What I learned, week 50

I think this weeks lectures were good, and sometimes a bit difficult. I liked Ylva’s lecture, even if there wasn’t so good responses from the students, when she ask things. But I share hers view on what research is, and she manage to break it down to its easiest form. I like the slide with her five steps of research, which said what research is all about. The five steps were thinking and search for something new, check it up, take notices, convince others, they accept. . It was much about “what needs to get done”, and not about “how to do it”. Which I liked sense the choice of the methods is depending on the topic, and what the purpose is to show.

When I first read Ylva’s study, I thought that a user study was missing, and the research would be more complete if there was a user study in the study. However, her goal was not to show a product that some would like and buy, the goal was to show that interaction with robots could be made on several ways, and even by physical object. I think she manage to do it in a good way, and after the lecture I am convinced that the research wouldn’t be more complete if it had a user study in it.

I think the lecture with Haibo Li was fun, interesting and somehow stressful. He had some good points about sometimes it isn’t always about solve a specific problem, but that the problem can may be more easily solved by look at a problem in different perspective, and try several approaches. The important part is to remember what the basic problem is.

I liked the way he defined what a great-, big-, or innovative idea is. He claimed that is how much money the idea can generate. I also like to see thing with an economic lens, however I could argue for that an idea could be good, even if it don’t generate money. In he definition on a good idea, he mentions factors like; how many people could and will use this? Is the time right? Could we do this idea to reality in a good way? But when an idea is defined like a business plan, I think ideas like those that are for goodwill (to help people) are somehow forgotten. He maybe talks about ”business-idea”, but when I was on the lecture I understand it as a idea in general.

I think the lecture was stressful when he talked about the roll of an engineer. Like the example when he argued for that an engineer must be able to estimate some measures and questions quite quickly. That math is important for an engineer. Even that we should know about 1-way ANOVA and 2-ways ANOVA is. I never heard about the name ANOVA, even if I knew what is was. But it has been a time since I read a math-course, which made me unsure on my own math skills. So the part where he talked about the role of an engineer was a stressful. However, I think that the math could come back quickly, if I start study problem that requires it again. I also think that much of the knowledge that I need for my role as an engineer comes when I start to work, and are finished with my education.