Considering Types

In this blog post, I will consider different types of public arguments I can use for project 3.

Screenshot from my computer, 10/28/15

I am mostly considering a position and proposal argument for project 3. I feel like a position argument is versatile and fits all the needs of my argument. The only downside is the lack of a specific idea that I am bringing forth. This is where the proposal argument shines. In a proposal argument, I would be able to give my own idea on computer science education and defend it using all the toosl we've already learned. In the end, I am likely to choose the proposal argument. So many people give position arguments that are repetitive and highly unnecessary. With a proposal, I have a chance at making a legitimate impact on computer science education.

EDIT:

After reading Chelsea's Rhetorical Action Plan and Considering Types posts, it is apparent that Chelsea is on the right track using a refutational argument for project 3. Chelsea is choosing to focus on the negatives in aerosol injection. Therefore, an argument refuting the pros of aerosol injection and its overall benefit is perfect.

After reading Casey's Rhetorical Action Plan and Considering Types posts, I understand her choice to use a position argument. It makes the project simple and familiar. However, I feel like a proposal argument might be more effective. Personally, when any argumentative piece gives an alternative to what is currently available, I automatically give the piece more credit. I think we should always be suggesting new ideas so we may approach a more effective and efficient society.

My Rhetorical Action Plan

In this blog post, I will completely answer the three following questions regarding, audience, genre, and response/actions. For the genre questions, I will specifically discuss the elements of two different genres I may write in for project 3.

Screenshot from my computer, 10/28/15

1. Audience - I am going to try to persuade young adults invested in public education.

• Knowledge - The audience is not likely to know a great deal about computer science education and the exact logistics of bringing widespread computer science education to schools. Some audience members might have to be convinced of the importance of computer science in the first place.
• Values - This audience values education and optimizing the opportunities we give our future generations. This is very important to address and understand when I construct an argument aimed at this audience.
• Standards of Argument - I think research on the benefits of a diverse education, along with statistics on the relevance of computer science in general should help convince my audience. Little translation should be needed if the statistics are straightforward.
• Visual Elements - My audience might respond to some illustrated statistics about the need for computer science students. This will put the matter of computer science education into a more clear perspective.
• Purpose - My audience is reading my argument because they care about public education. I'm trying to expose the truth behind implementing computer science education into public schools. My argument is (hopefully) likely to motivate my audience to push for more resources in our public schools to teach computer science with.

2. Genre

• Blog (Example 1, Example 2)
• This genre is designed to give the reader fast information. The blog avoids all the formalities of formal writing and gets right to the meat of the argument. 
• This genre is exclusively used online.
• I'm likely to use the three main rhetorical appeals, especially logos. This topic is about education, so I should speak intelectually.
• Graphs and other illustrated statistics are effective in this genre
• I will use a more informal tone in this genre
• Video (Example 1, Example 2)
• This genre is designed to give lots of visual information, as well as audio. It's very effective in attracting a large audience, since a video is easy to consume.
• This genre takes place online, mostly.
• In a video, emotional and logical appeal are most prominent. The abilitiy to have constant visuals caters to these appeals best.
• Lots of powerful images and video clips on computer science are most effective in this specifc setting.
• This genre can be either formal or informal. If I choose this genre, I will take an informal tone.

3. Responses/Actions

• Positive Reactions
• Excitement for the future of computer science
• Sense of urgency to change how we teach computer science and improve our current resources for teaching it
• Greater involvement in local politics in order to change how we teach computer science
• Learning computer science 
• Negative Rebuttals
• "Everyone deserves to learn computer science right now" / Of course, in an ideal world, eveyrone would be able to learn computer science right now. Unfortunatley, most schools don't have the resources to teach computer science on a large scale. We need to attack the root of the problem which is a lack of computer science experts in our schools.
• "Computer science is not important" / In the United States, the number of computer science jobs is three times greater than the number of computer scientists students today. Nearly every company will rely on some kind of computer, and we need computer scientists to manage them.
• "Computer science takes too much money to teach" / While it is optimal to teach computer science using nice, new technology, it is not necessary. It's actually quite possible to learn the basics of computer science using just a paper and pencil.

Analyzing Purpose

In this blog post I will answering four questions given by the section titled "Thinking through the Purpose of Your Public Argument".

