Video blog - Engineered object

A video is made up of thousands of pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words. 

video > 1,000,000 words :-)

Click here to view the video:

Toulmin's model for arguments

Toulmin's model for arguments divides arguments into five critical components, namely ground, warrant, backing, qualifier and claim. They align in a order similar to the one below.

However, I want to point out that Toulmin's model is designed to analyze human arguments, not for either scientific proof or seeking solutions. This model cannot operate when we don't have a claim, an assumption or a hypothesis to work with in the first place. This is exactly what Toulmin thought about developing an argument, which should be started with a claim and then proving it, as opposed to looking at the grounds we have a extending outwards. 

To prove my point, I will use two examples of problems I faced. 

The first is a problem from my calculus course. (I assume as engineers, everyone here knows about calculus) I want to find out what is the derivative of x^x. If I use the Toulmin's model now, I will start with the claim. But then I have no idea what the derivative is, I cannot claim or hypothesize anything. I tried to looking at the graph, but from what I learnt, I have no idea what the derivative is. Although I do have the grounds, which are the definition of derivative and the rules of differentiation, I won't know what to put in all the other boxes, because the warrant is the bridge between ground and the claim. You cannot build a bridge without land on the other side, right?

Now I am stuck here, essentially helpless. I can try to guess something and use the Toulmin's model to try to prove it, but the probability that I will get the correct answer is very small. This method of trial and error is not very effective and will take me decades to solve a simple question like that. 

Graph of y=x^x from Wolfram Alpha

Of course, all of you who have taken Calculus know that the answer is y' = x^x(ln x + 1). But my point is that the Toulmin's model is not designed for, and not useful in solving problems which we cannot come up with a reasonable hypothesis. 

---

The second one is Collatz conjecture. You who have read my previous post should know what it is, it is an unsolved mathematical problem. The problem is to prove that for any positive integer I put into N below, it will eventually reach 1. 

- if N is odd, give 3N + 1

- if N is even, give N/2

Put the new given value into N and loop

Now that I have a claim: it will reach one eventually, I suppose I can use Toulmin's model to help. Then I created the box below:

I have support from computations to see that the rule applies for each and every positive integer from 1 up to 5.764x10¹⁸ (Wikipedia). Seeing that it still holds up to an integer so large, I would claim that the rule holds for all positive integers. There is when I fall into the trap of this model: scientific research requires a high degree of accuracy and you never know that the number after the last one you tested will break the rule or not until you test it. But then numbers are infinite, so you cannot test all numbers. When I try to support my claim, I have to also be aware of accuracy requirements and generalizations. While human arguments tend to have a reasonable tolerance to uncertainty, science does not. This is where the weakness of Toulmin's model is exposed. When trying to apply the Toulmin's model, especially when outside of its designed scope, we have to be very aware of the limitations and possible failures. 

---

After all, this Toulmin's model is a good model in its originally designed scope: human arguments. Review what I have written in this passage, I am trying to convince a claim that this model cannot be used to find solutions and may fail if the subject is a scientific research requiring high degree of accuracy and generalization. Here is where I can use the Toulmin's model to analyze my arguments. 

Communication in Engineering

It is incontrovertible that communication is one of the most important qualities we have to possess as engineers. Not so long ago, we human take pride of being about to talk, to communicate with each other effectively. We thought it was unique to our civilization and culture. As scientific knowledge advances, we gradually discover that many other kinds of living organisms can communicate with each other, like dogs barking, dolphins using ultrasonic and ants using pheromones. It is an obvious evolutionary advantage to be able to communicate and work in group.

In this world, being able to communicate effectively gives us the evolutionary advantage: it increases our value and save us from being wiped out. Especially as engineers who work in teams and face the nature for different problems every day, being able to communicate effectively is an essential quality.

Communication serves two main purposes: 1) letting others know what you think and 2) getting to know what others think.

The first one is done by speaking, writing or presenting. Only by communicating what you have in your head to others you can have a slight chance of realizing your earth-shattering idea into reality; only by communicating you can give your orders to whoever is helping you to do the work; only by communicating you can make others know how your product is superior to the others. We all knew that since we were young: “As a baby, you quickly discover that crying will bring your beloved Mommy or Daddy scurrying into your nursery to rock you, feed you or even change your diaper. You begin to realize that the louder and more often you cry, the faster they will show up at your crib!” (The Importance of Effective Communication, effective-communicating.com)

The second one is trickier. Humans are evolved in a selfish world – we have to fight for ourselves to get our chance of survival. Nature made us compete for the limited resources we have. However, as our knowledge grows, we realized that we can cooperate with each other to create a win-win situation. But one thing we cannot get rid of is the lack of listening. We tend to persist on what we think and what we are up to, but forget about the others. In the extreme way, we made the cooperating relationship into masters and slaves, thinking that we are the most important and the others are all subsidiary. But to become an effective communicator, we have to put down that sense of arrogance and listen to others. People will not choose to cooperate with you if it is solely for your good. It has to in some way benefit them also before they will cooperate with you. Sometimes what others want is very simple to you but when you miss it, you will never get along with them.

