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Problem: Grade inflation and its detrimental effect

Grades were up. Way up

Evidence 1: a graph on the cover of the student newspaper that showed the history of grades given at that institution in the past 30 years.

Type: Research Study

A graph that the author ran into in a student newspaper, we don't know its name or if it is a legible source. But this is like a hook sentence to appeal the audience so questionable source is acceptable

Evidence 2: I found more than 80 colleges and universities with data on grades, mostly by poking around the Web

Type: Research Study?

poking what Web, what sites.

This may be acceptable because schools have their own websites and have to be honest about their data relating to grades. School websites providing their own students’ grade data can be reliable sources.

Are 80 schools  enough to be representative?

From data in evidence 2, the author analyses:

Grades started to shoot up nationwide in the 1960s, leveled off in the 1970s, and then started rising again in the 1980s. Private schools had much higher grades than public schools

The average GPA at public schools is 3.0, with many flagship state schools having average GPAs higher than 3.2.

At a private college, the average is now 3.3. At some schools, it tops 3.5 and even 3.6. "A" is average at those schools! At elite Brown University, two-thirds of all letter grades given are now A's.

Case example -> Hasty generalization

Assumption: A is such an elite score that can not be gained easily by most of the students.

Grade changes profoundly influence college life and learning.

1. Students tend to give minimal effort.

Evidence 1: Our college classrooms are filled with students who do not prepare for class. Many study less than 10 hours a week – that's less than half the hours they spent studying 40 years ago

Type: Personal Experience

The author’s classrooms cannot represent the classrooms in whole nation

1. Instead of learning, they drink.

Fallacy: either-or

Assumption: drinking = not studying

Evidence 1: A recent survey of more than 30,000 first year students across the country showed that nearly half were spending more hours drinking than they were studying.

Type: Research study (not really reliable because we don’t know what that survey is, who conduct it, the 30 000 students is variable enough or not)

→ Conclusion: If we continue along this path, we'll end up with a generation of poorly educated college graduates who have used their four years principally to develop an addiction to alcohol. (Fallacy: slippery slope)

Solution: Colleges and universities must roll up their sleeves, bring down inflated grades, and encourage real learning.

1. There are solutions to this problem.

Evidence: Princeton, Wellesley, and Reed have been successful in keeping grade inflation in check.

Type: Case Examples

Fallacy: Hasty generalization: author may think all schools should have the same condition as these 3 schools

1. Not many schools follow the solution:

Evidence: Dean Nancy Malkiel at Princeton

Type: Appeal to Authority

She’s from Princeton, maybe a lecturer who have experience in this field, but I think we need to know more about her and her contribution, as well as listen to other experts

-> Conclusion: Making a switch will take hard work, but the effort is worthwhile. The alternative is a student body that barely studies and drinks out of boredom.

Fallacy: Either-or(False dilemma)

# data[].attributes.body
📌 Conclusion 1: Tertiary education is important
- Reason: gives us perspective, reading and writing skills, and in many cases a start on a profession.
- Evidence: the Bureau of Labor Statistics data does show that people with college degrees have half the unemployment rate of those without. => Research study

📌 Conclusion 2: College is not that important to everyone
- Reason 1: education to employment link is broken.
- Evidence:
+ Today more than half of US college graduates are looking for work, college cost has risen by 40% over the last ten years, and college graduates now have more than a trillion dollars of debt. => Research studies: gives specific data, which seems trustworthy, but we don't know the back ground of the author and their expertise
+ According to Richard Arum, a sociologist at New York University, 36% of students show no improvement in critical thinking over four years of college. => Research studies
+ Bill Gates dropped out of college and it certainly didn't hold him back. => Case example: not broad enough to justify the conclusion

- Reason 2: In today's economy we should honor and promote people who educate themselves
- Evidence:
+ Dale's argument is that education is expensive, often wastes time, and not necessary for success. He professes that you should get up at 6am every day and use every opportunity you have to develop yourself. Take an internship. Find a mentor. Start a business. And read, study, and learn. => Appeal to authority
+ Much of our corporate learning research shows that high performing business people often don't have fancy degrees => Research studies

📌 Overall conclusion: Be open minded to the college concept.

# data[].attributes.body
📌 Conclusion 1: Tertiary education is important
- Reason: gives us perspective, reading and writing skills, and in many cases a start on a profession.
- Evidence: the Bureau of Labor Statistics data does show that people with college degrees have half the unemployment rate of those without. => Research study

📌 Conclusion 2: College is not that important to everyone
- Reason 1: education to employment link is broken.
- Evidence:
+ Today more than half of US college graduates are looking for work, college cost has risen by 40% over the last ten years, and college graduates now have more than a trillion dollars of debt. => Research studies: gives specific data, which seems trustworthy, but we don't know the back ground of the author and their expertise
+ According to Richard Arum, a sociologist at New York University, 36% of students show no improvement in critical thinking over four years of college. => Research studies
+ Bill Gates dropped out of college and it certainly didn't hold him back. => Case example: not broad enough to justify the conclusion

- Reason 2: In today's economy we should honor and promote people who educate themselves
- Evidence:
+ Dale's argument is that education is expensive, often wastes time, and not necessary for success. He professes that you should get up at 6am every day and use every opportunity you have to develop yourself. Take an internship. Find a mentor. Start a business. And read, study, and learn. => Appeal to authority
+ Much of our corporate learning research shows that high performing business people often don't have fancy degrees => Research studies

📌 Overall conclusion: Be open minded to the college concept.