Screenshot from my computer, 10/28/15

1.Goals:

• Express my own, unique opinion on the overall issue of computer science education
• Express ideas that big media producers aren't willing to say (controversial statements)
• Express the complications that come with universal implementation of computer science education programs

2.Plausible:

• Get reader thinking about ideas I express about the complications about computer science education
• Start to convince readers of opinions I express

  Not Plausible:

• Completely convince readers of my opinions
• Change the way we approach computer science education as a whole

3. "Express the complications that come with universal implementation of computer science education programs"
   
Potential effects

• Increased awareness of complications stemming from computer science education
• Calls by citizens to their local government about the future of computer science education in our schools
• Petitions to change the way we teach and approach computer science education

4. The types of people most likely to advance my cause are young adults who are invested in the public education system and young students interested in education. Those young adults are more open and liberal than the average citizen. Therefore, they are more likely to accept what I have to say and act upon the ideas I express. Young students are unlikely to take strong, direct action on the matter of computer science education, but if I can influence the way they think, they could advance my cause.

Analyzing Context

In this blog post I will be answering detailed questions on items related to the "Reading the Context" Box on Writing Public Lives page 340.

Screenshot from my computer, 10/28

1. There are two main perspectives on the subject of computer science education. One group is those who believe it should be more widely implemented in our education systems, and the other is those who believe more computer science education is unnecessary. These ideas are represented well in this article.
2. Major points of contention are the practicality of implementing computer science education in all public schools, costs, and necessity.
3. The growing need for computer science professionals is an area that both groups can agree on. It's widely accepted that the market for computer scientists is growing rapidly and needs more people to enter that workforce.
4. The ideological differences are widely based around how strict our requirements should be to obtain a high school degree or graduate lower level schooling systems. Some believe that the requirements should include some kind of computer science benchmark, while others don't think it's fair to have.
5. Those arguing for more computer science education urge their audience to reach out to their local government to bring more computer science requirements to their schools. Those arguing against this general increase in computer science requirements urge their audience to see the logistical flaws in implementing computer science requirements into our public schools.
6. I chose the latter perspective moreso than the former. I chose this because, while I believe that computer science education is critical to have, it does not seem like we are currently equipped to require all schools to teach computer science.
7. I think the perspective stating computer science education is necessary will represent the greatest threat to my own. There are valid points to be made about the desperate need for computer science students.

EDIT:

After reading Evan's and Lawrence's posts, I learned a few things about how this project could work out. After reading Evan's, I learned that others are studying a similarly broad debate. Outsourcing is a very large and diverse topic, much like computer science education. Lawrence's post showed me the opposite. Lawrence chose to focus on the reaction to a very specific event. It's interesting that this project can take two distinct forms that still accomplish the common goal of constructing our own public argument.

Audience and Genre

In this blog post I will identify two specific audience groups that may be interested in my research. For each group I will identify publication locations and examples.

Screensshot from my computer, 10/25/15

Parents

Every parent wants the best for their children, and if what I have to say might affect the education of their children, parents are going to listen. Two locations that I might publish my research are online at NY times and WSJ. For both locations, a standard Op-Ed article format would suffice.

• NYtimes.com
• "10 year deadline to offer computer science to all students" 
• "A computer network that links all school districts"
• WSJ.com
• "Artificial skin that knows when it gets touched"
• "Charter Network Makes the Grade in N.J. School"

Educators

Educators, of course, have a passion for teaching others and showing others the beauty of knowledge. If I have something positive to add to the material educators use, educators are likely to pay attention to what I have to say on the matter. Writing a tutorial for ALA.org would be one example of a location and genre for educators. Another example is an article on Edutopia.org.

• ALA.org
• Cloud Computing
• Tablet Computers
•   Edutopia.org
• "Computer Science: The Future of Education"
• "The Pros and Cons of Computer Labs"

Extended Annotated Bibliography

This blog post contains the link to my extended annotated bibliography for project 3.

Annotated Bibliography

Narrowing My Focus

In this blog post, I will narrow my focus on to three of the 15 questions I posed in the previous blog post. I will give a short explanation on why I chose each of these as interesting/important to answer before I craft my argument.

Screenshot from my computer, 10/25/15

Who is most vocal about the way we should approach computer science education in the future?

• I think this is a crucial question to answer for a couple reasons. One, if I don't know what kind of people are arguing about this topic, I don't know how much credibility this debate really has as a whole. Also, if it's someone famous it's important to know their opinion on the matter.

Are most arguements about how we should introduce computer science education or if we should even at all?

• This is by far the most imporant question to answer in regards to constructing my argument. I need to understand exactly what the debate is about to even begin to formulate my own opinion and argument on the matter

What part of the world is most invested in computer science education?

• This question will give me a cultural scope of how this matter is playing out across the world. This is important to know, because if this matter is globally relevant, I need to know that.