Bibliography—goldin92

Posted on December 16, 2020 by goldin92
  1. https://edsource.org/2019/grades-must-reflect-mastery-not-just-effort/609236

Chau, Derek. (2019, March 10). COMMENTARY: Grades must reflect mastery, not just effort. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://edsource.org/2019/grades-must-reflect-mastery-not-just-effort/609236

Background: In this article, the main focus is that grades reflect mastery, not just effort. This argument kind of rebuttals my hypothesis, showing that these grading systems are the right solution and should remain in the system. In the post, the author states, ” Students’ grades on assignments and report cards too often are based on the effort they make in class, not the mastery of what they need to learn by a given grade”. This is one of the leading arguments for making it an equal system, as most strict professors and teachers do not give grades if the work isn’t optimal and isn’t what the assignment was described, which ruins the dedication and the enthusiasm for actually learning the material. Even if college professors were generous with this, it would still be wrong, as the students need to be taking the courses they need to learn in order to succeed in life and in their career paths, as taking courses that don’t have any effect on the students future and is just a letter grade is wrong, and could put the student into a harmful position.

How I used it: This reference is part of an important system, as the students make an effort to actually learn the information are the ones who do end up succeeding rather than the students who don’t make an effort are the ones who get hurt by it. College professors focus on teaching the students the material they are proficient on, while the students mostly focus on getting the letter grade, which is the wrong way but sadly been the only way in the education system. I used this through almost all my papers, as it is a key argument into why the system isn’t right currently. 

2. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/11/13/460397/quality-approach-school-funding/

Carmel Martin, Ulrich Boser. “A Quality Approach to School Funding.” Center for American Progress, www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/11/13/460397/quality-approach-school-funding/

Background: This article mostly is the proof that when money is put into the right parts of the educational system, then it leads to better student outcomes and better success. This article also talks about students in lower class communities and how much of a disadvantage they really have. The system is corrupt to a point that they need spread the wealth for everyone to have an equal chance.

How I used it: I used this in my rebuttal argument as it was one of the reasons I could back up my thesis, as it deletes the reason for equality. I used the main quote, “School funding systems should ensure equal access to core educational services”, as this really explains that it is a disadvantage to our society as a whole. 

3. https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-teaching-those-who-dont-want-to-learn/1998/04

DeWitt, Peter. “This Is What Students Want Us to Know About Pandemic Learning (Opinion).” Education Week, Education Week, 8 Dec. 2020, www.edweek.org/education/opinion-this-is-what-students-want-us-to-know-about-pandemic-learning/2020/05.

Background: This article is mostly about the perspective of professionals and teachers on teaching students that don’t want to learn and how it isn’t easy at all. When it comes to teaching students that don’t have the incentive to learn because they weren’t taught that way, it becomes extremely difficult for the teachers and almost impossible to succeed. The teachers state that the students feel that they aren’t as smart as other students, making their self-esteem drop and creating an unsolvable issue.

How I used it: I used it in my rebuttal argument, as it is very important to show the teachers perspectives in the matter of teaching. Sometimes, no matter how much effort the teachers put into helping these types of students, it becomes inevitable and difficult to succeed in this. 

4. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/h-s-dropouts-say-lack-of-motivation-top-reason-to-quit/2006/03

Gewertz, Catherine. “H.S. Dropouts Say Lack of Motivation Top Reason to Quit.” Education Week, Education Week, 1 Dec. 2020, www.edweek.org/leadership/h-s-dropouts-say-lack-of-motivation-top-reason-to-quit/2006/03.

Background: This article explains reasons on why students drop out of schools, and its mostly due to lack of motivation. This has been built systemically, as students often give in at some point as they just are learning information they aren’t interested in, and have nothing to do with their futures. As dropping out of high school is a terrible idea, most of these students have other visions on their future success, and don’t really care about their diplomas in the first place. 

How I used it: I used this in my definition argument paper, as it was important for me to use it in that paper as it shows that even students in high school drop out because of the lack of motivation they have attained. The students just want to learn what helps them succeed overall, and they just aren’t in their high schools. 

5. https://inspirationeducation.co.nz/parent-advice/why-textbooks-dont-work-anymore-and-what-does/

Inspired Education. Why Textbooks Don’t Work Anymore – and What Does. 7 Sept. 2018, inspirationeducation.co.nz/parent-advice/why-textbooks-dont-work-anymore-and-what-does/

Background: This source basically speaks about how textbooks aren’t the best solution and should be only used as an option for educational services throughout the country, as its proven that it isn’t the best way to teach students. Not all students learn through reading, and a lot learn through visual methods, co ed methods, and peer to peer as well. This article is very useful as it shows that there’s always more than one option of teaching in way where people can be comfortable.

6. https://hechingerreport.org/why-do-schools-use-grades-that-teach-nothing/

Lash, J. (2020, March 30). Why do schools use grades that teach nothing? Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://hechingerreport.org/why-do-schools-use-grades-that-teach-nothing/

Background: This article explains the reasoning behind grading, and how actual students react to it. The author quotes, “Grades tell students the absolute minimum about their abilities; they tell them only whether they have earned enough points under a teacher’s rubric to get a good mark.” This means that the students aren’t learning for the sake of learning, they are learning for a good mark on their report cards, sort of like labels. They stated that this one teaching at a large state university, reported feeling appalled by the number of students who want to do the bare minimum with the goal just to pass. They explain that they need to create “evaluations” for students, give them goals and rewards that encourage them to learn even if they can’t get the hang of the subject. Rewards are not only letter grades, is what the education system gets wrong. There needs to be an even exchange of effort and reward, creating a system where everyone has an incentive to become successful.

How I used it: This is very important, as I didn’t use this topic as much in my essays but it is very important. It’s the fact that most students seek a reward in return for the work and time they sacrificed in order to succeed. Most students, the only reward is that letter grade, but there is no other reward. That’s where some students get unenthused, and turn to not caring about it at all. 

