Free Write with Quotes on "Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge..." (MWP3 #5)

            The article “Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge: Testimonio As Methodology In Latina/O Critical Race Research In Education” by Lindsay Huber claims that the current system of research in colleges is racist and closed-minded. She argues that “Eurocentric epistemological perspectives that have shaped academic research perpetuate dominant ideologies rooted in white superiority that function to subjugate research that challenges, counters or disrupts the mainstream,” where epistemological relates to the philosophy of human knowledge (Huber 641). This claim is very evident, especially when current ‘accepted’ research blames the culture of minorities for lesser education when this is ultimately the furthering of the racism involved in the current accepted ‘legitimate’ research. Essentially, this article describes the rejection of the status quo of current research methods by using a method called ‘Testimonio,’ which utilizes personal accounts of things. Huber applies this to Critical Race Theory because “the process of testimonio builds from the lived experiences of People of Color to document and theorize oppression” and this documentation of current racism and a lack of a colorblind society is the prime claim of Critical Race Theory (Huber 645). This method of ‘testimonio’ gives great primary source information about racism, but is not considered a ‘legitimate’ method of research. This article attempts to show the benefits of this method and how the claims of it not being ‘legitimate’ are simply due to the paradigm of research which is centrally racist.

Huber, Lindsay Pérez. "Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge: Testimonio As Methodology In Latina/O Critical Race Research In Education." International Journal Of Qualitative Studies In Education (QSE) 22.6 (2009): 639-654. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.

Precis on "Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge: Testimonio As Methodology In Latina/O Critical Race Research In Education" (MWP3 #5)

            In the article “Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge: Testimonio As Methodology In Latina/O Critical Race Research In Education” by Lindsay Huber, the author claims that current college settings have very strict ‘rules’ of methodology of research that are caused by racial segregation and need to be remedied. The author supports this claim by discussing her Critical Race Theory methodology of qualitative research called ‘Testimonio,’ which utilizes interviews with those who have personally seen issues, and the various benefits that using this qualitative method. The purpose of this article is to present the benefits of qualitative research and its use in Critical Race Theory in order to promote rejecting the current research restrictions at colleges which will allow more useful research to be considered ‘legitimate.’ The audience for this article is a group of people who are educated and interested in Critical Race Theory and racism, because the article is long and the source is not easily found, which implies that the article is not leisurely reading for most and would require more interest in the subject to find the article itself.

Huber, Lindsay Pérez. "Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge: Testimonio As Methodology In Latina/O Critical Race Research In Education." International Journal Of Qualitative Studies In Education (QSE) 22.6 (2009): 639-654. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.

Free Write Summary with Quotes about "CRiT Walking Race, Place, And Space In The Academy" (MWP3 #4)

            The article "CRiT Walking Race, Place, And Space In The Academy" by Mark Giles and Robin Hughes claims that there is still racism in faculties in Universities. They support this claim with a sociological theory called Critical Race Theory, which describes racism as being permanent and a colorblind society being nonexistent. The application of this theory to reality is called ‘CRiT walking,’ which basically means discussing and attempting to use Critical Race Theory to change things in reality, instead of just discussing things. The authors apply Critical Race Theory to University faculties and administration, with the research-backed statement that “the ‘best’ locations/institutions are those with the most homogenous faculties and top administrators,” with the word homogenized meaning “the least colorized” (Giles 692). This statement can be considered a ‘wake-up call’ because it supports the tenant of Critical Race Theory that colorblindness does not occur, despite many people considering that colorblindness does actually exist. Also, the authors claim that minority faculty at colleges are bound by the racist paradigm of what is considered scholarly or empirical research, which causes “faculty of color [to] also begin to second guess their intellectual capabilities, [and] become confused as they are overcome by the tiresome drudgery of trying to fit a different way of knowing into a dominant discourse” of what is considered ‘legitimate’ research (Giles 693).

Giles, Mark S., and Robin L. Hughes. "CRiT Walking Race, Place, And Space In The Academy." International Journal Of Qualitative Studies In Education (QSE) 22.6 (2009): 687-696. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.

Precis on "CRiT Walking Race, Place, And Space In The Academy" (MWP3 #4)

            In the article "CRiT Walking Race, Place, And Space In The Academy" by Mark Giles and Robin Hughes, the authors claim that there is racism in the faculties of higher education. They support this claim with a collection of research which states that the ‘best’ Universities are generally the least diverse regarding faculties and administrators. The purpose of this article is to further the concept of Critical Race Theory in college faculties in order to have people recognize that racism still exists in college faculty. The audience for this article is a group of people who are educated and interested in Critical Race Theory, because the article is long and in an academic journal, which implies that it is not simply leisurely reading to everyone.  

Giles, Mark S., and Robin L. Hughes. "CRiT Walking Race, Place, And Space In The Academy." International Journal Of Qualitative Studies In Education (QSE) 22.6 (2009): 687-696. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.

