EWRT 1AT 14

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

2. AGENDA: Class 14
 Revisions: Due Date: Friday, Week 9 at Midnight
 Discussion: Problem/Solution Essays
 The Basic Features
 Patrick O’Malley, “More Testing, More Learning”
 Sample Problem/Solution essay #4
 Introduction to essay #4
 In-class writing (time permitted)

3. Essay Revisions:
 Essay revisions of essay #4 are due before Friday of week 9 at midnight.
 If you failed to submit an essay 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 #3. 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.
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. Here comes your footer  Page 20
Just offering an
alternative solution
is not enough; you
must also explain
why the alternative
solution is not as
effective as your
solution.

21.  Now that you know the basic features of
the problem/ solution essay, let’s Look at
one. Take a look at Sample Essay #6. Find
Evidence of the basic Features in this
essay!
Here comes your footer  Page 21
1. A Well-Defined Problem
2. A Clearly Described Solution
3. A Convincing Argument
4. An Effective Counterargument
5. An Evaluation of Alternative
Solutions

22. A Well-Defined Problem
Ideally, in a fair society, everyone would have a chance to succeed,
including children from families with fewer means and resources. In the
United States, one in five children live in poverty, "which makes them likely to
start the school year already behind their higher-income peers" (Sacks).
Caused by welfare cuts and growing inequality, poverty is an important issue
in the United States, and has serious impacts on education.
Children from low-income families suffer from limited vocabulary, poor
health, and bad social skills, resulting in low academic performance and
undesirable behavior at school.
Here comes your footer  Page 22

23. A Clearly Described Solution
To help low-income children overcome the
vocabulary gap caused by poverty, schools
can provide e-readers to children in need,
and encourage them to love reading and
develop the habit of reading every day.
Here comes your footer  Page 23

24. A Convincing Argument
 Research shows that reading increases children’s vocabulary, comprehension,
and general knowledge. Even if students only do a small amount of reading
outside of school, it can still increase their reading achievement scores
(Cullinan).
 This solution would work because reading is a fundamental skill that is crucial to
academic success, and children who like to read tend to perform better in school.
By using modern technology to lower the difficulties of reading for those who
might not be motivated, schools can help children learn to love reading and
develop good habits that would help them succeed.
Here comes your footer  Page 24

25. An Effective Counterargument
 Some people might be concerned that using e-readers would increase screen
time, which could be harmful to children. Indeed, research shows that increased
screen time is related to lower developmental outcomes for young children under
the age of five, who should be developing their motor skills and learning how to
interact directly with people (“Too Much Screen Time”). However, there is no
consensus that screen time itself is directly harmful to older children. Instead,
evidence suggests that extended screen time can be harmful because it
interferes with sleep, and is thereby linked to depression (Malik). Parents and
teachers need to make sure that children are getting enough sleep, exercise, and
family time, and teach children how to live a healthy life, with or without screens.
Here comes your footer  Page 25

26. An Evaluation of Alternative Solutions
An alternative solution is for schools to provide summer programs that emphasize reading.
Research shows that although low-income children can make as much progress as higher-income
children during the school year, their reading skills tend to slip away during summer. “There are
estimates that reteaching forgotten material when students return to school after the summer costs
more than $1,500 per student each year” (Smith). Summer learning programs that help prevent this
slip could prove to be a good deal for both students and school budgets. However, designing cost-
effective summer programs would require partnerships with local communities and businesses.
High-quality summer programs also require experienced teachers and a lower student-to-teacher
ratio, which further adds to the expenses. In short, summer programs would be a great way to help
low-income students, but such programs require a lot of resources and teachers, which many
schools cannot afford. In the state of California, teacher shortages are getting worse every year,
especially in districts with the largest concentrations of low-income students (Podolsky and
Sutcher). Many districts are already filling vacancies with substitute teachers or teachers without full
credentials, and it would be difficult to find enough qualified teachers for summer programs aimed at
low-income children.

27. Assignment: Write an essay from five to seven
pages in length, that addresses the topic below.
Use a minimum of five credible sources to
support your argument.
Prompt: Write an essay proposing a solution to a
well-defined problem faced by, or in, education
today. Address your proposal to your audience:
one or more members of the education board, its
leadership, or to outsiders who may be able to
contribute to solving the problem.

28. You have already defined a
problem in education today. All
you have to do now is find a
solution, explain it, and
present an argument that
supports it.

29. Writing: Finding a solution
An effective solution will eliminate one or more major causes or
consequences of the problem:
 Make a list of causes of your problem
 Make notes about how you might eliminate the causes of the
problem. Try to generate several ideas. Don’t worry about the
quality of your ideas right now. Just brainstorm.
 Make a list of consequences of your problem
 Make notes about how you might eliminate the consequences of
the problem. Try to generate several ideas. Don’t worry about the
quality of your ideas right now. Just brainstorm.

30. Using your brainstorming, make a refined
list of possible solutions to the problem
you identified and explained in essay
#5. Try to name at least three ideas.
You will use these “alternative
solutions” in your essay later, after you
settle on the single, best solution.

31. Investigate three possible solutions: make notes about how each one
would solve the problem. Remember, you will address the less
effective solution in your essay as well. Feel free to use the internet
 Solution one  Solution two

32. All: Once you have notes about how or why your solutions will solve the
problem, try out your Solution on your housemates. Present the problem
and the solution. Explain how and why it will work. Then ask for questions
or comments.
In the role of Housemate: Ask detailed questions about how the solution
will work. Try to find holes in the presenter’s solution. Be firm in requiring
an answer to your question.
In the role of Presenter: take notes as your housemates pick at your
solution. They will make your proposal stronger, and they may be giving
you counterarguments and alternative solutions that you can use in your
essay!
Here comes your footer  Page 32

33. Homework
HW Discussion #18: Using the photos you took in class, type your essay #3 into a
document. Format the whole essay in MLA style. Post it as an attachment so I can
check your formatting.
HW Discussion #19: Complete your in-class writing (slides 29-32)
HW Discussion #20: Write several questions that you need answered concerning how
to do one or all of the following:
 strengthen the presentation of your problem (could you use a statistic?)
 solve your problem (should you look for a similar solution that worked in another
location?
 implement your solution (What are the steps?)
Work on your revision of essay #2