Can you think of some positive impacts of plantation on the environment.

To a certain extent, the vegetation coverage rate is increased, and at the same time, it provides a living environment and a suitable habitat for living organisms.

  • Can you think of some negative impacts of plantation on the environment.

In developed countries, agricultural planting is highly mechanized. From my research aspect, the wear and tear of machines will cause tiny metal fragments falling into the soil, causing negative effect on the soil. In addition, in developing countries, especially in areas with a low degree of agricultural mechanization, the level of mechanical agricultural planting is low. In these places, people still use traditional irrigation method, which causes a greater waste of water resources.

  • What other impacts do you think plantation might have?

1. May affect the abundance of agricultural products, thereby affecting economic benefits.

2. Plantation may provide certain employment opportunities.

  • If you want to know more about plantation, what directions/topics are you interested in?

1. Historical origin, when it comes to plantation, slavery often comes to mind. Why is plantation one of the representatives of slavery?

2. Are contemporary plantations have higher economical outcome than triditional farmland?

  • If you were asked to make a connection between the concepts of plantation and space, from which angles do you think you can connect?

Space plantation, if human beings want to immigrate to space, it will be essential to develop a specific space plantation. If understanding this word from a more general definition, plantation must be a kind of agricultural planting within a specific space. The establishment of plantation can be viewed as occupying space from nature in order for people to make profit.

Topic 1 Form Analysis

  • Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)

 

Here are some pictures that inspired me. The form I chose is a map. One of the features of a map is that it presents information both on the macro scare and on the micro scale. Since I’m focusing on the economic influences of plantation both worldwide and locally, a map is a suitable form for me to show it.

 

  • How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?

For example, an amusement park map shows you the entire park, you can get a general idea by a quick glance. You can see the big rides, the roads connecting different places. And if you look closer, you can find more detailed information like the location of bathrooms. And for electronic maps, you can get more detailed information by clicking on different places. So I think I’ll also try to make an interactive map. You can see the world market trading system in the big picture. And when you click on specific countries, information of local economy will pop up, providing the micro view.

 

  • What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize?

If I try a different form, the display of information would change. For example, drawing lines between different countries is the most direct and obvious way to show the trading relationship between countries. If I use another form, like a chart or diagram, the data visualization would be less obvious and hard to understand.

 

  • Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)? Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?

One metaphor that suits the form I choose is that trading is a web that covers the world. There are nodes on the web, and the nodes are connected by lines. And within each nodes, there are more information for us to discover. And if you change one node, you will influence the entire web.