7. https://www.cato.org/cato-journal/winter-2018/teachers-perspective-whats-wrong-our-schools

McAllister, Peter. A Teacher’s Perspective on What’s Wrong with Our Schools. (2018, February 08). Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.cato.org/cato-journal/winter-2018/teachers-perspective-whats-wrong-our-schools

Background: The first idea i thought would be the most important is to see how actual teachers and professors feel about this situation. Teachers understand this, and they understand how students feel about taking courses they don’t think they need to for their relevant futures. As said in the article, “Students frequently cut corners for the sake of some short‐​term gain. If they thought that the rewards were high enough, students violated rules that they would not have violated otherwise”. Lots of teachers don’t teach students some material, as in NY for example, its stated, “A teacher in the same school pointed out that he did not teach history because it did not help his students pass the New York State Regents examination in social studies”. Another problem which teachers acknowledge in public schools is that they aren’t experts in the subjects that they teach. Although it isn’t the main issue, it demotivates students to learn, only focusing on the grade instead of learning and wanting to learn the material.

How I used it: I used this in my causal essay, as it helped me give an example of low income quality communities, and how the education system actually is in these places. It shows that it does give disadvantages to the system, creating cuts and hindrances between students with less privileges than others. 

How I used it: I used this mostly in my rebuttal, as it helped me decipher the best way to educate most students, instead of using the most comfortable way with textbooks. Personally, I learn the best with visual explanations, but a lot of students learn better personally with the teacher, and co ed methodology which is found a lot in this study. 

8. https://edsurgeindependent.com/how-can-we-change-the-education-system-as-we-know-5ed6dd7ca9f1

Ngo, E. (2018, December 28). How can we change the education system as we know? Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://edsurgeindependent.com/how-can-we-change-the-education-system-as-we-know-5ed6dd7ca9f1

Background: This is kind of someone’s professional opinion, as it explains what advances and what could change the education system for the better, instead of making it a solely a competition based system, to make it a competitive system that gives opportunities for students to be passionate about what they learn. The author quotes,” It was not until I prepared for my US college application, when I was asked about my non-academic interests, that I realized all I knew (and cared about) was getting good grades: I no longer read books, rarely cared about news, and hardly inquired about the world around me. And despite having some academic achievements, I possessed too few useful skills — skills that are necessary for one to succeed in life such as critical thinking, problem-solving, decision making, and social skills”. This shows one of the biggest problems in education systems today, as he had few skills for his future even though he had good grades and possessed all he needed to know for the future of his education, bit he didn’t know the right decision making and logic problem solving to get himself in check.

How I used it: This shows the outcome of how the students became after giving up on school, as their IQ’s, and actual knowledge went low from just not caring about the work. I used this in all my essays, as it is the actual effect of the loss of incentive between all students, not matter which school. If the students lose incentive to learn, this is the number one outcome of it, creating a totally uneven system. 

9. http://www.worldacademy.org/content/corruption-education-major-issue

Radović-Marković, Mirjana. “Corruption in Education: A Major Issue.” Waas Masthead, 13 Dec. 2020, worldacademy.org/content/corruption-education-major-issue.

Background: This resource I used showed me the typical fraud that is show in the education system, giving money to the rich and privileged neighborhoods whom get better education, better teaching, better material for learning, and better incentives to learn. This ruins the system of “equality” in total. This source states that the 21st century uses a knowledge based economy, not an individual knowledge based economy. Only by judgment, It overall ruins the system making it unfair for people to thrive if they were born into a family with the not the best privileges.

How I used it: I used it in almost all my papers, as it shows that it’s an uneven distribution of wealth in the system. It shows that some students get better privileges, although it does prove that wealthier lifestyles show better results, it’s unfair to unwealthy lifestyles by not giving them a good chance as well. 

10. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190723104114.htm

Teacher incentive programs can improve student achievement. (2019, July 23). Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190723104114.htm

Background: This article shows different ways that teachers can change their school environment to give incentives for students to achieve their goals. This is useful, as teachers can get compensation for how well their students do, which promote them to teach the best that they can, every year improving. This article gives an example of a program that changes the curriculum of the school, changing the way teachers teach in the school. The author states that, “Clusters of less experienced teachers meet daily with highly skilled teachers to learn new instructional strategies and receive individual coaching”. 

How I used it: This shows that as teachers learn new ways to engage the students, they are coached by the best teachers. Usually, this isn’t the case, as a lot of low income communities don’t have the best education, and simply don’t have the money to get the best education, especially for the teachers, not just the students. I used this in my rebuttal argument, as it helped me show how students actually engage in school. 

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Definition Rewrite—goldin92

Posted on December 16, 2020 by goldin92

 

Due to the old-fashioned curriculum, funding gaps in various communities, and the antiquated teaching styles, the education system is failing to grow with the times. Oftentimes the education system is taken for granted as an institution that does not require fundamental change, as it is a means of production of intelligent individuals and people generally value this output. However, there are many aspects of bias that prevent it from changing for the better and preventing people from recognizing aspects of it that fail students, teachers, and the like. Biases that affect finances, distribution of resources, and quality of education require examination as they create educational gaps between different communities, making it nearly impossible for students to escape paths they were arbitrarily placed into in their school systems.