Free Write Summary with Quotes about “Access And Equity For African American Students In Higher Education: A Critical Race Historical Analysis Of Policy Efforts”

            The article “Access And Equity For African American Students In Higher Education: A Critical Race Historical Analysis Of Policy Efforts” applies a very different view of analyzing policies about racial equality. The authors apply a theory called Critical Race Theory (CRT), which states that “racism is a normal part of American life, often lacking the ability to be distinctively recognized, and thus is difficult to eliminate or address” and “rejects the notion of a ‘colorblind’ society, [as] colorblindness leads to misconceptions concerning racial fairness in institutions [and] tends to address only the most blatant forms of inequality and disadvantage [while] hiding the commonplace and more covert forms of racism” (Harper 390). The authors state that throughout history, policies to promote racial fairness have only been partially successful, and are constantly under attack by others. Critical Race Theory gives rise to the evasion of racial fairness policies such as “funding inequities for public institutions that annually offer college opportunity to more than a quarter million African American students” (Harper 410). This evasion of policy and general attacking of racial fairness policies as being unfair themselves lead to a serious unfairness in the opportunities of those of different races, especially in higher education. The equality of opportunities amongst races is ideally nonexistent with current policies, but this is not the case due to the Critical Race Theory analysis that states the circumnavigation of these policies is rampant and expected, and that a lack of policy analysis that is currently happening causes racial inequity in higher education to be a real issue.

Harper, Shaun R., Lori D. Patton, and Ontario S. Wooden. "Access And Equity For African American Students In Higher Education: A Critical Race Historical Analysis Of Policy Efforts." Journal Of Higher Education 80.4 (2009): 389-414. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.

Precis on "Access And Equity For African American Students In Higher Education: A Critical Race Historical Analysis Of Policy Efforts" (MWP3)

In the article “Access And Equity For African American Students In Higher Education: A Critical Race Historical Analysis Of Policy Efforts” (2009) by Shaun Harper, Lori Patton, and Ontario Wooden, the authors claim that attacks on Affirmative Action policies and unequal funding to colleges that have a large African-American student body cause unequal access to higher education for minorities. To support this, the authors apply Critical Race Theory, which states that racism will exist no matter what and that even if policies attempt to prevent racism, it will continue to exist; the authors use this application to argue that there is a lack of equity between races despite the policies in place. The purpose of this article is to present the idea of a historical application of Critical Race Theory in order to show that inequity amongst races still exists in higher education. The intended audience for this article is a group of educated people because of the length and format of the article: the article is 27 pages long, which is longer than most casual reading, and is organized in a very formal, lab-report style.

Harper, Shaun R., Lori D. Patton, and Ontario S. Wooden. "Access And Equity For African American Students In Higher Education: A Critical Race Historical Analysis Of Policy Efforts." Journal Of Higher Education 80.4 (2009): 389-414. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.

MWP3: Working Thesis Statement

Working Thesis MWP3

Racism within the faculty of chemistry departments is the effect of a long string of causes, including negative attitudes of the faculty in chemistry departments, racism against students in science majors, and discrimination of people during primary and secondary education regarding science.

Free Write Summary with Quotes about "Changing Chairs" Diversity Article

            The article “Changing The Chairs: Impact Of Workshop Activities In Assisting Chemistry Department Chairs In Achieving Racial And Ethnic Diversity" by Jean Stockard, et al. reviews a worhshop of leaders of chemistry departments with the goal of increasing diversity in chemistry departments at universities. The article claims that “8% of chemistry faculty members in the nation as a whole were from [underrepresented minority] backgrounds” and that “in top-ranked chemistry departments… the representation of [underrepresented minority] faculty was substantially lower” than 8% (Stockard 1). The leaders of the chemistry departments claim that there is no bias in their universities, but that underrepresented minorities simply do not apply enough. However, this workshop was statistically shown to increase the awareness of a need for diversity in chemistry departments and change the current system in order to allow more minorities to have positions. The workshop presents some solutions, such as “additional funding” for minorities and “changing the attitudes of current faculty” about minorities, which are good solutions to the issue and should be implemented (Stockard 4).

Jean Stockard, et al. "Changing The Chairs: Impact Of Workshop Activities In Assisting Chemistry Department Chairs In Achieving Racial And Ethnic Diversity." Journal Of Chemical Education 88.6 (2011): 721-725. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Apr. 2012.

Free Write Summary with Quotes about Biomedical and Behavioral Science article

            The article "Considering The Impact Of Racial Stigmas And Science Identity: Persistence Among Biomedical And Behavioral Science Aspirants" by Sylvia Hurtado, et al. claims that racial interactions play a role in how much underrrepresented minorities (URMs) stay with a science major. Their research involving Biomedical and Behavioral Science (BBS) degrees with minorities was the focus of the paper. The research involved African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans (they refer to it as “American Indian”) and this makes up URM. Their research claims if a URM student has more negative racial interactions then this will make him or her more likely to drop BBS degrees and change to a different degree. Statistically, the pupulation they surveyed was ~75% female, and was pretty dispersed regarding URMs (equal percentages of each of the three races listed for URMs). Also, they introduce a statistic that “only 24% of underrepresented students complete a bachelor’s degree in science within six years of college entry, as compared to 40% of White students.” (Hurtado 1) When the article mentions negative racial interactions, it is regarding both “[feeling] insulted or threatened because of race [or] ethnicity” from other students and “hear[ing] faculty express stereotypes about racial/ethnic groups in class.” (Hurtado 10)  

Sylvia Hurtado, et al. "Considering The Impact Of Racial Stigmas And Science Identity: Persistence Among Biomedical And Behavioral Science Aspirants." Journal Of Higher Education 82.5 (2011): 564-596. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Apr. 2012.

