Exercise 1.5 Strengths and weakness of video game argument

High Score Education
The introduction goes into quite a lot of detail about the failings of our education system and not producing students with basic reading skills; not into the claim that video games should be used to teach.  He claims 40% of students’ lack basic reading skills compared to foreign students. He doesn’t give a reference for that claim.  I am always skeptical of numbers or statistics unless they have been validated. 
Evidence of the managing and strategizing skills being learned by children had very good examples.  When he referenced a cognitive scientist name Andy DiSessa he showed credibility in his argument.  I did not know what the word ‘dialectic’ [discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation¹] meant and felt it did not add to the argument. He had valid points to his argument that videogames encourage expertise of certain skills.
His conclusion reflects back on the body by referencing the material in it but it does not show where video games would be effective at teaching reading skills.  I did perceive in the last sentences the hint that we should make learning more like playing in a structured way so that children don’t realize they are learning.   

Sources

1.       http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dialectic  on the internet (visited September 16, 2011)

Research Posting Common Problems pg 25

1.       The argument has not been clearly or fully articulated leading to problems and confusion later.  Consider breaking down your argument into points. Maybe one of them should be your thesis? Take the time to narrow down exactly what you’re trying to convey or convince an audience.
2.       The thesis is not sufficiently forceful.  Writing your thesis in drafts which can evolve as you conduct research; think of it as a living document. It can start out general then narrow it down to cover only what is to be argued in the paper.  
3.       The evidence to support your claim is faulty or missing. To help find weaknesses in your argument you could read it from the opposite viewpoint; consider what evidence would you challenge.  ₁   You could create a chart or outline with your main points and evidence to analyze if it is too broad and needs more or better proof.
4.       The appeal(s) to emotion, logic, and/or authority…out to be used to greater advantage.   Consider which appeals or combination is most likely to sway the audience that you are writing to. Is the paper about something personal such as their well being or their family or community? Does it touch on ethics, the right or wrong, injustice that the audience can relate to? Does the argument need more facts or put into a more logical sequence so that the audience can follow easier?
5.       Opportunities to represent and refute challenging views have been overlooked, ignored, or slighted.  Read your paper from another’s view, have someone else read your paper and look for weaknesses.  Consider conducting more research. This is a hard point for me because I would like to say “after conducting much research, my thesis was incorrect and this is why”. 

1.       http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/fallacies.html on the Internet (visited September 10, 2011)

We learn the three appeals of an argument at a very young age and are not aware of it.  As a child depending on the reaction(s) of your parents [the audience] you learn which argument type they are more likely to listen to in a given situation.   
As a teenager you want a car. Do you go to your parents and just ask them for a car?  No, you prepare an argument using appeals or strategies of persuasion.  
First you might take the logical approach and point out all the reasons that you driving your own car would assist the family.
·         Your parents won’t have to chauffer you around anymore
·         You could assist with chauffer duties of younger siblings
·         You would be home quicker leaving more time to study

Next, ethical approach and show what a responsible person you have become.  Discuss your good study habits and grades. You have been assisting around the house without being asked to.  Having good grades shows credibility and helps that insurance give discounts for them. 

The emotional appeal, if your parents are buying a car they will want the safest vehicle they can afford for you, they are concerned for your well being. You would point out all the safety features of the car, do your homework and have crash test scores available to compare. 
Do your research; having the great fuel mileage and resell value data to show would be appealing logically. Suggesting a contract agreeing to curfew, etc would be appeal ethically.  Depending on the type of parent the emotional and ethical appeal is what I would use as a closing argument.  Above all else parents want their children to be safe. 

Du Bois understood that you can give logical and ethical reasons in an argument about social injustice but to get understanding and sympathy you must use emotional appeal.  The audience must relate in their heart; they must feel personally connected. 

