It’s over . . . it’s finally over.

Sixteen weeks and a couple thousand dollars later and you get this http://imgur.com/5so2YbR and a lot of questions along the lines of:

• “Who cares?”
• “What do I need to know this for?”
• “When will I actually use this?”
• “Where would this ever come in handy”
• “Why am I learning something I’ll never use?”

Well the answer is

• You should
• Basically, any research
• You may not ever use this again but why take the chance
• See answer 2
• See answer 3

Okay well some of those answers are pretty vague but that is the beauty of it. The research and data analysis methods covered in this course are so generic they can be applied to almost any field. In addition to this the proper formulation of a research question and then generate a coherent supporting argument. Obviously, the aformentioned skill holds more importance for topics in humanities and soft sciences but take the following as an example for application in other fields:

You have been tasked with improving the design of a standard internal combustion engine with no prior experience (Topic). First things first, you need to do some research on the matter using analysis of texts or engineering drawings (question). Upon completion, you will prove your abilities and display a working knowledge of the systems required for internal combustion (significance), one of the most common forms of energy production in the modern era. You will need to design the engine that functions properly (claim). Provide the test results and derivation of those equations to prove that it works (reasons, evidence, and warrants). Finally, you will need to provide the tolerances with which your engine operates and any other requirements for proper operation (alternatives).

Now this is a bit of a crude example but the connection is there and if you can connect what was learned to something as seemingly unrelated as mechanical engineering, that speaks to the flexibility of the methods.

As for the competencies learned, a few of them stood out as something that I would use in my pursuit of a bachelor’s degree and a career in Mechanical Engineering.

• Play - This speaks to the engineer in me as a person who loves to tinker and tune till whatever I am working on functions the way I want it to

• Simulation - the visual analysis methods for analyzing text have introduced me to alternative forms of studying where I will copy and paste the selected readings for a week into a word cloud to determine what is the most important subject from the material and then focus on knowing those rather than reading the full text

• Multitasking - Considering that most of my blogs were written while watching something else (yes, even this one) and I still managed to get most of the blogs in on time, as well as all of the homework for my other classes, is a testament to my ability to multitask

• Networking - As a person who is generally lacking in communication competencies the requirement to work with my fellow classmates both in class and on the final project has helped me improve in this area

Well I think that about wraps up my commitment for this blog. To anyone who read all of my blogs I hope you enjoyed them.

Regards, TGlavan

P.S. The word cloud made for this blog used all of my prior blogs (Haha I’m so clever)