Precis of "Considering The Impact Of Racial Stigmas And Science Identity: Persistence Among Biomedical And Behavioral Science Aspirants" (MWP3)

            In the article "Considering The Impact Of Racial Stigmas And Science Identity: Persistence Among Biomedical And Behavioral Science Aspirants" by Sylvia Hurtado, et al., the authors claim that underrepresented minorities (consisting of African American, Latino/a, and Native American) do not persist with biomedical and behavioral science degrees due to negative racial interactions that they experience. To support this claim, the authors conduct an experiment where many underrepresented minority students are surveyed, and the conclusion of this experiment is that underrepresented minorities who have experienced less negative racial interactions are more likely to continue with their chosen biomedical or behavioral science degree compared to those who have experienced more negative racial interactions. The purpose of this article is to present research about minorities regarding their particular persistence with biomedical and behavioral science degrees, in order to bring to light the issue so that solutions can be formulated based off of the empirical data collected by the experiment. The audience of this article is a group of educated people with an interest in psychology with race, because the article is very long and contains large amounts of statistical data and formulas which would discourage those who are not educated and not interested about racial psychology from reading it.

Sylvia Hurtado, et al. "Considering The Impact Of Racial Stigmas And Science Identity: Persistence Among Biomedical And Behavioral Science Aspirants." Journal Of Higher Education 82.5 (2011): 564-596. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Apr. 2012.

Precis on “Changing the Chairs: Impact of Workshop Activities in Assisting

               In the article “Changing the Chairs: Impact of Workshop Activities in Assisting

Chemistry Department Chairs in Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity” (2011) by Jean Stockard, et al., the authors claim that a workshop for the leaders of various chemistry college departments in 2007 was successful in attempting to convince these chemistry leaders that they, their colleagues, and their universities could play a significant role in diversifying the chemistry departments. The authors support this claim with surveys taken pre- and post-workshop by those at the workshop that show statistical evidence to prove that those involved became more aware of the issues of racial and ethnic diversity and what they can do to solve it. The purpose of this article is to summarize the events that occurred at this 2007 workshop and also provide the data from the survey conducted in order to show an increase in awareness of racism in chemistry departments and the need to remove such racism. The intended audience of this article is a group of educated people, probably chemists, who are concerned about racism in education but are also educated enough to interpret statistical data and read the lab-report style format of the article.

Jean Stockard, et al. "Changing The Chairs: Impact Of Workshop Activities In Assisting Chemistry Department Chairs In Achieving Racial And Ethnic Diversity." Journal Of Chemical Education 88.6 (2011): 721-725. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Apr. 2012.

Brainstorming- List of 15 Things About Racism in America Regarding Chemistry/Biology

1.      American Chemical Society (ACS) Minority Programs

2.      International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Minorities

3.      Percy Julius- The “Forgotten” Chemist

4.      Chemistry of the Brain regarding Fear and Xenophobia

5.      Racism for dical Doctors

6.      Language and Cultural Barrier in Medicine

7.      Minority Doctorate of Chemistry- more sought after

8.       The (BOGUS) Argument of Biological White Superiority with Intelligence

9.      The (BOGUS) Argument of Biological Black Superiority of Athleticism

10.  Racial Quotas for Medical Schools (and most professional jobs)

11.  “Curing” different races by harnessing the ability of diseases (such as the skin pigmentation disorder Michael Jackson had)

12.  The Racism of genetically altered babies.

13.  Lack of encouragement for minorities to pursue a career in science or math

14.  Racial expectations of certain races to do better than others in science or math

15.  Racism in research regarding the chemistry of alcoholism and drug abuse due to race

16.  Lack of funding for race-specific diseases such as sickle-cell anemia.  

MWP2 Outline

Introduction

                -get the audience to care-  Would you feel safe if you found out your doctor had cheated on tests in Medical School? Cheating is one of the more serious issues in education today. Cheating has increased significantly in the past century, and continues to rise.

                -establish ethos

Various reports indicate that between 75% and 90% of students have cheated before, and people are constantly trying to battle cheating. 

                -thesis statement

-working thesis:  Current methods for battling cheating do not work, and new solutions taken from different points of view are required, such as increasing the respectfulness of teachers and changing the classroom environment, increasing the punishments for cheating, having teachers take other precautions, and an increase in the social awareness of cheating.

Definition Paragraph

Cheating:    Cheating is when one student uses the work of another, with or without the other’s permission. Cheating can include taking answers from another student on a test, copying another’s homework answers if the instructor prohibits such activity, and various forms of plagiarism.

Perceived:    appears to be a certain way, is thought to be a certain way

Review of Literature

Regarding Punishment and Community Issues

In the article “Study Of A Cognitive Dissonance Intervention To Address High School Students' Cheating Attitudes And Behaviors” (2009) by Edward J. Vinski and Georgiana S. Tryon, the authors claim that cheating is not punished in schools.