Thoreau uses all three appeals in his passage about injustice.  Society then had many ‘self made men’ they did not go work for someone else; they ate what they grew and built what they lived in.  Taxes on property without an income would have been a threat to not only his life but that of all his family and fellow countrymen.  He used examples that they could relate to and feel in their hearts.

Exercise 7.3 #2 Blog forums

I entered with trepidation Salon.com, picked a topic and went forth.  The topic was sexism on the television shows for the fall lineup.    There really was no definition of what they were talking about. Was it sex? Was it nudity? Was it sexuality? I think I learned about the multitude of attitudes and beliefs of others. I had to read many to get very little information but it was a reflection of our society’s ignorance about the effects of stereotypes and sexism.

I feel if I was researching a serious topic I would need to go to a site that had research behind it. For example a blog about bacteria on the environment was found at   http://scienceblog.com/10882/hand-hygiene-truths-myths-and-misinformation/ in which the author sited his source. As I continue researching for my classes I would like to learn more about blogs that are similar.

Exercise 7.3 Blogs

I have not used blogs as a research tool before today.  While researching the strengths and weaknesses of search engines I came across different blogs which helped guide me about others thoughts for this topic. The only one I used was an academia blog which discussed academic web sites with valid research and data. 

Exercise 7.3 Internet Search Engines

What is effectiveness when comparing search engines on the internet?  Search engines locate and retrieve information on the internet by searching for key word(s) or phrases.  What is effective to one person may be totally useless to another. For this review I have decided it would be effective if it was useful or valuable to the needs of a college student.  As I did research for this essay, I find that I am like many other college students who don’t really know how to do a proper internet search and use the tools that are out there. 

Researchers with Northeastern Illinois University conducting research on what tools college students use “found that only 7 out of 30 conducted what a librarian might consider a reasonably well-executed search”.₁ I found this essay difficult because of this and have had to dig through a lot of material.

I decided to do a little research myself by inputting the same search word in Google and Bing search engines: tomatoes. Goggle produced 193,000,000 results in about .08 seconds while Bing produced 73,000,000 both having Wikipedia as the number 1 site.   Both in speed and relevancy the sites seemed to produce similar results.

Google has strengths such as offering offers many databases and specialized databases such as .edu, .mil, and .gov.  Google has a specialty for scholarly research called Google Scholar Beta₂: you can search more relevant sources such as articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.  

Bing is a Microsoft search engine still in the process of growing and developing. Bing-vs-google.com₃ is a web site that you could enter a search and compare the results side by side with Bing and Google. I didn’t see much difference.   In actuality the related searches seemed almost duplicates.

I think as I do my searches I need to visit our library more often, learn academic search engines and  enlist the aid of our librarians.

 

1-     ERIAL (Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries, on the Internet at http://www.erialproject.org/2011/08/usatoday-ih/ http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-08-22/Study-College-students-rarely-use-librarians-expertise/50094086/1 (vistied September, 08, 2011).

2-     Blog@BOU, Online education news and resources, on the Internet at http://bestonlineuniversities.com/2011/20-useful-specialty-search-engines-for-college-students/ (visited September, 08, 2011).

3-     http://www.bing-vs-google.com/?q=tomatoes on the Internet (visited September, 08, 2011)

Appeals in Argument Ex 1.3 pg 21 #2a

The excerpt from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave shows a combination of argument appeals; ethical and emotional.  He heavily relies on emotional appeal of how a human being should be treated, explaining how basic necessities such as food and clothing were provided. The description of his mistress as heavenly and lamblike evokes a picture in your mind of a motherly figure.  When she turns on him and treats him like a slave, it would stir up the emotion of a child being abandoned by their parent.

This ‘warm and tender hearted woman’ who shed tears for others suffering becomes cold hearted and succumbs to the evils of slavery and the attitudes that come along with it.  Explaining how his mistress was and now becomes: appeals to our ethical sense of right and wrong.   The audience has a sense of injustice when his mistress succumbed to her husband’s influence.