Tyler Aston
Idea # 1
A: Required materials for BYU courses should be available prior to the start of a new semester.
R: Students spend too much time and money acquiring materials during their 1st week of classes, which negatively affects their ability to learn.
A: Early access to required materials would help students.
C: This would reduce the monopoly the bookstore has on the buying and selling of books, greatly saving students money.
C: This would save money, as BYU wouldn’t have to staff so many employees at the bookstore.
C: Time spent at the bookstore would be better spent studying.
Idea # 2
A: Teachers should have to grade tests on a curve
R: It is a better reflection of how a student has learned the material in the class
A: Grading on a points system is a poor way to grade
C: Students shouldn’t be penalized in points if class instruction didn’t emphasize material found on tests
Idea # 3
A: There needs to by more student on campus parking
R: It takes too much time to get to class.
A: There is an insufficient amount of student parking
C: More time would be allocated for study if students could drive to class.
I would definately disagree with your second Argument. I feel that the curve grading system gives out grades that were not deserved on both scales. Grading should therefore be a way to determine the progress on an individual basis rather than to fit a general average. I know that I would personally not want a grade that I did not deserve whether higher or lower than what I earned, especially if its higher, because that means that someone else lost.
ReplyDeleteTyler,
ReplyDeleteI believe there is a way to get a list of your required materials before the first week of class, you just look on the bookstore's website and it generates a list of books you need. You'll want to check on this.
As far as curve grading goes, you need to address the situation where everyone in the class is succeeding, but then receives lower grades because of the curve. Also, the concept that only a few students can receive As, the curve grade would bring down grade averages in most English classes not raise them. On the flip side, I know some programs at BYU do grade on the curve. Some of these are programs where everyone does poorly on exams (which are made so hard the students are not expected to pass them with regular averages). This grading practice might help assuage GPAs, but I'm not sure I see how it ties in to learning. How does grading on curve encourage better teaching or learning in the classroom? That's something you'll definitely want to explain.
The parking problem is a common one for many of us, myself included. I would just point out that the assumption in this argument is that BYU has the obligation to provide parking spots for everyone campus. In order to make an effective argument, you would want to talk to someone in parking services to learn the reasoning behind the current choices and what they are trying to do about the problem. The goal is ultimately to persuade them to make a change, so you need to understand their current stance first.
Great start.