Biases in the education system are typically elements that are initially taken for granted and are left unchecked over time. In the article “The Current Education System is Failing our Students”, the author quotes writes, “the educational system was built with a bias; bias in deciding where to direct funds, bias in the material we teach, and bias in where the school is located”. This statement shows that the community in which the school is located in already has a huge disadvantage in the quality of teachers it has and the amount of textbooks, as if the textbooks were even updated, as it the quality of education is dependent on factors like location that are not innate to education itself. Communities with better education and better funding often have a way higher success rate, even though the students in those systems might not be as bright as the ones in the lower communities, they were just born there. Funding the system is important as there is a lot of money already put in it, but the textbooks are outdated, the teachers are using the same tactics they were taught 30 years ago, and it’s based on luck whether or not you get the perfect teacher for the student. This is also important for the teachers as well, as they get paid differently depending where they decide to teach, as the ones who get paid more are generally the most experienced. There will always be different qualities of teachers, but due to the inability to accurately place them in institutions that correlate with their expertise and paygrade, bias is introduced into the system. A lot of the major decisions regarding personnel that shape the education system occur because of chance, and are therefore overlooked when trying to improve the education system.

Antiquated curricula hurt the system even more and make it difficult to change the way students absorb information and create emotional ties with it in order to succeed. In the article “The Current Education System is Failing our Students”, the author also states, “our school system still values discipline and a structured regimen under the teacher’s discretion”, showing that these schools have implemented tactics integrated in the system for hundreds and thousands of years, putting so much trust in the value for discipline that it is effectively a given trait of the education system. However, it is possible that imposed disciplinary tactics give little possibilities for students to actually care about what they learn, as the subjects and content they learn is imposed upon them by age-old values. This disables students from creating emotional links between the work they have and their own motivation, which can misguide students in their approaches to handling their own interests against the curricula. The type of discipline that’s used is similar to the teacher creating deadlines, punishments for students handing in late work, and a general feeling that the content they are learning is arbitrary and does not apply to them. Although there are different class levels setup for students who would thrive better in easier versions of the same class, it still makes it uneven as some students are learning better information than others and attaining statuses that determine the value of their success. This is a huge issue, as the system should be able to accept any type of student, at least in a public school setting, yet biases that form curricula focus on uniformity and discipline rather than enhancing individual motivation.

The education system fails to understand these tremendous facets as being biased, and by overlooking factors like curricula and demographic variability, these biases are allowed to perpetuate over time. One other such bias is the necessity to teach general eductation courses, as there is a belief they they teach the fundamentals of basic knowledge that is necessary for educational success. These subjects are mathematics, English and writing, history and social studies and hard sciences. While it is important to know the fundamentals, when it comes to ultimate success, if the students aren’t pursuing these subjects vocationally or have genuine interest in them, it doesn’t make sense to uniformly teach these “core” subjects every year until the 12th grade, and even in college as well. While there are arguments that suppose that a balanced curriculum formed by the combination of these subjects is good for the student, these arguments assume that a student’s overall success is derivative from their ability to tackle all of these courses efficiently. This isn’t right, and a lot of students aren’t interested in some of these subjects, as they don’t want to make it part of their future either. In the article, “Our education system is failing”, the author states; “English, math, and science are important because they teach us about the natural and social structures of our world, but students would also benefit from knowing practical life skills like how to file their taxes and why credit is so important”. Not only is it important, it is more important than continuously learning the same topics that rise  in complexity every year until the 12th grade. In many ways, the biases behind subject-oriented necessity hinder students’ abilities to use their times at school to pursue subjects of interest to them that are not a part of the general curriculum.

            The education system is failing to change to its biased stance on funding and demographic gaps, value towards discipline, and uniformity-driven curricula. The system is made to teach the fundamentals and not the ways to become successful as a human, but as a student. The inability to recognize the biases that dominate the education system will only perpetuate the lack of motivation and hinder students’ true potential for success.

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Reflective—goldin92

Posted on December 16, 2020 by goldin92

Throughout the semester, I’ve learned a culmination of different skills, concepts and  values that helped me to become a more experienced and eloquent writer. Writing is a series of  steps, as it’s not just writing through a paper spilling out thoughts on top of thoughts in a series  of sentences and paragraphs. Writing is more than just the sum of its parts, more than drafting combined with editing as many times as needed; it is a continued process until the work is the best that it can be. The following is a series of steps and levels that I had to overcome throughout this course, I feel that I have become a totally different writer coming out of high school coming out of my sophomore year in college. 

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

For my first core value, I felt that I portrayed great improvement and growth in my work  throughout the semester, and that my work and research towards my essays began slowly with  collaboration from online sources and textbook sources. I felt that my work was thoroughly getting feedback, as I did peer review with my professor. Even though I struggled a lot throughout the pandemic-themed semester, I managed. I feel that even though my ability to produce work decreased while doing it from home, I still managed to thoroughly learn to explain myself and articulate my point in almost all my arguments throughout the course. 

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create comparative meaning. 

For core value two, I feel that my research was closely related to my topic and I explained myself thoroughly throughout my essays. I found many points in my research that related to my topic and expanded my knowledge on the topic. In my causal argument essay, I believe I did a good amount of research on the main topic of education systems being misguided throughout time. I used many quotes from the sources I used in my research, as I quote the author to further my point in my thesis. I did understand that without the research, you have no background and no backup with your arguments, and I learned that most importantly this semester. For example, in my causal argument I state, “Students should be swayed into wanting to learn, no matter what topic it is, as it shows that the student is interested to learn about anything not just to get a letter grade”, and then i back it up with a quote from the article “Teaching Those Who Don’t Want To Learn”, saying that students self-esteem is lower due to the fact that all they strive for is a letter grade and making some students feel they are less smart or competent than others.

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

I feel that this is the most important and best core value that I have  proscribed throughout the semester. In context, there can’t be an argumentative essay with research used as backup without the use of persuasion and facts to back up the claims. In my definition argument, I use many facts pertaining to biases and contextualize my thesis. An example of this would be when I used the quote from the article, “our school system still values discipline and a structured regimen under the teacher’s discretion”, and then I stated that this integration was implemented in the country for hundreds of years. This value made it enabled me to articulate my point to the audience, as for every main point I put in the essay I had to use evidence to back it up as proof to the statement I made. 