After we can share our thoughts with others and get to know what others think, we can build up more complex interactions such as negotiations, make compromises, convince others and collaborate in a team. All the complex interactions I mentioned are important qualities to be a successful engineer. You have to negotiate with materials providers and dealers to provide you with the required things, compromise to come to a consensus among co-workers, convince the decision-makers to fund your idea and collaborate in a team to realize your idea.

I have gone very lengthy about the importance of communication, and most of you should know that very well. And there are a few things to note when you are communicating with others.

1.      Do not think about what you should do when communicating with people. When communicating, it is best to be natural and stay focused on the topic you are discussing about. Focusing too much on the communication skills will make you look unnatural.

2.      Be clear. You have to be clear about what you are saying and the point you want to convey, or else you are defeating the entire purpose of communication – making others know what you think.

3.      Listen. I stressed the importance of listening in the above passage, and it is really important.

4.      Be aware of your pace. Make sure that you don’t speak too fast or too slow and that who you are addressing to is keeping up.

5.      Be confident of yourself. If you want to convince someone, you have to look convinced yourself. Even if it is just communicating, sounding confident will make people trust you more.

6.      Think from the listeners. You should think from the perspective of the listeners. Are you being clear enough and following a logical order? Are you listening to what they say? Do you sound convincing?

I am sure there are many more ways to improve your communication skills and that there is no lack of books/readings about this topic on the market. Now having known the importance and some tips in effective communication in engineering, we have just become better engineers. 

Building a network

Building a network is hard for me, for a person who likes to think more than speak. 

Anyway, I did socialize with someone. And that someone is my Math TA. His name is Stephen Longfield, the TA of my Math 220 (that's calculus 1) discussion section. Stephen normally talks with a soft voice and sound unconvincing, maybe that's what made me easy to approach him. 

But to talk about our communication, I have to start a bit earlier. It was the Friday before, when my CS 125 instructor, Lawrence Angrave, gave us a handout with a few problems. All the problems are very easy, except for one. The problem is a problem about computability. 

For those who are interested, the question is like this: 

Given a positive integer N, if N is odd, then multiply N by 3 and then add one. i.e., 3N+1. If N is even, halve N. Take the resulting number and repeat the process, and you will eventually reach 1. 

The question is are there any number that will not reach one? If no, how do you prove it?

Lawrence did not talk about this problem in depth, as I am sure it will take a long time if he chose to do so. Anyway, I took the problem home, and try to solve it. (I know no one has solved it before, but just try) And then I tried using different methods and come up with a few equations about the problem. However, I was stuck in one step. 

So I emailed Stephen to ask him about the problem (the problem that I am stuck with, not the question stated above), considering that he is a Math student. He gave me a very positive reply and very knowledgeable answer. Though I still have not solved the problem, his answer really helped me a lot. We got a few emails back and forth and talked about the problems. I also gave him some opinions on the classes he conduct. His classes are great in content and he has great notes, but he spoke with a lock of confidence. Through these contacts with my TA, I not only learned a lot academic knowledge from him but also knew more about him as a person. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to chat with him before or after the discussion section yet as I have classes both in the hour before and after the section. I will find a chance to chat with him and find out more about him soon. 

The Missing Basics

Engineering has never been an easy job. Engineering brought forward the sciences and theories into reality, into real world applications, into everyday uses, and will continue to do so. On the other hand, engineer has never been purely science, nor purely technical.


The process of engineering is composed of bringing up the ideas and realizing it. The idea may or may not be original to the engineer himself, and may be channeled to the engineer through one way or the other. Then the engineer has to gather forces around the idea to formulate a plan for the realization. They (team members) have to overcome any potential problems that may arise during the course. Finally, they have to market the product, or find someone to market the product for them.