In the article “Situational And Personal Causes Of Student Cheating” (2009) by David A. Rettinger and Yair Kramer, the authors claim that cheating in schools is in part caused by other students’ cheating, and that seeing others cheat can lead to an increase in cheating.

In the article “Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Cheating: The Influence Of Direct Knowledge And Attitudes On Academic Dishonesty” (2010) by David A. Rettinger, et al, the authors claim that an increase in reporting of cheating would deter cheaters because others would see cheaters being caught.

Regarding Things Teachers Can do

In the article “Methods Of Cheating And Deterrents To Classroom Cheating: An International Study” by Michael B. Witek, et al., the authors claims that cheating has increased since 1942 and that some methods can be used to deter cheating.

In Tamera B. Murdock, Anne S. Beauchamp, and Amber M. Hinton’s article “Predictors Of Cheating And Cheating Attributions: Does Classroom Context Influence Cheating And Blame For Cheating?,” the authors claim that acceptance for cheating in school can be attributed to perceptions of the fairness of the classroom and traits of the teacher, such as respectfulness and competence.

               

Argument/Analysis

-what teachers can do

                -respectfulness

                -mastery over performance

                -report more cheating

-what administrators can do

                -increase the punishment to cheaters

                -streamline the reporting process

-what students can do

                -better awareness of cheating, peer pressure, understand cheating is wrong

                -report cheaters

Conclusion

-restatement of thesis:   Overall, the issues of increasing the respectfulness of teachers and changing the classroom environment, increasing the punishments for cheating, and having teachers pay more attention to cheating are issues that need to be examined when attempting to solve cheating.

-call for action

-optimistic “farewell”

MWP2 Introduction Paragraph

Would you feel comfortable if you found out your doctor had cheated on tests? Cheating is a serious issue in education today. Cheating has increased significantly in the past century, and continues to rise. Various reports indicate that between 75% and 90% of students have cheated before, and people are constantly trying to battle cheating.  Current methods for battling cheating do not work, and new solutions taken from different points of view are required, such as increasing the respectfulness of teachers and changing the classroom environment, increasing the punishments for cheating, having teachers take other precautions, and an increase in the social awareness of cheating.

Rough Draft version of Proposal and Argument (MWP2) 700 words

Cheating is a very large problem in schools today.  Cheating is when one student uses the work of another, with or without the other’s permission. Cheating can include taking answers from another student on a test, copying another’s homework answers if the instructor prohibits such activity, and various forms of plagiarism. Current methods for battling cheating do not work, and new solutions taken from different points of view are required, such as increasing the respectfulness of teachers and changing the classroom environment, increasing the punishments for cheating, and having teachers pay more attention to cheating.

As stated above, new solutions are required to remedy cheating. According to Michael Witek, et al., cheating has increased by 4.5 times the rate of cheating in 1942. (376) Whilst this cannot be attributed to any one factor, the number is still staggering. And, to this point, cheating has not been remedied because the rate of cheating is still increasing. Because current methods of battling cheating do not work, new methods need to be examined from entirely new points of view, which are proposed here.

A common misconception of cheating is that cheating is solely the “fault” of the student who cheats; however, research shows that this is not always the case. While a student always does make the final choice whether to cheat or to not cheat, the way a teacher conducts his or herself in the classroom can affect a student’s likelihood to cheat. According to research done by Tamera Murdock, Anne Beauchamp, and Amber Hinton, if a student perceived a classroom to be more performance based, which focuses on “ability, social comparison and absolute correctness,” compared to mastery based, which focuses on “effort, improvement and mastery,” then a student is more likely to cheat. (478) This can be used to claim that if a teacher has his or her classroom based more on mastery and less on performance, there will be less cheating. However, this may be considered idealistic, considering that standardized tests are still weighted heavily in a school’s performance and standardized testing leads to a more performance based classroom. This is a drawback of mastery-style classrooms, but it can be theorized that if a teacher had his or her classroom leaning more towards mastery than performance, there would be less cheating whilst still within the bounds of the performance paradigm of the school system. Also in the research of Murdoch, Beauchamp, and Hinton, is teacher respectfulness. They conclude that when a teacher is perceived as more respectful to his or her students, there is less cheating in the classroom. (486) Ideally, this would imply that to remedy the problem, teachers simply need to be more respectful; however, this is not the case. The findings state that how respectful a teacher is perceived to be to his or her students affects whether or not a student cheats. To solve this, teachers may need more classes or lessons on how to be respectful to students; however, if a teacher is the most respectful she can possibly be, this does not always mean she is perceived to be respectful, which causes a large variable in the solution.

While cheating is just stated as not always being a student’s sole fault, it can be considered that way in many cases. One large issue with cheating is that students feel that they can cheat and not get caught or that when they are caught, there will be no consequences to cheating. According to a study performed by Edward Vinski and Georgiana Tryon, the majority of students in a sample group admit that cheating is considered wrong, but 90% of this sample group had cheated anyway and only 30% of the sample group had ever been caught cheating, and that those who had been caught cheating were not punished. (224) This suggests that teachers do not pay enough attention to cheating or that they simply do not care or do not wish to get involved with the issues of cheating. Also, Vinski and Tryon suggest that because of this hypocrisy from the teachers, students may also follow suit, which would explain the hypocrisy of students admitting that cheating is wrong but cheating anyway. (224) To solve this issue, teachers would need to be educated further in how to watch for cheating, but schools also need to streamline the process to report cheating and increase the penalties for cheating to discourage cheating.

