Critical Thinking in Software Engineering CSE 501 presentation by Michael Buckley 9 November 2010

1. Critical Thinking in Software EngineeringCSE 501 presentation by Michael Buckley9 November 2010

2. Critical Thinking- preparing for the exams

3. Critical? • Arguing with yourself • Empathy to the other point of view • Defense of a point of view against logical argument • Be a skeptic

4. Course objectives • Be eclectic • Recognize good design / Bad design • Apply critical thing

5. Why think “critically”? • Engineers are paid to think. That’s our job. • We solve problems that aren’t yet solved. • There’s right, and there’s wrong. • Our results are the end of a long trail of decisions, paths, prototypes, attempts, and hard work. Each step is a fork in the road, or a gate we have to pass through. • Those paths cannot be tried at “no cost”, so we have to make good solid decisions along the way.

6. Lack of critical thinking • http://www.baddesigns.com/path.html • http://www.baddesigns.com/sidewalk.html • http://www.baddesigns.com/numbers.html • http://www.baddesigns.com/doors.html • http://www.baddesigns.com/3doors.html

7. How to answer an essay question • What is the difference between teamwork and socialism? • Why is ritualistic behavior harmful to software development? • Are engineers responsible for the use of the systems they design? e.g. computerized torture… • Is Toyota handling their technical and public relations issues correctly? These are not yes/no questions.

8. CSE442/542 Software Engineering • This course attempts to teach critical thinking, expression, and constructive argument as a means of preparing you for the professional work environment. Your exam answers must present a coherent argument toward a distinctive point. • If your exam answers don't include definitions, examples, and mention YOUR point as well as opposing arguments, you lose credit. • Examples from class don’t count as examples. Class notes and lectures aren’t research.

9. If you simply cut and paste from another source without expanding the information in your own words, you will lose credit. If you cut and paste from the web without citing the reference, you get a zero for that question, but mostly for lack of effort rather than issues of academic integrity. We all know how to Google. • If you don't follow the directions (say, limiting your answer to 2 pages, not putting your name, not single spacing, margins), you lose credit for that as well.

10. How to answer an essay question: First establish a point • Take a stand • There are usually 4 issues to address: • The benefits of your stand • The harm of your stand • The benefits of the opposite • The harm of the opposite

11. Give the background • Definition • History • Assumptions • State the difference between fact and opinion • Beware of common sense, common knowledge, popular thought, conventional wisdom. Why? • Because they are used to win arguments, not advance science • REFERENCES

12. References • All statements of authority must be referenced. • All other-sourced material MUST be in quotes with footnote. • All quotations must be referenced • “quotation marks” are NOT for emphasis • underline and italics or both are • Wikipedia is NOT a reference • http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/04/journalism-obituaries-shane-fitzgerald

13. Wrong: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah something from the Internet blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Ref: www.Wikipedia.com Right: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Experts say: “something from the Internet” [1] Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. [1] www.NotWikipedia.com

14. Defend your point • Draw a line between your conclusion and verifiable evidence. • State what is speculation. First, admit to what is speculation. • State what is opinion.

15. Thought experiments http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/15-06/st_best • Argue with yourself • Argue with someone who has the opposite opinion • Argue with someone who has the same opinion, defend the opposite side, defend the indefensible • Do not take a side • Visualization / Extend the point to it’s conclusion http://www.ted.com/

16. Emotional vs. Logical Arguments http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-572077907195969915 http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/toc.htm

17. Logical Fallacies http://www.biofortified.org/2010/09/logical-fallacies/ Ad Hominem From the latin for “to the person”, an ad hominem is an attack against the arguer rather than the argument. This doesn’t mean that you simply call the person a jerk; rather, it means that you use some weakness or characteristic of the arguer to imply a weakness of the argument. Starling: ”I think Volvos are fine automobiles.”Bombo: ”Of course you’d say that; you’re from Sweden.” Appeal to Dead Puppies Sometimes tugging at the heartstrings with a tragic tale is enough to quash dissent. Who wants to take the side of whatever malevolent force might be associated with death and suffering? Starling: ”Thank you, door-to-door solicitor, but I choose not to purchase your magazine subscription.”Bombo: ”But then I’ll be forced to turn to drugs and gangs.” The Appeal to Dead Puppies draws a pathetic, poignant picture in order to play on your emotions. Recognize it when you hear it, and keep your emotions separate from the facts.

18. Gain • There is no gain from winning an emotional argument • The gain is in advancing along a more correct path http://changingminds.org/index.htm • “The best compromise is when everybody leaves disappointed.” • “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

19. Fields of Study • Philosophy – strategies for understanding prior to experimentation • Psychology – behavior of the individual • Benefit to engineering? • Sociology – behavior of groups • What is a theory? • Theory of Evolution • Theory of Relativity • Theory of Gravity (????) or Law of Gravity

20. Know when you’re speculating • Hypothesis – speculation • Theory – most likely explanation based on experimentation • Law – a well-tested theory

21. Be cynical about design How many times have you left your headlights on? Left the refrigerator door open? Programmed the microwave for 120 minutes? Recorded the wrong TV program? Ran out of gas? Locked your keys in your car? Lost the remote control? Banged your head? How much responsibility is ours?

22. Always be a skeptic • http://blog.ted.com/2006/11/09/skeptic_founder/