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating literary illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

For my fourth core value, I feel that I have used this core value a lot throughout my essays. For every paragraph of my informative essays, I used citations and quotes to overlay my arguments and to portray my points. The research I selected through this course was very selective, as I wanted each statement I quoted from my research to articulate the point I was making in every paragraph, as without them the reader wouldn’t be able to understand or validate my claims. I used text citations, and I cited all the websites and sources I used through the course in my annotated bibliography with MLA, and I wanted to make sure it was correct before I did so. 

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

For my fifth core value, it is represented mostly through my argumentative essays and  statements. I portray this thoroughly in my visual rhetoric, as there is no win or defeat in the  argument, it’s only a research based and informative opinion. I feel that I used the art of persuasion a lot in my arguments, as I believe it is very important to show that as the reader must rely that your information is real and true. I feel like I used logic over emotion almost all the time, as it wouldn’t be professional and would be incorrect in my arguments to state things with opinion. My thesis would have been a one-sided argument but backed up with research, not opinion, while I refute counterpoints in the argument. I feel that I explained all my sources thoroughly, and cited all of them and articulated my understanding on each point as best as I could. 

Throughout the semester, I have learned a culmination of core values and techniques to  articulate my views and arguments the best way possible, and to back up my claims and points  with research and cited information. Given this, there is much more that I’ve learned throughout writing composition, how to cite in format of APA and MLA, how to find credible sources and implement them in my own essays, and how to give more than enough  information on little controversies talked about today. I feel overall I learned a lot this semester, and I learned discipline most of all when writing these long papers, as information has to be conveyed thoroughly not spilled unevenly and quickly.

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Rebuttal Rewrite—goldin92

Posted on December 16, 2020 by goldin92

            Schools are failing and students are dropping out because of the negative aspects of the education system. There are many arguments that may refute this claim, as the education system could be fixed and some might not see it as a system that needs fixing at all. However, there are many problematic values perpetuated by the current education system that need to be looked at more critically, some of which include distribution of funding and teaching methods. The education system has come to a point where it’s a very one-sided ,biased view favoring conservative methods of education, and a progress is usually difficult to take place when a system does not advocate for its own change. 

            One reason as to why the education system still needs changing is that monetary resources are not allocated efficiently and fairly. Some might argue that different microcosms deserve different funding, but that does not answer the question of equity of information, as students nationwide still need to know similar things, regardless of school funding. So many students are in a position where they are learning material that is outdated, repetitive, and sometimes incorrect as well, and that is due to lack of funding to update schools with era-conscious materials and faculty. In the article “A Quality Approach to School Funding”, the author quotes, “School funding systems should ensure equal access to core educational services,” which applies not just to individual schools but the system as a whole, meaning that if some schools are benefiting from more up-to-date education due to their higher funding, then it is only fair that others should as well. The author also states, “When states invest in their public schools and create more equitable school finance systems, student achievement levels rise, and the positive effects are even greater among low-income students”, showing that investing in a more even distribution between school systems helps students from varying financial backgrounds by evening the playing fielf. When students are learning the same material as everyone else, as long as the material is updated and proficient, the success rates tend to rise. 

            There are many ways that teaching methods hinder students success, and the education system would be vastly improved in all teachers were taught professionally the same ways as everywhere else, and maintained that knowledge throughout their careers. In a study by the New England Complex Systems Institute, convergent and divergent teaching methods are shown to be effective as they hone in on self-directed teaching, targeting the motivation of students. One might argue that students are not aware of their own motivations and desires, and that the goal of an education system is to develop holistic knowledge rather than encourage self-direction. While it is important to have general knowledge of the world around us, one thing that is missing is understanding how to motivate oneself, and divergent teaching styles encourage students to find their own approach to solving problems. If education systems had a means of generalizing the type of students in the certain school, schools would have the ability to cater to the values of individual students and allow them to pursue the work that interests them and motivates them to think critically, not just forcing them to plug and chug formulas and rules. This can mean that teachers could adapt their methods on a student-by-student basis to promote motivation and attention, all the while teaching valuable subjects.

            Textbooks have been the main way of learning through schools, colleges, and many educational institutions. Although reading and analyzing mathematic equations are vital, almost all other subjects are subjected to failure when put through textbooks. The argument here is that by providing students with a single source, they are not encouraged to think outside of the box, and studying may become mundane. An argument can be made that this method instills consistency, as students would learn to rely on the text for knowledge. However, this narrows down the list of options a student might have, and it can discourage ingenuity. Studies have shown that peer to peer and teacher to student direct teaching styles are the key to success in these subject matters, particularly because subjects like mathematics aim to teach problem-solving through explicit methods. According to the study “Why textbooks don’t work anymore – and what does” by Inspiration Education, textbooks aren’t the only option and educators must rely on their own sources to keep the momentum going. The author of the study states that “textbooks are a tool, not a solution. They are meant to supplement an education, to offer references for when the student is outside the classroom, and to provide an engaging resource against which students can test their knowledge”. This is a very important statement, as it shows that textbooks may not provide an engaging way for a lot of students to study, but rather are one tool of many possible options. This study shows that textbooks are a lot of the time unaffordable for so many students, inaccurate and not updated, and repetitive throughout many editions of teaching the same material. Not only is it extremely expensive, it could be easily not paid for and taught through PowerPoints, visual slideshows, or visual lectures in general without spending or requiring students to spend hundreds on a single tool. 

            These are issues that are constantly being brought up in many communities, as it further more shows that the education could be better if these problems were attended to. Many teachers agree with these issues, and believe that a change is needed in order to guarantee the future of our nation will go in the right direction, as a lot of students today are succeeding the old fashioned way or not succeeding at all. Funding the correct departments in the system instead of spending the money elsewhere, changing the entire teaching styles and evenly distribute correct information throughout all communities with the right tools, and changing the entire system as a whole in order to create a new and better one. This is crucial to our success, and the success of all students for the future, and must be done. 