Overall, the issues of increasing the respectfulness of teachers and changing the classroom environment, increasing the punishments for cheating, and having teachers pay more attention to cheating are issues that need to be examined when attempting to solve cheating. If these issues are partially or fully solved, it may lead to a large drop in cheating, or, at least, a significant drop in cheating.

Works Cited

Murdock, Tamera B., Anne S. Beauchamp, and Amber M. Hinton. "Predictors Of Cheating And Cheating Attributions: Does Classroom Context Influence Cheating And Blame For Cheating?." European Journal Of Psychology Of Education - EJPE (Instituto Superior De Psicologia Aplicada) 23.4 (2008): 477-492. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

Vinski, Edward J., and Georgiana Shick Tryon. "Study Of A Cognitive Dissonance Intervention To Address High School Students' Cheating Attitudes And Behaviors." Ethics & Behavior 19.3 (2009): 218-226. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

Witek, Michael B., et al. "Methods Of Cheating And Deterrents To Classroom Cheating: An International Study." Ethics & Behavior 18.4 (2008): 373-391. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

MWP2: Precis 5: “Study Of A Cognitive Dissonance Intervention To Address High School Students' Cheating Attitudes And Behaviors”

In the article “Study Of A Cognitive Dissonance Intervention To Address High School Students' Cheating Attitudes And Behaviors” (2009) by Edward J. Vinski and Georgiana S. Tryon, the authors claim that cheating is not punished in schools. The authors support this claim by providing evidence from surveys that report students are not concerned about getting caught cheating, and have seen other students caught cheating receive no punishment. The purpose of this article is to present information about a survey about why students cheat in order to provide more information about the problem of cheating in schools and how to prevent such cheating. The audience for this article is a group of educated people, because difficult vocabulary is used along with difficult statistical data that causes the article to be difficult to read if the reader is not educated.

Vinski, Edward J., and Georgiana Shick Tryon. "Study Of A Cognitive Dissonance Intervention To Address High School Students' Cheating Attitudes And Behaviors." Ethics & Behavior 19.3 (2009): 218-226. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

MWP2: Precis 4: “Situational And Personal Causes Of Student Cheating”

            In the article “Situational And Personal Causes Of Student Cheating” (2009) by David A. Rettinger and Yair Kramer, the authors claim that cheating in schools is in part caused by other students’ cheating, and that seeing others cheat can lead to an increase in cheating. This claim is supported by two expiriments conducted by the authors, both of which lead to the conclusion that the culture around a person can increase or decrease cheating. The purpose of this article is to present findings about peer pressure in cheating in order to prevent more cheating by incorporating methods to reduce the pressure to cheat and to increase the pressure to not cheat. The intended audience for this article is a group of people who are educated and interested in the psychology of cheating, because the article includes intense vocabulary and psychological theories, and contains statistical data tables that are difficult to analyze without the proper educational background.

Rettinger, David A., and Yair Kramer. "Situational And Personal Causes Of Student Cheating." Research In Higher Education 50.3 (2009): 293-313. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

MWP2: Precis 3: “Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Cheating: The Influence Of Direct Knowledge And Attitudes On Academic Dishonesty”

                In the article “Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Cheating: The Influence Of Direct Knowledge And Attitudes On Academic Dishonesty” (2010) by David A. Rettinger, et al, the authors claim that an increase in reporting of cheating would deter cheaters because others would see cheaters being caught. The authors support this claim with an experiment involving social variables and aspects, which the findings state that people are more likely to cheat when they see others go unpunished for cheating. The purpose of this article is to inform about research regarding cheating in order to present more information about how to deter cheating. The audience for this article is a group of college-educated people, because it is very long, includes a few statistical charts, and is written like a lab report, which suggests educated people would read it.

Rettinger, David A., et al. "Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Cheating: The Influence Of Direct Knowledge And Attitudes On Academic Dishonesty." Ethics & Behavior 20.1 (2010): 47-64. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

MWP2: Rhetorical Precis "Methods of cheating and Deterrents to Classroom Cheating: An International Study"

In the article “Methods Of Cheating And Deterrents To Classroom Cheating: An International Study” by Michael B. Witek, et al., the authors claims that cheating has increased since 1942 and that some methods can be used to deter cheating. The authors support this claim by providing statistical information and graphs which prove that cheating has increased since 1942 and also by reporting data of an experiment where a group of people were asked how certain deterrents of cheating and punishments of cheating would help the issue of cheating. The purpose of this article is to inform people how to attempt to prevent cheating in order to reduce the amount of cheating. The intended audience for this article is a group of college educated people, because difficult terminology is used and statistical data and a long length are utilized by the paper, along with the organization of a lab report.

