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Topic 2: Final Documentation

Here is the link to my presentation slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pycgeBW917MoM0FG8Qr7c3pETEx2SAfD/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=110159789191633592073&rtpof=true&sd=true

Here are the links to the game:

Project summary:

For this project, I’m focusing on education and pedagogy. After making concept maps and doing reachers, I narrowed my focus to AI and teacher. In my research, I found that other than teaching knowledge, teachers cause a lot more influences to students than we normally think.

I’m currently working in a educational company. Our company designs and produces self-learning devices for students, and our ultimate goal is to achieve education equality; to be more specific, every student with this learning device could learn what are taught in school all by themselves, even better. Since educational resources are rare in poor area, with this divide, we no longer need teachers or even schools, everyone can receive the best education. This makes me think about the comparison between AI teaching and a real teacher. And based on my research, the emotional connection between a human teacher and students is crucial in students’ mental development and characteristic formation, and that’s what AI could not achieved for now. Maybe in the future where AI has been evolved good enough to make social and emotional connections with people, but for now, human teacher is irreplaceable.

The game I made aimed to simulate a situation where people can make connections with the computer. The the game is a metaphor of a teaching setting. In the game, the players have to make choices, and every time a player makes a choice, a video of a human (me) will popup, this is my attempt to form an emotional bond with the player. If AI could replace human teacher by forming emotional bonds with students, this emotional attachment would be able to affect the students’ decision making. (or the players’ decision making in my project)

User testing result:

  • Here are some of the feedbacks I received from some of the users who played the game:
  • The questions are a little bit confusing for people who are not familiar with the rules.
  • Some users didn’t realize the outcome of making different choices.
  • The video popup takes time to load, which disturbs the flow of experience.
  • The message sent from this game is not clear enough, people tend to pay more attention to the game itself, rather than have a video showing up after making the choices.
  • The influence of the video is little, few people tends to change their decision with or without the video.

Here are the system maps:

      

this is a picture of me teaching elementary school students in a classroom:

This is the link to my bibliography:

This is the link to my interview documentation:

 

Topic 2: Bibliography

Bibliography

Bayfield, Zach. “It’s Time to Reevaluate Traditional Pedagogy – The Oberlin Review.” The Oberlin Review, https://oberlinreview.org/25624/opinions/its-time-to-reevaluate-traditional-pedagogy/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

“Frontiers | The Relationship between Teacher Support and Students’ Academic Emotions: A Meta-Analysis.” Frontiers, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02288/full. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

“Harlow’s Classic Studies Revealed the Importance of Maternal Contact – Association for Psychological Science – APS.” Association for Psychological Science – APS, https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/harlows-classic-studies-revealed-the-importance-of-maternal-contact.html. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

Holstein, Kenneth, and Vincent Aleven. “Designing for Human–AI Complementarity in K‐12 Education.” AI Magazine, no. 2, Wiley, June 2022, pp. 239–48. Crossref, doi:10.1002/aaai.12058.
Ilomäki, Liisa, and Pirkko Rantanen. “Intensive Use of ICT in School: Developing Differences in Students’ ICT Expertise.” Computers & Education, no. 1, Elsevier BV, Jan. 2007, pp. 119–36. Crossref, doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2005.01.003.
Kenneth, et al. “Student Learning Benefits of a Mixed-Reality Teacher Awareness Tool in AI-Enhanced Classrooms | SpringerLink.” SpringerLink, Springer International Publishing, 2018, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-93843-1_12.
KIM, WOO-HYUN, and JONG-HWAN KIM. Individualized AI Tutor Based on Developmental Learning Networks. Feb. 2020.
“The Pedagogical Limitations of Inclusive Education: Educational Philosophy and Theory: Vol 52, No 10.” Taylor & Francis, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131857.2020.1723549?journalCode=rept20. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

Topic 2: interview

Here is the documentation of the interview I had with a collage professor.

  1. What is your occupation

collage professor

  1. What do you think the relationship between teachers and students should be like?

Teachers and students should teach each other and learn from each other.

  1. In addition to the teaching of knowledge, what other influences do teachers have on students?

Evangelism, teachers play an important role in helping students establish a correct worldview and values. Teacher also helps student with their psychological and mental health.

  1. Does online distance teaching have a negative impact on the establishment of teacher-student relationship?

No negative effects.

  1. If possible, please share an example of a teacher’s impact on students’ psychological and emotional aspects

Once helped a student treat failure correctly and establish an optimistic attitude.

  1. What do you think are the advantages of artificial intelligence replacing teachers?

Artificial intelligence can store more knowledge and more comprehensive knowledge, so it is better than teachers in teaching knowledge.

  1. What do you think are the disadvantages of artificial intelligence replacing teachers?

In the face of individual students’ psychological and other problems, artificial intelligence is not as good as teachers.

