Thursday December 5th @ 12:30
In the Sykes lobby
How did the course content of WRT 120 change or not change your point of view on higher education? What would you change about WCU if you could?
Author: Isabella Bedore
9:00 AM
Week 6 Discussion Response
Kira A, Mike T, and Bella B
In our discussion group, we discussed how the groups are very beneficial to learning outside of the classroom. These discussions allow students to really develop a better understanding of the content material and challenge their own ideas. It also allows students to meet other students and get to engage with their peers in a comfortable setting. The one thing I would change, if anything, is the organization of the entire process. The blog site was a very helpful way for every class to communicate with each other. However, when leaders posted their what they wanted to discuss and when, they usually didn’t do it until late Wednesday night and that made it difficult to plan which group you would be attending. In addition to that, when people would go to groups, they wouldn’t actually discuss. They would go collect the names and then leave. In theory, these groups work really well. However, in practice, they are a waste of time and a thing that makes me wake up early.
Final Draft
Jacob Heikkinen Draft 2 Review
Constructive: I don’t like how you opened up straight off the bat with Percy. Try to have a more gradual introduction.
Percy: try to elaborate on your quotes more instead of leaving them to the end of the paragraphs
Positive: I like how short and sweet this explanation was. I like how you have a very strong argument here.
Kyle owens Draft 2 Peer review
Constructive: Try to make transitions smoother in-between paragraphs.
Praise: You have really solid ideas and I like how you made your thesis really clear.
Percy: Work on better incorporating quotes into your paragraphs.
Project 2 Draft 2
Draft 1 Review for Sam Livorno
Positive Comment:
You do a really nice job of introducing the problem and transitioning into the solution/thesis
Use of Percy:
I really like your incorporation of Percy. I think the quotes work really well with the solutions you are proposing.
Constructive criticism:
Everything that I highlighted are grammatical errors. Sometimes you leave out an “a” where there should be one. Sometimes you flip the order of certain word and it takes away from the meaning. Proofreading is everything. Also, I like your thesis but I think that it could made clearer and more concise. Don’t be afraid to get straight to the point.
Draft Review 1 for Noah Heslop
Positive Comment:
I think your solutions are really intriguing and could be extremely effective. Well done.
Constructive Criticism:
“This method disables the teacher to quarantine project prompts; which alters the outcome of projects from being cookie-cutter, to self inspired.”
Not really sure if this is supposed to mean that they get to know each project, and in turn person, individually or what exactly you are trying to get at. Wording is a little confusing. Try to make it more clear and concise.
Make it more clear where your first solution is by fixing formating and elaborate a bit more on the problem in first paragraph.
Use of Percy:
I really like how smoothly you incorporated your support into your solutions.
Project 2 Draft 1
Topic Proposal
Topic 4: Teaching without teaching
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N2u3m8ZxS9idrz3P3sWMxDigU6lUTWCXXH8h3raWTUg/edit?usp=sharing
The higher education system that is in place is a very ineffective way to get students to truly learn and immerse themselves in the course content. Most teachers use powerpoint and just regurgitate information to their students in order to get things done more efficiently. However, this is hurting student in the long run. In order for students to learn, teachers must supply students with the materials for students to learn either independently or with a group. Students must take their education into their own hands and learn from experience and discovery instead of being spoon-fed information.
Freire:
“Knowledge emerges only through invention and re- invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.”
“From the outset, her efforts must coincide with those of the students to engage in critical thinking and the quest for mutual humanization. His efforts must be imbued with a profound trust in people and their creative power. To achieve this, they must be partners of the students in their relations with them.”
“…no one teaches another, nor is anyone self-taught.”
Percy:
“…the caste of layman-expert is not the fault of the expert. It is due altogether to the eager surrender of sovereignty by the layman so that he may take up the role not of the person but of the consumer.”
“A reader may surrender sovereignty over that which has been written about, just as a consumer may surrender sovereignty over a thing which has been theorized about. The consumer is content to receive an experience just as it has been presented to him by theorists and planners.”
Discussion group response
Kyle Owens, Bella B, Jake D, Kenzie Neiderer, Jason Gabby, Shawn, Jenna, Sabrina, Cristian Galilea, David Heffron, Joshua Rogers, Muhammad Rabi, Jake Heikkinen, Sean Redding, Tyler Evans, Nick,Timothy Domanowski, Sam Livorno
In most of society, taking shortcuts has become the norm. Nobody wants to put in the work to do anything. This can be in everything from cooking a meal to education. Even the people who are supposed to be educating us are becoming lazy. With every answer at the tap of a button, it’s easier to just look things up instead of having to think for yourself. Students have started to just memorize and forget and teachers have started to just read off of the same powerpoints that they’ve used for the past *however many* years instead of actually teaching. Laziness has become part of our culture and we need to stop this while we can because if we don’t, my generation is going to destroy everything. With people becoming less and less motivated to try and care about anything, our society will begin to struggle because people are entitled. Whether it be education, jobs, or really anything, people from my generation haven’t had to work for anything. Things are just given to us and if we continue to be spoiled the way we are, eventually we won’t have things given to us and we will not be able to function as a society.
Response to Education
Group: Lauren, Luke, Jenna, Nick,Dana, Kenzie, Noah, Kira, and Bella
In this group, we discussed the quote, “Here, no one teaches another, nor is anyone self-taught. People teach each other.”
One of the main topics our group focused on is how a person learns the most when they are talking. We mentioned that when we are learning a complex topic such as math, we have to talk ourselves through the problems in order to really understand it. Even if the reason we are talking it out is to help someone else learn (tutoring or just explaining it), the repetition of the process helps to ingrain it into our brains. On the other hand, sometimes this repetition can lead to memorization and this could be detrimental to our learning. That is why being passionate about what you are learning is very important. The more you care about what you are learning, the better you will remember it. It’s just like what Friere said, we need to find a connection between what we are learning and something in our own world. The more personal it gets, the more important the information becomes.
Discussion Week 2
One of the writing prompts talks about how space can influence a person’s ability to learn. In this discussion group, we will analyze how space, both metaphorical and physical, within our education (at WCU) impacts our learning capabilities.
Location: Picnic Tables outside of Lawrence
When: Friday, September 13th @ 10:30 am
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to DM me on instagram @bella.bedore
Response to Memorization
Discussion Group Participants– Mackenzie Neiderer, Isabella Bedore, Adam Griffin, Jenna Schreiber, Josh Rogers, Luke Jarvis, Emily Foley
In our group discussion, we focused on how educators do not care about a student’s understanding of the course content but rather, a student’s capabilities to memorize material. We came to the conclusion that education is a less intense version of the hunger games; it’s all about survival of the fittest, who can memorize the most. Our generation is told how lazy we are and how we have no work ethic. In reality, we don’t know what real work is because all we’ve been programmed to do is take test, to make our teachers look better and get our schools money. We have been turned into robots that regurgitate information with no concept of its real world application. Memorization has dehumanized us. I can’t hold a basic conversation with another human being. However, I can recite the quadratic formula by heart. We have not been taught how to succeed in the real world and many of us are going to turn into the failure that we are told we are. Schools need to refocus their priorities, and money, on providing students with resources to help them figure out their futures. Students need to start taking their lives into their own hands and turn their education around. The scary reality is that we are the future of this country and the world. If our generation doesn’t try to learn from the roadblocks laid out for us, we will fail. And in turn, so will everything else.