Michael B. Witek, et al. "Methods Of Cheating And Deterrents To Classroom Cheating: An International Study." Ethics & Behavior 18.4 (2008): 373-391. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

MWP2: Working Thesis

                Current methods for battling cheating do not work, and new solutions taken from different points of view are required, such as increasing the respectfulness of teachers and changing the classroom environment, increasing the punishments for cheating, having teachers take other precautions, and an increase in the social awareness of cheating.

"Zoom in on the Problem" Summary

            Cheating is a very large problem in schools today.  Cheating is when one student uses the work of another, with or without the other’s permission. Cheating can include taking answers from another student on a test, copying another’s homework answers if the instructor prohibits such activity, and various forms of plagiarism. The issue which is focused on here is cheating on tests, which avoids the subject of plagiarism altogether and falls more under the category of “academic dishonesty.” Cheating is morally wrong, and is considered a serious problem by people. Cheating, in general, affects the cheaters the most, because the one who does the cheating is missing out on the knowledge obtained when not cheating. Teachers are also affected by cheating, because they have to deal with cheating and its effects, and also attempt to prevent cheating. Also, cheating affects the administration of schools, which have to take punitive action against cheaters, which increases the amount of work they have to do. Finally, cheating also affects those who do not cheat, because it creates an unfair advantage for those who do cheat when the one who cheats is not caught; this, in turn, can lead to the one who was following the rules to attempt cheating, to “level the playing field.” Many people have different theories as to what causes cheating; however, all of the causes are not yet known, but laziness and simply not caring about the respective class are definite causes. People have tried for many years to stop this cheating; however, so far, none have been successful in preventing cheating, and some may argue cheating has actually increased recently. The people who have tried to remedy this problem have not succeeded because the issue is being looked at the wrong way; it needs to be examined from a different point of view, and new solutions need to be presented, which may need to focus on other people rather than simply the students to obtain results. If the problem is not solved, cheating will continue, and eventually people will give up attempting to find a solution, which will lead to a generation of students who either cheat or were negatively affected by cheating. To summarize: People should attempt to find new and different solutions to the problem of cheating because the current methods to remedy the problem do not work to maximum efficiency.

Problem Paper: "Predictors of Cheating and Cheating Attributions..." precis

In Tamera B. Murdock, Anne S. Beauchamp, and Amber M. Hinton’s article “Predictors Of Cheating And Cheating Attributions: Does Classroom Context Influence Cheating And Blame For Cheating?,” the authors claim that acceptance for cheating in school can be attributed to perceptions of the fairness of the classroom and traits of the teacher, such as respectfulness and competence. To support this claim, the authors present their study in which a group of students were given scenarios regarding things such as the classroom fairness and teacher traits, and asked to answer questions about various justifications for cheating, which concluded that students do cheat more when they perceive the classroom and teacher negatively. The purpose of this article is to present the findings of a study in order to try to find more reasons for why students cheat. The intended audience for this article is a group of psychologists, because the study is very organized and uses high level terminology, but also includes statistical data that is more difficult to interpret.

Works Cited

Murdock, Tamera B., Anne S. Beauchamp, and Amber M. Hinton. "Predictors Of Cheating And Cheating Attributions: Does Classroom Context Influence Cheating And Blame For Cheating?." European Journal Of Psychology Of Education - EJPE (Instituto Superior De Psicologia Aplicada) 23.4 (2008): 477-492. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Mar. 2012.

Rhetorical Precis on Chapter 13 of Good Reasons

In the thirteenth Chapter, “Proposal Arguments,” of Good Reasons (2012), Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer claim that proposal arguments consist of an argument that someone should do something. The authors back this claim up by giving step-by-step instructions on how to make a proposal argument and provide good reasons and ways to do this, including “Stating a proposed solution” and “Demonstrating that the solution is feasible,” whilst also providing two examples of proposal arguments. (Faigley and Selzer 186) The purpose of this Chapter is to instruct on how to create a proposal argument in order to increase the ability of the reader to create good proposal arguments. The intended audience of this Chapter  is a group of college students, because the vocabulary and topics described are at a college level, and one of the examples consists solely about life at a college, specifically.

Works Cited

Faigley, Lester and Jack Selzer. Good Reasons: Researching and Writing Effective Arguments. Chicago: Pearson, 2012. Print

MWP1: Precis 8: “Can Music Preference Indicate Mental Health Status In Young People?”

           In the article “Can Music Preference Indicate Mental Health Status In Young People?” (2008) by Felicity Baker and William Bor, the authors state that more studies need to be done about music’s effect on youth. The authors support this statement by presenting many different studies by a variety of organizations that contradict each other, with each source coming to its own unique conclusion. The purpose of this article is to present a collection of information in order to prove that there is no definitive answer about the effects of music on adolescents. The intended audience for this article is a group of people who are familiar with psychology but are not experts, as the language is difficult but not ridiculously long and is still able to be understood by the average person.