You realize in every one of these steps, collaboration is essential. Engineers in this very century have to work in teams, small or large, and have to have the fluidity of moving between teams, between projects without hassles. That is when communication skills comes in as essential. Communication, together with problem solving, are the two main procedures of a successful engineering process.

(Artwork by ~Fahad-Vision of deviantART)

Communication - when there is collaboration, there must be communication. Fellow engineers have to communicate with each other to exchange ideas, express opinions and conduct commands. The idea itself have to travel from the "innovator" to the "engineer" by means of communication. The idea and virtues behind a invention, have to be expressed by the engineers to the end users, optionally through a marketer. Communication here is not merely the Newman 101 Prof. Goldberg mentioned, but also includes the skill of questioning and visualizing ideas.

(Artwork by lumaxart of flickr)

Problem solving - Problem solving is almost the most critical part of engineering, which is after all, overcoming the problems from bringing scientific theories to real world applications. In this process, not only the "hard skills" of technical knowledge to thoroughly understand and analyse the problem is important, but also the "soft skills" of decomposing, modelling and labeling of the problem will be essential. Without any of these skills, it is almost sure that problems can't be efficiently solved.



Be aware that communication and problem solving are not two separate procedures in engineering, but rather a mutually inclusive component in engineering. You have you cooperate in a team to solve problem, which involves in itself, is heavily relied on communication. However, there are also overlooked points in the missing basics.


1. Creativity - Creativity is truly essential to engineers in this era. Engineers have to have good creativity to come up with creative ideas. Having a creative idea is the first step to successfully engineering a new, innovative product/technology. They also have to think out of the box to sought creative ways to solve the problems they are currently facing. When they are not creative, they will get stuck in front of a  problem where no textbook solutions are applicable.


2. Design - This is an often missing element to engineering. Many of the engineers are satisfied with a working thing, but a "working thing" is only the first alpha version, or first prototype, of the real product. A good engineer will continue to pursue for a better solution that is both more efficient and easier to use. The process of refining and the pursue for a better design is often an overlooked element in engineering.


3. Leadership - modern engineers are no longer one-man-teams. Engineers have to cooperate and collaborate not only with fellow engineers, but also with people from other fields (e.g. design, management, scientists etc. ) Having good leadership skills will allow the engineer to go beyond the workers' role, to a new level of coordinating different aspects, which is the core of how an idea is realized. With the combination of technical knowledge and leadership, the engineer is bound to succeed in realizing his dream.


Again, these qualities are not alone by themselves. These 3 qualities are useful in the process of communication and/or problem solving. They also have overlapping areas, for example, creativity is definitely required in design processes, and leadership may involve creative ideas to manage people.

---

In defense of the traditional engineering education, the missing basics are not really the basics of an engineering education. All of the missing basics mentioned above, including the few points I added, are qualities required to succeed in whatever disciplines you are in. No matter you are a computer scientist, electrical engineer, mathematician, businessman or an economist, you have to posses all these qualities to accomplish the success you are after. In the traditional system, college education was highly selective, meaning that all of those who can enter posses, by definition, these qualities. Or maybe, the job of teaching the future generation these qualities, lied on primary and secondary education institutes. What it turns out to be, starting to grow the seedlings of these important qualities from young will find their roots deeper into our minds, and prove to be more effective than what Prof. Goldberg is trying to do now.


Unfortunately, as a matter of fact, our education system was unable to provide this sort of division of labor - education given before high school virtually became mere playgrounds. So many of the engineers went into and out of college with the same misunderstanding, that technical knowledge are the only holy grail to pursue in the field of engineering. It is a disappointing fact that these missing basics, which are supposed to have been deep-rooted in our hearts from childhood, are indeed missing from the "products" of our education system.


There are many occasions, many chances, where we can incorporate these missing basics into the future generation. College is not the only one of them, and probably not the best one of them. Maybe, it's time to rethink our education system to organize it in a more efficient way.

---

plan below added by Maurice on September 14, 21:03
My mini action plan

• Take more initiatives. No matter it is offering help to other students in class, cold emailing someone of interest, trying to help in organization-level problems or asking for help.
  Due: This semester
• Share my ideas. I am quite a thinker so I will contribute by sharing more of my ideas to everyone. Hopefully some will bear fruit.
  Due: This academic year
• Follow through my ideas. Follow up from the first point which is to ensure that the wonderful idea I thought up will become reality
  Due: This academic year

Intorductory post

This post is just intended to try out the Blogger system as I have never used Blogger before (I use WordPress). See how it looks, and I will work on my commentary (sort of) of the Missing Basics video very soon.