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Causal Rewrite—goldin92

Posted on December 16, 2020 by goldin92

The American education system has long been upheld as one of the landmarks of humanity’s dedication to progress, yet it rarely is questioned holistically as to its own credibility as a means of progress. Over the centuries we have created hierarchical systems of schools, merits, and values that help define a person’s success, the measurement of one’s progress. What if we have it wrong, and there are better systems to measure success, as not everyone is primed to succeed in school systems, and there may be errors in the way schools are managed that impact students’ abilities to succeed? Classes in mathematics, for example, do not accurately measure a student’s progress in multiple parameters. These classes only judge by discipline, not intelligence or ingenuity because students are expected to learn established rules and how to plug-and-chug equations. Oftentimes, these classes cater to students who strive for the traditional definition of scholastic success, as many students who take higher level mathematics and sciences are already primed to be good at following predetermined rules. Additionally, schools that offer these classes are typically higher-education institutions or highly-funded schools that can afford the most educated lecturers, creating socioeconomic gaps across American communities and misguided judgment systems for students. School systems value the traditional definition of success, which is obedience and ability to follow the rules of the class, rather than students’ desires and motivations to learn, which can help explain the underlying flaws in the education system.    

            Due to the uneven distribution of resources in the academic system in good versus bad neighborhoods and schools, the process of judging students’ levels of success is inaccurate. The amount of money being put in schools in lower class neighborhoods compared to the money already in place in upper class neighborhoods is a huge difference. Effectively, by funding wealthier schools, the system banks heavily on the privileged students, giving the unprivileged students a much smaller chance to succeed with less tools and information, all the while comparing them on the same standards for education. Uneven distribution in education resources creates positive feedback over time, as wealthier communities become wealthier and are privy to higher levels of education, and poorer communities staying stagnant, widening the equity gap on multiple levels. This gives even more an incentive for students to do poorly in school, ruining their future without even knowing it. 

            The idea of needing to succeed in an education system in order to find overall life success is also toxic to many students, and it is a by-product of the gaps in different schools’ resources. Because of this discrepancy, the only universal unifier is a diploma, as the students learned to not focus on the education but only on the grade, contributing to the idea that the motivation for students is to succeed in the education system, not to learn truly what interests. In the article “Corruption in Education: A Major Issue”, the author states “the diploma has to mean status, knowledge and quality, rather than be an “unsecured paper” and a path to a world of the unemployed and poor”. This is a very important statement, as it shows that the students in poorer communities have something to look up to and gain from achieving a degree or diploma that propels their status, while students in wealthier communities have to attain it to not drop their statuses in their communities. In either case, the goal is tangible, and it overshadows genuine interest and curiosity with the need to attain higher status. This creates a gap in how accurately students are judged on their grades, as motivation to achieve higher grades comes from a necessity to survive rather than self-actualization.

            There is a precipitating cause to this, as students don’t have incentives to learn and obtain a good grade in the class, which is a problem on the students end, not the system or the teachers end.  Students are typically placed into their scenarios, rather than being at the helm of their own education, so success also measure’s a students ability to comply with authority, even if this authority is not looking out for the individual interests of students but rather their abilities to meet the bar set by the system. Students should be swayed into wanting to learn, no matter what topic it is, as it shows that the student is interested to learn about anything not just to get a letter grade or to get out of class, but sadly this isn’t the case most of the time. In the article “Teaching Those Who Don’t Want To Learn”, the author quotes, “I believe that learning and working hard to earn something worthwhile give us self-esteem. But how do you help young people who do not dare trust another grown-up who wants them to live up to their potential”? It’s a self-taught sequence, as the students has to want this change themselves because it will create more potential and an overall more rewarding outcome. 

            An immediate cause to why the education system is actually not working is the amount of students that end up dropping out due to failing or giving up due to lack of motivation or knowledge. This is due to the students learning information they aren’t interested in, which is true in almost all cases, as it is difficult to discipline a student in a subject they have no stake of their own in. In the article “H.S. Dropouts Say Lack of Motivation Top Reason to Quit”, the author quotes, “70 percent to 80 percent, said they wanted better teachers and more interesting classes, including the opportunity for more “real world” learning opportunities”. This statistic positively correlates to the idea that success is more likely to be achieved when students are motivated. This could be solved by putting curriculums into school that actually help students succeed in the future, instead of giving them meaningless topics and problems to write and solve to determine their intelligence. Unfortunately, because of the financial differences in schools, and because of nationwide standards that force schools to judge their students on uniform standards of passing and failing, this is not possible.

            Overall, the education system has many flaws that have obvious underlying causes that make it the system it is today. These effects create educational and motivational gaps in the future of our country’s generation, creating an uneven distribution of intelligence and diminishing a lot of potential that could have been useful. Students need to start to love what they learn, no matter what they learn, and the education system doesn’t give this incentive to students, which is the biggest problem. 

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Causal-Aquarela

Posted on December 15, 2020 by aquarela

Needs a Title

Neurological results of emotional abuse are not well recognized by our society. Although it is a life-long damage, a wound that would heal in a week is more recognized than a neurological damage. Yet, researchers that have been working on emotional abuse and its effects have found results that support the fact that emotionally abused kids suffer brain damage.

A physical consequence of family neglect pointed out by Kummer is the so-called deviation or conduct disorder. This disorder is characterized by persistent patterns of socially inappropriate, aggressive, or challenging conduct, violating social norms or individual rights.The family and social environment play an important role in the development and maintenance of conduct disorder. Oppositional and disobedient behavior is associated with aggressive and negligent parents and siblings, divorce from parents, large families, young mothers, low socioeconomic status, only one caregiver, etc.