Baker, Felicity, and William Bor. "Can Music Preference Indicate Mental Health Status In Young People?." Australasian Psychiatry 16.4 (2008): 284-288. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

MWP1: Precis 7: "Effects Of Listening To Heavy Metal Music On College Women: A Pilot Study" (REPOST)

In the article "Effects Of Listening To Heavy Metal Music On College Women: A Pilot Study" (2008) by Gregory Schwab et al., the authors claim that heavy metal music causes a “physiological response in females” that is specific to females and is due to the musical genre of heavy metal. (Schwab 1) The authors develop this claim through experimentation and examination of muscle movements in the face of the test subject (specifically the frontalis and masseter muscles) along with measurements of perspiration, heart rate, and other physiological factors. The purpose of this article is to present the results of an experiment in order to inform the public of the potential effects of heavy metal music on college women. The intended audience of this article is a group of graduate level people interested or working with physiology regarding music, because the article constantly gives large words without explaining them and presents all information in a very logical, concise, lab-report style method with very little emphasis on popular appeal.

Gregory D. Schwab, et al. "Effects Of Listening To Heavy Metal Music On College Women: A Pilot Study." College Student Journal 42.1 (2008): 24-35. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.

MWP1: Precis 6: “The Effects Of Sexually Violent Rock Music On Males' Acceptance Of Violence Against Women”

            In the article “The Effects Of Sexually Violent Rock Music On Males' Acceptance Of Violence Against Women” (1991) by Janet Lawrence and Doris Joyner, the authors claim that sexually violent lyrics in Heavy Metal music are usually unable to be heard by the majority of people and play no role comparatively to violence against women. The authors support this claim through experimentation involving the listening of violent lyrics in Heavy Metal music, non-violent lyrics, and classical music, resulting in no distinguishable difference between the violent lyrics and non-violent lyrics groups. The purpose of this article is to prevent the information obtained from the experiment in order to prove that the lyrics in Heavy Metal music do not play a role in violence towards women when the lyrics are unable to be heard. The audience for this article is a group of educated people concerned about Heavy Metal music’s effect on violence towards women, because the article is very long, featured in a journal about women’s psychology, written like a lab report, uses college level vocabulary, and uses statistical language that is on a college level.

Lawrence, Janet S. St., and Doris J. Joyner. "The Effects Of Sexually Violent Rock Music On Males' Acceptance Of Violence Against Women." Psychology Of Women Quarterly 15.1 (1991): 49-63. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

MWP1: Precis 5: “Violent Lyrics In Heavy Metal Music Can Increase Aggression In Males”

In the article “Violent Lyrics In Heavy Metal Music Can Increase Aggression In Males” (2011) by John Mast and Francis McAndrew, the authors state that Heavy Metal Music with violent lyrics causes an increase in aggression in males. The authors support this statement by performing an experiment in which 35 male college students are split into 3 groups and listen to Heavy Metal music with violent lyrics, without violent lyrics, and silence for 8 minutes and are then asked to put an amount of hot sauce in water for another test subject to drink; and, the authors reporting that the group with violent lyrics put the most hot sauce in the water. The purpose of this article is to present information about the findings of an experiment in order to prove that violent lyrics in Heavy Metal music cause an increase in aggression in males. The audience of this article is a partially educated group, because the article contains a small amount of statistical wording and is short for an article, being two pages long; also, the article is not written in a lab report style but does have many sources and uses college level vocabulary.

Mast, John F., and Francis T. McAndrew. "Violent Lyrics In Heavy Metal Music Can Increase Aggression In Males." North American Journal Of Psychology 13.1 (2011): 63-64. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

MWP1: Precis 4: “Heavy Metal Music And Adolescent Suicidality: An Empirical Investigation”

            In the article “Heavy Metal Music And Adolescent Suicidality: An Empirical Investigation” (1999) by Karen Scheel and John Westefeld, the authors claim that listening to Heavy Metal Music relieves sadness or anger as much as any other type of music, and that there could be a slight correlation between feelings of suicide and listening to Heavy Metal music, but that this is likely from a completely different cause. The authors support this argument with an experiment of a group of high school students and a test to determine various reasons for living, using statistical analysis to separate the data into usable numbers. The purpose of this article is to present the findings of an experiment conducted in order to inform people about the possible correlation between Heavy Metal music and suicide among adolescent females, even though the authors admit that this may be caused by something else entirely. The audience for this article is a group of educated people with an interest in the psychology relating to music, because the article uses statistical data and techniques without explaining them and presents the information in a chart that contains collegiate statistical methods; also, the article uses upper level vocabulary and is in the form of a lab report, whilst being 21 pages long, suggesting that it is for post-graduates.

Scheel, Karen R., and John S. Westefeld. "Heavy Metal Music And Adolescent Suicidality: An Empirical Investigation." Adolescence 34.134 (1999): 253. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

MWP1: Precis 3: “Heavy Metal, Identity And The Social Negotiation Of A Community Of Practice”

            In the article “Heavy Metal, Identity And The Social Negotiation Of A Community Of Practice” (2007) by Dave Snell and Darrin Hodgetts, the authors claim that there is a Heavy Metal culture that is beneficial to those involved in the culture through expression of oneself and establishing and strengthening ties to others. The authors support this claim by explaining, in depth, the Heavy Metal culture and use a few people as test subjects who support their claim by showing themselves as benefited by the Heavy Metal culture that they are a part of. The purpose of this article is to present the findings about the Heavy Metal culture in order to make the point that people are affected positively by the Heavy Metal community that has been established. The audience of this article is a group of people who are educated but not necessarily specialized: the vocabulary is of a higher level, but there are no statistical tables and a few pictures are included that do not pose a huge significance to the article; however, the article is written as a lab report and is rather long, making it difficult enough to be fit for an educated audience.

