Posted: July 9th, 2015

Speculating about a cause

 Write a 1000 word essay about an important or intriguing phenomenon or trend in education and speculate about why it might have occurred. Demonstrate that the subject exists and argue for the plausibility of certain causes, while anticipating your readers’ likely objection to your argument, as well as their preferred causes.  You must use documentation from at least five sources.  Two or more articles from a database, i.e. Issues and Controversies, Opposing Viewpoints, Sirs Researcher, EBSCOHost, etc.  One or more articles from a website (must be .edu, .gov., or .org)  You may not use Wikipedia as a source.  Choose a problem to write about. You are not limited to the topics below. You may want to go to Lectures/Notes in Blackboard and view some of the websites that are provided to help you with this assignment.  Why is there such a high dropout rate?  Why is there such a low degree of parental involvement?  Why is there such resistance to dress codes?  Why is there a higher rate of depression amongst affluent, suburban high school students?  Why do students have test anxiety?  Why are more parents home schooling their children?  Why do parents send their children to independent (private) schools?  Why do students cheat?  Why do students bully?Why is the number of college students choosing education as a career rising or falling?  Why is there violence in schools?  Why is violence in schools rising or falling?  Why are schools finding it necessary to implement moral character education into the classroom?  Why are some states adopting merit pay policies for teachers?  Why was the No Child Left Behind Act adopted?  Why is online instruction growing in popularity?  Why do some people choose to go to community college instead of a four-year university?  Why do some people choose to go to a four-year university instead of a community college?  Why is  the percentage of men attending college rising or falling?  Why is the percentage of women attending college rising or falling?  Test your choice. Ask yourself the following:  Will you be able to prove that the phenomenon or trend exists?  Have you found plausible causes for the phenomenon or trend?  Can you learn enough in the time remaining to make a strong argument?  Begin with exploratory research.  Read for an overview of your topic.Go to “Google Advanced Search” and online databases for preliminary research.  Create a working bibliography of all sources that you read.  Plan the Essay.  Define the problem.  Demonstrate that the phenomenon or trend really exists. Cite statistics, give examples, or quote authorities,  Suggest causes for the phenomenon or trend.  Decide whether to present one main cause or several causes.  Choose a logical order for presenting the causes if you are suggesting several causes. You may go least important to most important or most obvious to least obvious. Make sure you have enough support to make each cause plausible.  Address counterarguments to your suggested causes (opposing arguments)  Decide which counterarguments to include.  Decide whether to simply list the counterarguments , concede to them, or refute them.  Conclude the essay.  Decide how to best conclude: should you restate the causes or make a conjecture about larger implications of the phenomenon or trend Create an outline for your draft. See pages 488-489 of St. Martin’s Guide to Writing.  Find articles that have information you can use for your topics.  Highlight and annotate the articles.  Take notes from the articles.  Summary  Paraphrase  Quotation  Write a first draft.  Include a Works Cited page.  Revise the essay.  Edit and proofread the essay. Checklist for Revision: About Documentation:  Have I cited all of the sources that were used?  Do quotations have signal phrases?  Are my sources smoothly integrated? About Unity:  Does my thesis statement indicate my position?  Does each of my supporting paragraphs have a clear topic sentence? About Support:  Have I supported each of my reasons? Have I included documentation from sources? About Coherence:  Have I rounded off my essay with an appropriate concluding paragraph? About Sentence Skills:  Have I used a consistent point of view throughout my essay?  Have I used specific rather than general words?  Have I avoided wordiness and used concise wording?  Are my sentences varied?  Have I proofread my essay for spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes?