bundle 29

1. 1. French—car—unicorn
2. Bicycle tire-toothpaste-chemistry lab
3. Africa—little red riding hood—matador
EWRT 1A Class 29

2. AGENDA: Class 29
 Revisions Due
 Discussion: Problem/Solution Essays
 The Basic Features
 Patrick O’Malley, “More Testing, More Learning”
 Matt Miller, “A New Deal for Teachers”

3. Essay Revisions:
 Essay revisions are due before Friday of week 9 at midnight.
 You may only submit one revision: essay #2 (Justifying an Evaluation or #4.(The
Concept).
 If you did not submit one of the first two essays before the initial essay due date,
you may submit that one essay as your revision.
 If you missed an in-class essay, you may make an appointment to make that essay
up, if you have not done so already.
 If you want to see me to discuss your revision, please make an appointment.
 Before you come to talk to me, please read the comments and suggestions that I
wrote on your essay when I graded it. Have your questions ready.
 There is no grade penalty or averaging or other method of determining a revision
grade. I will grade the essay like it is a new submission and substitute your new,
better grade for the lower grade you initially received.
 I do not comment on revisions.
 I do not accept late revisions.

4. Basic Features
The essays you read for today
propose a solution to a problem.
Let’s look at how different authors
incorporate the basic features of the
genre into their work.
A Well-Defined Problem

5. A Well-Argued Solution
Basic Feature: A Well-Defined Problem
We covered this
in essay #5. You
may use any or
all of your
revised in-class
essay in essay
#6.

6. An Effective Counterargument
Basic Feature: A Well-Argued Solution

7. An Evaluation of Alternative Solutions
Basic Feature: An Effective Counterargument

8. A Readable Plan
An Evaluation of Alternative Solutions
•The writer arguing for a proposal must anticipate
objections or reservations that readers may have
about the proposed solution.
• This works in much the same way as a
counterargument. Identify other ways to solve the
problem. Then show why or how your solution is
superior.
Basic Feature: An Evaluation of Alternative Solutions

9. Basic Feature: A Readable Plan

10. In your houses, review (or Read) Patrick O’Malley’s Essay.
Take a few minutes to look for these basic features in
“More Testing, More Learning.”
A Well-Defined Problem
A Clearly Described Solution
A Convincing Argument
An Effective Counterargument
An Evaluation of Alternative
Solutions

11. Now Answer These questions:
1. What is O’Malley’s
Problem?
2. Where does he tell the
reader?
3. What is this essay about?
A Well-Defined Problem

12. Now let’s go through the basic features
slowly as we look at O’Malley’s essay
The Well-defined problem

13. A Well-Defined Problem
Although this last-minute anxiety about midterm and final exams is only
too familiar to most college students, many professors may not realize
how such major, infrequent, high-stakes exams work against the best
interests of students both psychologically and intellectually.
A Clearly Described Solution

14. A Clearly Described Solution: This is the thesis in a problem/solution essay.
If professors gave additional brief
exams at frequent intervals, students
would be spurred to study more
regularly, learn more, worry less, and
perform better on midterms, finals,
and other papers and projects.
If professors gave additional brief
exams at frequent intervals, students
would be spurred to study more
regularly, learn more, worry less, and
perform better on midterms, finals,
and other papers and projects.
A Convincing Argument

15. A Convincing Argument: Support for the Thesis
 A 2006 study reported in Psychological Science journal
concluded that “taking repeated tests on material leads to better
long-term retention than repeated studying,” according to the
study’s coauthors, Henry L. Roediger and Jeff Karpicke.
 A Harvard study notes students’ “strong preference for frequent
evaluation in a course.”
 In a review of a number of studies of student learning,
Frederiksen (1984) reports that students who take weekly
quizzes achieve higher scores on final exams than students who
take only a midterm exam and that testing increases retention of
material tested.
 Researchers at the University of Vermont found a strong
relationship among procrastination, anxiety, and achievement.
An Effective Counterargument

16. An Effective Counterargument: An Anticipation of
Readers’ Objections and Questions
 Some believe that such exams take up too
much of the limited class time available to
cover the material in the course.

17. Most courses meet 150 minutes a week — three times a week
for 50 minutes each time. A 20-minute weekly exam might take
30 minutes to administer, and that is one-fifth of each week’s
class time. From the student’s perspective, however, this time is
well spent. Better learning and greater confidence
about the course seem a good trade-off for another 30 minutes
of lecture. Moreover, time lost to lecturing or discussion could
easily be made up in students’ learning on their own through
careful regular study for the weekly exams. If weekly exams still
seem too time-consuming to some professors, their frequency
could be reduced to every other week or their length to 5 or 10
minutes. In courses where multiple-choice exams are
appropriate, several questions could be designed to take only a
few minutes to answer.

18. An Evaluation of Alternative Solutions
 Another objection professors have to frequent exams is that they take too much
time to read and grade. In a 20-minute essay exam, a well-prepared student can
easily write two pages. A relatively small class of 30 students might then produce 60
pages, no small amount of material to read each week. A large class of 100 or more
students would produce an insurmountable pile of material.
There are a number of responses to this objection. Again, professors could give exams every
other week or make them very short. Instead of reading them closely they could skim them
quickly to see whether students understand an idea or can apply it to an unfamiliar problem;
and instead of numerical or letter grades they could give a plus, check, or minus. Exams could
be collected and responded to only every third or fourth week. Professors who have readers or
teaching assistants could rely on them to grade or check exams. And the Scantron machine is
always available for instant grading of multiple-choice exams. Finally, frequent exams could be
given in place of a midterm exam or out-of-class essay assignment.

19. An Evaluation of Alternative Solutions
 It is reasonable to consider alternative ways to achieve
the same goals. One alternative solution is to implement
a program that would improve study skills.
 Still another solution might be to provide frequent study
questions for students to answer.
 Another possible solution would be to help students
prepare for midterm and final exams by providing sets of
questions from which the exam questions will be selected
or announcing possible exam topics at the beginning of the
course.

20. Questions??
If you are not clear
about the basic features
in O’Malley’s essay,
Review his essay and
this slideshow. It is
critical that you
understand this
material.

21. In your houses!
Discuss Matt Miller’s essay, “A New Deal for
Teachers.”
Pick out the basic features (A Well-Defined Problem,
A Well-Argued Solution, an Effective Counterargument,
and an Evaluation of an alternative solution), and talk
about how well they support his thesis.
Write your answers on the back of your house points
sheet. I will award three participation points for each
basic feature you correctly identify and explain in terms
of support for the thesis.

22. Homework
 HW Discussion 30: Discuss the
basic features (A Well-Defined
Problem, A Well-Argued Solution, an
Effective Counterargument, and an
Evaluation of an alternative solution)
as they appear in Matt Miller’s essay.