Conduct disorder is more frequent between 12 and 16 years old, almost 4 times more common in males. Approximately 20% also have some learning disorder, such as difficulty concentrating, expressing themselves orally or writing or memory, resulting in performance below the school average. In adolescents with conduct disorder, it is possible to identify a low responsibility in the orbitofrontal area, which is responsible for processing reward stimuli. It can be the cause and consequence of learning history in which punishments for bad behavior prevailed instead of reinforcement for good behaviors. Similarly, the cerebellar amygdala responds less to stimuli of intimidation and fear. It may be both the reason for not avoiding aversive stimuli that most would avoid or for getting used to living in an intimidating and threatening environment.

These violations do not meet the child’s social expectations, go far beyond childish pranks or adolescent rebellion, and continue to happen regularly. The diagnosis of conduct disorder is based on the presence of excessive manifestations of aggression and tyranny; cruelty towards other people or animals; destruction of the assets of others; incendiary behavior; theft or theft; sexual abuse; carrying weapons; repeated lines; low school attendance and escape from home; abnormally frequent and serious disobediences. These violations do not meet the child’s social expectations, going far beyond childish pranks or adolescent rebellion, and continuing to happen regularly for six months or more. If these behaviors persist after 18, it is diagnosed as Antisocial personality disorder (Psychopathy / Sociopathy). 

As a consequence of this, children can, for example, demonstrate antisocial behavior at school, and when the school contacts parents, they do not admit that their child has difficulties for fear of being commented on in the local community. They often prefer to deny the facts, neglecting to help their “protected” children with indifference.

In his book Emotional abuse and neglect (psychological maltreatment): A conceptual framework, Glaser mentions that investigations in different countries reveal that neglect, compared to other types of abuse, is associated with greater damage to the child’s development, especially if experienced chronically. In his work Child abuse and neglect and the brain – A review, Danya Glaser shows considerable evidence of brain damage resulting from experiences of abuse and neglect. Among neglected children, among other consequences, a reduction in brain volume has been observed and biochemical, functional, and brain structure changes.

In Towards an Ecosystem Theory of Child Neglect, Lacharité, Éthier, and Nolin report that the consequences of negligence towards children can be manifested on the physical plane, which can cause children’s mortality; in the exposure to other forms of mistreatment, in the restriction of relationships provided to the child, in the family, and in the living environment, in their social environment and the plan of developmental sequelae. These numerous negative consequences generated by neglect make clear the need to look for ways to develop intervention programs that provide, in the first instance, the early identification of children living in situations of neglect and that, afterward, mitigate or contain their negative effects, as well as how, if possible, change the family situation, in terms of the care spent.

Emotional abuse is one of the most difficult forms of child abuse to diagnose. Although the research mentioned above affirms that neurological problems may be led by emotional neglect, it is not considered as harmful as physical abuse is. Since its damage is not as visible as a punch mark and its consequences are not necessarily immediate, emotional neglect tends to be ignored. Generally, it is detected when associated with other severe mistreatment conditions such as physical and sexual abuse. Although the suspicion is confirmed, professionals’ intervention and/or the legal system occurs more cautiously. As emotional abuse does not cause visible physical harm and parent taboo interrupts the diagnosing process, most cases are missed and not intervened.

However, according to research done in the Minnesota Mother-Child Project, emotionally neglected children showed the most dramatic decline in scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development between maltreated groups. The participants’ age range was from 9 months to 24 months, which proves that the results of emotional neglect may be found before adolescence or middle age. According to the scale, which is an assessment instrument designed to measure motor, cognitive, language, social-emotional, and adaptive behavior development in babies and young children, emotionally abused preschoolers have more difficulty handling stressful situations than other kids; they tend to react angrier compared to non maltreated and physically abused children. It means that it is possible to recognize emotional abuse and neglect in the early years of life; therefore, it can be predicted.

Emotional abuse can definitely cause psychological issues, yet therapists and researchers have lately pointed to neurological neglect as important as psychological damage is. For the reasons I mentioned above, such as the difficulty of parenting and being a child, it has been ignored for a long time and still is. However, since psychology has improved its research on children and their well-being, this type of abuse has become more visible, and people have had more consciousness. Through Bayley Scales applied to the children, the results showed that the emotionally abused kids also suffer lower motor and cognitive development besides social-emotional and behavior problems. More people in the field of psychology need to bring up this subject, therefore the abusing culture can be predicted and its damage can be avoided both emotionally and physically.

References

Glaser, D. (2002). Emotional abuse and neglect (psychological maltreatment): A conceptual framework. Child Abuse & Neglect. Retrieved December 11, 2020, fromhttps://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.rowan.edu/science/article/pii/S0145213402003423

Lacharité, C., L. S. Éthier, and P. Nolin. 2006. Vers une théorie écosystémique de la négligence envers les enfants. Bulletin de psychologie.

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Reflective-Aquarela

Posted on December 15, 2020 by aquarela

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

My research required me to look for various resources and explore some different points of view related to my thesis. I had to read different studies and discover scientific sides of my ideas to support my hypothesis. I also had to look into some opposit ideas in order to write a rebuttal paragraph, which helped me discover more about my hypothesis and conceptualize my final ideas.

Rebuttal Rewrite-Aquarela

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities.

My practice opening demonstrates a synthesis of different studies and points of view since I was not well informed about the polio and I needed to read about it before I wrote the practice opening. Polio and vaccines are issues that are not easy to talk about. And polio vaccine brings up different ethical questions that make people doubt about its application.

Practice Opening—Aquarela

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

I picked my visual rhetoric rewrite to represent the core value 3. Since it was the only assignment that allowed me to contextualize visual arguments, I believe it is the strongest work that I have done which shows rhetorical analyses. It’s totally written by me, no references were used because I only used a thirty second video to do this assignment.