  1. If the future technology is sufficiently developed, do you think teachers will be replaced by artificial intelligence? Why?

Can’t. Preaching and teaching karma to solve doubts. Among them, preaching is the first, and artificial intelligence still cannot surpass teachers.

Publics and Counterpublics

This is the artwork I choose to analyze: https://creative-capital.org/projects/4mx-greenhouse/

Who created it:

This artwork is created by Jordan Weber, a land sculptor and activist. It is also created by local communities who participated in bring and growing plants in the greenhouse Weber built.

For whom:

For indigenous communities and black communities. For people who are polarized from food resources, green space and the act of collaboration.

With what materials:

the greenhouse itself was built with wood, glass, steel and other construction materials. There are also many plant pots for growing plants.

Metaphor:

The greenhouse is a secured and free space. People could seek comfort, heal wounds, and build a harmonious community in this space.

With what intention:

In many black communities, people are polarized from food resources and green space. This greenhouse provides a space for people to get together and collaborate. He also tries to raise environmental awareness by providing people opportunities to grow their own food, comparing to mono crops grew in industrial farmlands.

What impact, on whom, how:

By setting up more green spaces in the community, it affects human mental state, lowering crime rate. It also helped healing people in the community that are constantly wounded and traumatized. This green space serve as a safe space to be oneself and not be seen as a threat.

Public and counterpublic:

In this artwork, the public would be the black communities and the indigenous communities. The people in these communities are the primary participants of this greenhouse. They have similar life experiences, understand the artists intentions, and benefit most from this green space.

Topic 2 Final Reflection

  • What did you learn?

From this project, I learned a lot about creating something physical and combining it with something digital. I also learned a lot about user testing, and applying feedback I received without jeopardizing my vision.

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

I received a lot of good feedback during my user testing about the usage of the app itself. One flaw I made before user testing was making a lot of assumptions about what the audience would know how to do. For instance, I assumed that all users would be able to easily figure out how to unsubscribe from their newsletters, but I found that it was not obvious for many people, or they didn’t have experience doing it.

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

I would have liked to have a working prototype to present, where the light in the planter would be controlled by the app mock up. That way, it would be much easier to present and give people a better picture on how the product works. I would also like to do more research on equating information given about CO2 emissions, so that users have a better idea of their impact on climate change.

  • What was inspiring? What parts?

Creating the mock up was very inspiring, because it felt very real when testing it myself on my phone. Once I started making and testing the mock app, I got more excited about the project.

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

Looking back at the assignment prompt, I think I was able to be specific about what I wanted to research, which was how email affects climate change. I was able to show documentation on my experiments and practice. I had a lens that I looked through, which was from a users perspective, and I also had a clear audience in mind, which were average people with office jobs. My intention was to educate the audience on the need to manage their inboxes, and to criticize how corporations put the onus of climate change on the individual. The tone was to be ironic, and mimic a cheesy infomercial.

  • 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

While research was easier for me, I felt that experimentation was more interesting. The research came quickly, since I already had a clear idea of what the topic was about, and just needed evidence to support it. Experimentation was interesting for me, because its rare for me to get to build anything physical. I had a clear goal in mind, which was to combine the digital with the physical.

Topic 2

What did you learn?

During this project, I learned more about critical lenses and more about critical experiences themselves. I also learned while doing my research that many cultures do not realize that they are similar in so many ways, and that we can also learn from each other to change the future.

 

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

Change some of the wording in the prototype to make it more obvious what the whole idea is. Also, “I feel like it would be interesting to see ways in which existing weapons can be slightly modified for a nonkilling purpose similar to how there are those pistol-shaped lighters.”

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

I would add more functions to the prototype in terms of adding buttons and information.

What was inspiring? What parts?

Learning about how weaponry advanced and is continuing to do so.

 

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

The project did relate to my original prompts, however, I needed to fixate on one central idea, instead of the wide spectrum. My tone stayed the same in terms of keeping it light, I wanted people to be creative in their ideas for future weapons. My audience was paleoanthropologists (people who study human fossils), students, and cultural anthropologists (people who study culture). Those still stayed the same.

 

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?

I did more research than experimentation. In my case, there was a lot of information I had to research in terms of history and evidence rather than working on the prototype itself. Depending on the project I think that experimentation would be more required than research.

Topic 2 Final

For my final, I took collective feedback from the user testing and put it in motion.

https://www.figma.com/file/HL1bTpYbgobCFc7gBE62fO/app?node-id=0%3A1&t=w3GCokJYSDP7qEtG-1

The link to the working prototype is above.