Snell, Dave, and Darrin Hodgetts. "Heavy Metal, Identity And The Social Negotiation Of A Community Of Practice." Journal Of Community & Applied Social Psychology 17.6 (2007): 430-445. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

MWP1: Precis 2: “What's The Deal With Soundtrack Albums? Metal Music And The Customized Aesthetics Of Contemporary Horror”

In the article “What's The Deal With Soundtrack Albums? Metal Music And The Customized Aesthetics Of Contemporary Horror” (2009) by Joseph Tompkins, the author claims that Heavy Metal music and horror films go together nicely and that the film industry utilizes this relationship. The author supports this claim by giving many examples (including the movie Freddy vs. Jason) and explaining, in depth, the economic and cultural impact of such a relationship. The purpose of this article is to present the research done regarding a relationship between horror film and Heavy Metal music in order to show that the relationship is beneficial to all parties involved. The intended audience of this article is a group of college-level students, because the vocabulary is at a college level but there is nothing too specialized about the article that only one profession would understand, even if it is rather long.

Tompkins, Joseph. "What's The Deal With Soundtrack Albums? Metal Music And The Customized Aesthetics Of Contemporary Horror." Cinema Journal 49.1 (2009): 65-81. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.

MWP1: Precis 1: “The Relationship Between Heavy Metal And Rap Music And Adolescent Turmoil: Real Or Artifact?”

In the article “The Relationship Between Heavy Metal And Rap Music And Adolescent Turmoil: Real Or Artifact?” (1994) by Kevin Took and David Weiss, the authors claim that Heavy Metal Music and Rap Music have no direct effect on turmoil in children, but that the problem originates from elementary school issues before the exposure to the music styles. The authors support this claim by presenting their research which shows that the music styles originally suspected of causing negative effects in teenagers are not a direct cause of turmoil in children, but the result of underlying problems based off of surveys they presented to the test subjects. The purpose of this article is to present information of a psychological study in order to disprove the notion that Heavy Metal and Rap music negatively affects youth. The intended audience for this article is a group of people desiring more information about the effects of music, but who are also educated, as evident by the professional statistical data methods used and the strictly lab-report style presentation of information.

Took, Kevin J., and David S. Weiss. "The Relationship Between Heavy Metal And Rap Music And Adolescent Turmoil: Real Or Artifact?." Adolescence 29.115 (1994): 613. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

Working Thesis for MWP 1

Working Thesis MWP 1

            Heavy Metal Music has positive effects that outweigh the negative effects to the mental health of people because the positive effects have been shown experimentally to outweigh the negative effects, the effects of Heavy Metal Music cannot be experimentally quantified, and any experimental effects observed cannot be proven to be caused by Heavy Metal Music.

Rhetorical Precis of "Effects of Listening to Heavy Metal Music on College Women: A Pilot Study"

In the article "Effects Of Listening To Heavy Metal Music On College Women: A Pilot Study" (2008) by Gregory Schwab et al., the authors claim that heavy metal music causes a “physiological response in females” that is specific to females and is due to the musical genre of heavy metal. (Schwab 1) The authors develop this claim through experimentation and examination of muscle movements in the face of the test subject (specifically the frontalis and masseter muscles) along with measurements of perspiration, heart rate, and other physiological factors. The purpose of this article is to present the results of an experiment in order to inform the public of the potential effects of heavy metal music on college women. The intended audience of this article is a group of graduate level people interested or working with physiology regarding music, because the article constantly gives large words without explaining them and presents all information in a very logical, concise, lab-report style method with very little emphasis on popular appeal.

Works Cited

Gregory D. Schwab, et al. "Effects Of Listening To Heavy Metal Music On College Women: A Pilot Study." College Student Journal 42.1 (2008): 24-35. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.

10-15 questions about MWP 1 Topic

Questions about Heavy Metal Music Effects

1.      What are the negative effects of Heavy Metal Music?

2.      What are the positive effects of Heavy Metal Music?

3.      Do the negative effects outweigh the positive effects or vice versa?

4.      Does a predetermined music preference cause different effects to Heavy Metal Music?

5.      Are there psychological effects of Heavy Metal Music?

6.      Are there physiological effects of Heavy Metal Music?

7.      Is there any quantitative research regarding Heavy Metal Music?

8.      Does gender have a role in the effects of Heavy Metal Music?

9.      Does race have a role in the effects of Heavy Metal Music?

10.  What about Heavy Metal Music causes the effects?

11.  Is there a general agreement in the scientific community about the effects of Heavy Metal Music?

12.  What defines Heavy Metal Music and who makes these definitions?

13.  Is Heavy Metal Music the only genre of music with the effects of Heavy Metal Music?

14.  Do people “get used to” Heavy Metal Music and suffer effects of the music less?

15.  Can Heavy Metal Music be linked to any mental health conditions scientifically?