Visual Rhetoric Rewrite-Aquarela

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

This assignment represents the effort that I have been putting into my course during the semester. I have tried my best to meet the academic writing expectations and to use all my learnings from this course.

Research – Aquarela

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

My white paper is a good example of core value 5 because I used a few studies that helped me with my research and I cited all of them. I had five resources that helped me create my main idea and shape it into a hypothesis. Since I cited them by using links that direct you to the articles, I believe I ethically did a great job.

White Paper – Aquarela

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Annotated Bibliography – Mhmokaysure

Posted on December 15, 2020 by kowiklinski

Cervantes, L. F. (2012). Drivers license requirements and road safety: Evidence from a natural experiment in Mexico (Unpublished master’s thesis). doi: https://bit.ly/3gQs31P

Background: The level of difficulty in acquiring one’s license varies across the world. What correlates with this however is the rate of accidents among new drivers. In his thesis, Cervantes analyzes the different standards for acquiring a license throughout different parts of Mexico. Comparing this data with the accident rates among new drivers, Cervantes shows the seemingly obvious conclusion that the less practice and requirements to receive a license there are, the higher the accident rates that follow.

How I used it: In showing the difference between the preparation to acquire a license, I used Cervantes’ writing to further support my claims. Having not only shown the differences between the United States and Germany, I show the effects of such a disparity in regulations and requirements by showing the data of such events in Mexico.

Delgado, M. K., Wanner, K. J., & McDonald, C. (n.d.). Adolescent Cellphone Use While Driving: An Overview of the Literature and Promising Future Directions for Prevention. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/536

Background: Distracted driving is a problem seen across the world. More specifically, with advancements in technology, we have seen more and more drivers operate vehicles while using cell phones. Doing so takes away vital seconds needed to react to events occurring on the road, leading to higher accident rates. The largest group of offenders of cellphone use while driving is the youngest age group of drivers, with a survey showing that 83% of highschool drivers admitting to using a cellphone while driving.

How I used it: By showing the disparity between cellphone use while driving among different age groups, I was able to use this to back the higher accident rates among the same age group. Showing the statistics behind this, I was able to correlate increased cellphone use while driving to higher accident rates, supporting the claim made in that paragraph.

Ferguson, S. A. (2002, December 24). Other high-risk factors for young drivers-how graduated licensing does, doesn’t, or could address them. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022437502000828#BIB2

Background: In recent years, many states have adapted a GDL or graduated driver’s license as the method of acquiring one’s license. This involves multiple steps with different stages of restrictions, aimed at eventually preparing a young driver for the road. Although a good concept, it is not without its flaws, as many of the restrictions are often not enforced, or simply not known to those driving. This source shows some of the aspects behind this system, while highlighting ways it can be improved.

How I Used It: By having previously shown the shortcomings of the process to acquire a driver’s license in the United States, this source allowed me to go in depth on some of the biggest issues faced. By using this information, I was able to strengthen my points regarding the process behind gradually preparing young drivers, showing that it is ineffective and needs to be changed.

Matthew.lynberg.ctr@dot.gov. (2020, October 06). Distracted Driving. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/distracted-driving

Background: Distracted driving is an issue seen across the entire country. In fact, there have been multiple nationwide as well as state level campaigns aimed at reducing the amount of distracted drivers. Even with these attempts, the amount of accidents involving a distracted driver remains high in the United States, as shown by the statistics in this government report.

How I Used It: In combination with the article showing that teenage drivers are more likely to operate vehicles while using a cellphone, I used this statistic as a second source to back this. Not only do teenagers use cellphones while driving, they are more prone to other distractions, which is highlighted by this source, allowing me to strengthen my position in my writing.

McCartt, A. T., Shabanova, V. I., & Leaf, W. A. (2002, February 01). Driving experience, crashes and traffic citations of teenage beginning drivers. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457502000064?casa_token=KqGitS-PDJsAAAAA:p5WDIgF-qN7sqDDqEEFSxfeSwZsgcIEB7i-EOVe10VCnh2KRU7LLR-D7TWktJwj240uG6ALf1MU

Background: Teenagers, more than any other age group are more likely to be involved in a traffic accident within their first three months of having a license than any other age group. Teenage males are at higher risk than females, stemming from an increase in risky behavior on the roads, while still lacking the experience required to safely drive. Teenage males are also more likely to receive a citation for a traffic violation than any other age group or gender.

How I used it: Arguing that teenage drivers lack the experience and skills to safely operate vehicles, I was able to use the statistics shown in this piece to emphasize that. Showing the likelihood of a teenage driver being involved in an accident in their first months of driving is astronomically higher than that of any other demographic, I was able to strengthen my position, while presenting the reader with the proper statistics to back my claim.

Office of Highway Policy Information – Policy: Federal Highway Administration. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2008/dl20.cfm

Background: Every year, the Federal Highway Administration releases in depth reports on accidents that occur on roads in the given year. Split into individual age groups and demographics, this data shows a clearer picture of who is involved in these accidents.

How I Used It: Having seen the official data released by the government regarding accident rates amongst drivers in the United States, I was able to analyze and strengthen my claims of teenage drivers posing a larger risk than other drivers, backing it by official statistics. 

Peterson, B. (2020, March 19). The Deadliest States for Teen Drivers. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.valuepenguin.com/auto-insurance/deadliest-states-teen-drivers

St. George, D. (2010, January 24). More teens are choosing to wait to get driver’s licenses. Washington Post. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://rucomp2.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/89048-more.pdfteens are choosing ot wait to get driver’s licenses.pdf

Background: Compared to previous years, youth in the United States are waiting longer to acquire their drivers’ licenses as they are not being seen as a priority. In the past, acquiring one’s driver’s license was seen as a right of passage, signifying the transition to adulthood. Because of this, teens were more prepared and focused on getting their license, whereas now it is seen as a luxury more than a necessity.