 

Slides Link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16aO9bulMjw649S2GUSf_44IyAYQCcAjXsA2h3-XVqAg/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

Systems Map:

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPISBWSw=/?share_link_id=841439398917

Bibliography:

The Great Human Migration | History| Smithsonian Magazine

Native American Weapons: Bows and Arrows, Spears, Tomahawks, War Clubs, and Other American Indian Weaponry (native-languages.org)

In Their Footsteps: Human Migration Out of Africa | National Geographic Society

 

Topic 2 Interview

I interviewed one of my friends, and here is what was said:

Have you ever heard/learned about the “Great Human Migration”?

I have never really learned about it, just heard about it once before.

Do you think about your ancestors frequently?

Not really no

Do you have an interest in history or your family history itself?

I think that learning about your family history is cool. I would like to learn more about my family’s history a lot more.

What do you think about the drastic changes between ancient weapons to the weapons used today?

It is actually crazy to think about honestly. Our ancestors went from using stones and wood to using machinery and bombs to use as weapons against each other. It is kinda scary to think about the future.

The future is scary to think about. Do you think there could be a way to make “weapons” that could be used for good and not have deadly consequences?

I am not sure.

 

Guide 2 project

presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a2H6gPsT7QdK8xzMEh_cj6YjNvG5kSBwQP3ckl5SYR0/edit?usp=sharing

Guide link:https://github.com/YunshanJiang/guide2.git

critique: Younger Generation Lost Interest in Buddhist Culture and Art

Intention: I want to share buddhist culture and art with younger generation by merging modern or fashion elements with the basic forms of Buddha, which also gives younger generation more opportunities of knowing buddhist philosophy. 

Research trail: 

  1. I had a general looking on different countries Buddhist figures and made the system map: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/10/31/topic-2-system-map/
  2. For the daily practice, by changing some key elements or feature, I made the collage of different countries’ buddhist figures.

  1. Buddhist figures are various according to different countries and cultures. So I narrow down my research and image resources on Tibetan area Buddhist figure and Chinese Buddhist figure.

4. I did a series of research on natal Buddha 8 patron saints which are common in east Asia. Each of them and their parts have particular meaning. Research note: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPFj1a44=/?share_link_id=712752205624

4. After analyzing the traditional buddha figure, my idea was to imitate the layer or structure of buddha figure. 

Guide: 

Original idea: I tried to make a fiction website that shows disassembled 8 natal Buddha figures and presents each part by 3d models, I redesign the parts and user reconnects them. 

After elaborating my guide forms to my brother who are taking the art doctor degree in Japan and one of my friend, he gave me some suggestions. Here is the link of user testing: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/wp-admin/post.php?post=3905&action=edit

Finally I decided to make a fictional website for user to DIY their own buddha figures by collage.

Before building buddha, the website show the samples of 8 natal buddhas and explain their meaning and key features.

step one: choose avatar

step two:choose accessories

step three:

final results sample:

bibliography:

  1. Powers, J. (2009). A bull of a man : Images of masculinity, sex, and the body in indian buddhism. Harvard University Press.

2. Kieschnick, J. & Shahar, M. (2013). India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812208924

3. Jones, C.V., ‘Introduction: Buddhism and Its Religious Others’, in C.V. Jones (ed.), Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations (London, 2022; online edn, British Academy Scholarship Online, 22 Sept. 2022), https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197266991.003.0001, accessed 8 Nov. 2022.

4.FERGUSON, J. M., KENT, D. W., MCDANIEL, J. T., THOMPSON, A., MAKLEY, C., BERKWITZ, S. C., SCOTT, G. A., JERRYSON, M., ELISON, W., GAMBURD, M. R., LEIDER, J. P., LEDGERWOOD, J., GELLNER, D. N., & JOHNSON, I. C. (2016). LOOKING BACKWARD: Inventing Tradition in the Modern World. In J. Samuels, J. T. McDaniel, & M. M. Rowe (Eds.), Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia (pp. 15–56). University of Hawai’i Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn6w6.6

5.Leighton, Taigen Dan (1998). Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides to Awakening and Their Modern Expression. New York: Penguin Arkana. pp. 158–205. ISBN 0140195564. OCLC 37211178.

6.[1]常云霞.虚空藏菩萨与“佛法”的故事[J].农家女,2014(4):33-33.

7. Lopez, D. S., & Stone, J. I. (2019). Two buddhas seated side by side : A guide to the lotus sūtra. Princeton University Press.

8.“The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa”. 84000: Translating The Words of The Buddha. Retrieved 28 November 2022.

9.Pinte, Klaus (2010). Vairocana/Mahāvairocana. obo in Buddhism. doi: 10.1093/obo/9780195393521-0094

Topic 2 User Test

I sent my project to some of my friends, they helped me to gain more feedback on my ideas:

 

  • They told me that it was an interesting concept
  • The layout is simple and could use more colors
  • I should add information about the tools for the “ancient Native American” weapons.

After doing this I was told that I should also:

  • Maybe add a gif to make it more engaging.
  • Make the buttons look more like a button instead of plain white