How I used it: Seeing as less teens are getting their licenses, whereas the accident rates are remaining unproportionally high in the age group, I used this piece to signify that many teens are unprepared to be on the road. By not wanting to acquire a license, and not properly preparing, these teens are inexperienced and pose a danger to those around them. By using this source, I proposed a possible reason for the inexperience and lack of preparation in teenage drivers.

These U.S. States Have the Best Education Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education

Background: In 2020, USNews released its latest education rankings for each state in the United States. In the ranking, we see that more densely populated states with larger cities tend to rank higher than more rural states.

How I used it: In an attempt to show the relationship between teen accident rates and education leading up to acquiring one’s license, I used this report to show that states ranking lower in education standard were more likely to have higher accident rates among teens. This was also used to show that higher ranking states also had lower accident rates among teens, showing the correlation between education and accident rates.

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Visual Rhetoric Rewrite-Aquarela

Posted on December 15, 2020 by aquarela

The Boxer – Minding Your Head

00:00-00:02: The video starts in a dark room, with a chair in the back, and we see a blurry window behind it. The camera starts to move slowly in the right direction, and we first see a huge dark column. A man appears in the ring between two boxing bags, behind four ribbons of the ring. He is apparently training, and by his moves, it is possibly good at this. There are a few frames on the wall, a widespread decoration plan in such places. We can’t see the pictures, but I assume that they might be training pictures since it looks like he is in a GYM.

As the place is not illuminated, and we only see a man silhouette in the background, the video possibly hints about its intentions. His being alone and training in front of a vacant chair tells us that he is training alone, and it is not a coincidence. Although it is prevalent to train with a boxing bag, people usually prefer training with others since they are in a place where everyone has the same purpose.

00:03-00:04: We see a middle-aged man looking at the camera. He is blond and has blue eyes. His lips are thin and red. His eyebrows are thin as well and not that salient. We observe two wrinkles on his forehead. He is in front of a white-grey wall with a light line on it. The camera is zoomed on his face only; we don’t know if he is standing or sitting. He is not smiling, just looking at the camera. We can say that he is possibly about to cry or just cried because of his blurry eyes.

00:05-00:06: He is sitting on a bench in the locker room. He is alone; there is one more bench in front of him, which is vacant. The bag on the floor and the cloth on the bench seem to belong to him. The room has typical green lockers; none of them is opened. The room’s door is beige, and it is closed as well. Right next to the door, we see a shelf full of boxing materials. The video remains not well illuminated, yet his shadow appears on the wall. The board, which is on the same side of the wall, seems to be inelaborate with three torn papers.

His position gives us the impression that he is unhappy and needs help.

00:07-00:08: The camera zooms in on his face and focuses on his eyes. He is not looking at the camera. We can see that he is sweaty, probably because of the training he had. The camera moves quickly for a second and we can observe his look, which is deep, and seems to be determined.

00:08-00:12: another man appears on the scene. The man who is older than him seems to be friendly. They are talking and laughing. The man puts his hand on his knee in a friendly gesture, trying to show some support.

00:12-00:13: He appears on the ring again. This time the scene is much more illuminated than before. He seems to be more energetic. As the room is more illuminated now, we can see a mirror on the wall and some posters. A few chairs are in the back, but no one is sitting there. He is still alone on the ring, but this time the door is open. We see the refugee signal on the door. It is on and shows where to exit in case of an emergency. I believe this is a way to say he can reach some help.

00:14-00:15: He keeps training.

00:16-00:18: The camera zooms in on his face again, he seems to be very focused on training.

00:18-00:22: The man who was with him in the locker room is with him on the ring. They are training together. They both seem to be happy. They are smiling and kidding with each other.

00:23-00:24: He is smiling and talking to someone. But we see only his face.

00:25:00:30: We see him with three men, they are talking. He seems to be very content with them. He is talking and the others are listening to him. They are all smiling.

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Reflective – Mhmokaysure

Posted on December 15, 2020 by kowiklinski

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

With the stages required to successfully write a research paper, my Research Assignment best represents my ability to demonstrate the recursive stages involved in writing. This piece was not an overnight process, instead required countless changes and tweaks to reach the final product. Going through the stages of finding sources that would support and further enhance my piece was a multistep process, resulting in a larger understanding of the topic, as well as showing the use of Core Value 1.

Research – Mhmokaysure

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

My strongest piece demonstrating that I read critically and placed texts into conversation with one another was the Safer Saws piece. Having to use quotes made by different experts to tie in to the overall message of the topic was a challenge, however through taking each point made and dissecting it, I was able to successfully fit the texts into the piece, while making it work as a whole. Doing so, I believe I created a cohesive piece filled with outside texts, showing my use of Core Value 2.

Safer Saws – Mhmokaysure

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

My best piece of writing supporting Core Value 3 was my Summaries piece, having to analyze and summarise an already well written piece of writing. Looking at the sometimes longer than necessary parts of these articles, as well as analyzing what could be improved I successfully managed to show my use of Core Value 3 in my writing.

Summaries – Mhmokaysure

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

My Visual Rhetoric Rewrite best illustrates my use of Core Value 4 this semester. Analyzing a mere 30 second video clip, I successfully portrayed my interpretation behind the producer’s choices in the video. Nitpicking at the placement of certain objects, as well as the body language seen in the video, I wrote an accurate description and analysis of the video, which I am very proud of. 

Visual Rhetoric Rewrite – Mhmokaysure

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

My best representation of Core Value 5 in my work was my Rebuttal Rewrite. Taking the opposite of the ideas which I was supporting, and being able to fairly yet precisely pick them apart shows the use of this core value to the fullest. Along with that, the proper citation, as well as usage of the sources in the piece itself go to show that I successfully represented this core value in my work.

Rebuttal Rewrite – Mhmokaysure

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