# data[].attributes.body
EVIDENCE 1: "a graph on the cover of the student newspaper that showed the history of grades given at that institution in the past 30 years."
Research study - six years ago => information not recent => not totally accurate for today

EVIDENCE 2: "more than 80 colleges and universities with data on grades, mostly by poking around the Web."
Research study - 80 universities => sample not big enough, only limited to ones that publicized their grades data

EVIDENCE 3: “At a private college, the average is now 3.3. At some schools, it tops 3.5 and even 3.6. "A" is average at those schools!” - Case example. => Hasty generalization

EVIDENCE 4: “At elite Brown University, two-thirds of all letter grades given are now A's.” - Case example. => Hasty generalization

EVIDENCE 5: “Many study less than 10 hours a week – that's less than half the hours they spent studying 40 years ago.” - Research study. We do not know the time when these studies are researched => Can not check accuracy

EVIDENCE 6: “A recent survey of more than 30,000 first year students across the country showed that nearly half were spending more hours drinking than they were studying” - Research study

EVIDENCE 7: “There are many who say that grade inflation is a complicated issue with no easy fix.” - appeals to authority - however, the expertise of the “many” is questionable since we don’t know who the people claim that grade inflation is complicated are or whether the claim is based on observations or researches —-> Fallacy: Appeal to a questionable authority

EVIDENCE 8: “I asked Dean Nancy Malkiel at Princeton why so few schools seem to be following Princeton's lead. "Because it's hard work," she answered. "Because you have to persuade the faculty that it's important to do the work."” - appeal to authority - no one knows who Dean is, his expertise is questionable

EVIDENCE 9: Princeton University began to actually do something about its grade-inflation problem. Its guidelines have the effect of now limiting A's on average to 35 percent of students in a class. Those guidelines have worked. Grades are going back down at Princeton and academic rigor is making a comeback. A similar successful effort has taken place at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. And through a concerted effort on the part of faculty and leadership, grades at Reed College in Oregon have stayed essentially constant for 20 years. - Case Example - No problem

CONCLUSION: Grade inflation is a prevalent and harmful problem that needs to be tackled right.

# data[].attributes.body
📌 Conclusion 1: Tertiary education is important
- Reason: gives us perspective, reading and writing skills, and in many cases a start on a profession.
- Evidence: the Bureau of Labor Statistics data does show that people with college degrees have half the unemployment rate of those without. => Research study

📌 Conclusion 2: College is not that important to everyone
- Reason 1: education to employment link is broken.
- Evidence:
+ Today more than half of US college graduates are looking for work, college cost has risen by 40% over the last ten years, and college graduates now have more than a trillion dollars of debt. => Research studies: gives specific data, which seems trustworthy, but we don't know the back ground of the author and their expertise
+ According to Richard Arum, a sociologist at New York University, 36% of students show no improvement in critical thinking over four years of college. => Research studies
+ Bill Gates dropped out of college and it certainly didn't hold him back. => Case example: not broad enough to justify the conclusion

- Reason 2: In today's economy we should honor and promote people who educate themselves
- Evidence:
+ Dale's argument is that education is expensive, often wastes time, and not necessary for success. He professes that you should get up at 6am every day and use every opportunity you have to develop yourself. Take an internship. Find a mentor. Start a business. And read, study, and learn. => Appeal to authority
+ Much of our corporate learning research shows that high performing business people often don't have fancy degrees => Research studies

📌 Overall conclusion: Be open minded to the college concept.

# data[].attributes.body
📌 Conclusion 1: Tertiary education is important
- Reason: gives us perspective, reading and writing skills, and in many cases a start on a profession.
- Evidence: the Bureau of Labor Statistics data does show that people with college degrees have half the unemployment rate of those without. => Research study

📌 Conclusion 2: College is not that important to everyone
- Reason 1: education to employment link is broken.
- Evidence:
+ Today more than half of US college graduates are looking for work, college cost has risen by 40% over the last ten years, and college graduates now have more than a trillion dollars of debt. => Research studies
+ According to Richard Arum, a sociologist at New York University, 36% of students show no improvement in critical thinking over four years of college. => Research studies
+ Bill Gates dropped out of college and it certainly didn't hold him back. => Case example: not broad enough to justify the conclusion

- Reason 2: In today's economy we should honor and promote people who educate themselves
- Evidence:
+ Dale's argument is that education is expensive, often wastes time, and not necessary for success. He professes that you should get up at 6am every day and use every opportunity you have to develop yourself. Take an internship. Find a mentor. Start a business. And read, study, and learn. => Appeal to authority
+ Much of our corporate learning research shows that high performing business people often don't have fancy degrees => Research studies

📌 Overall conclusion: Be open minded to the college concept.

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COMMENT: All the evidence is quite reliable and legitimate.

- Personal observation: His observation is based on his personal website, which collects data from various institutions. Moreover, he is a scientist by training.
=> Observation is rather objective.

However, the observation is made from only one person, so that is not 100% reliable

I.  Conclusion #1. Grades continue to go up regardless of the quality of education.

(1) Personal observation:

Graph: Grades given in the institution

Website: I learned that grades started to shoot up nationwide in the 1960s, leveled off in the 1970s, and then started rising again in the 1980s. Private schools had much higher

(1) Research studies:

At a time when many are raising questions about the quality of US higher education, the average GPA at public schools is 3.0, with many flagship state schools having average GPAs higher than 3.2

At a private college, the average is now 3.3. At some schools, it tops 3.5 and even 3.6

(1) Case examples:

At elite Brown University, two-thirds of all letter grades given are now A's

II. Conclusion #2. With so few hours filled with learning, boredom sets in and students have to find something to pass the time. Instead of learning, they drink.

(2) Research studies:

Many studies less than 10 hours a week that's less than half the hours they spent studying 40 years ago

A recent survey of more than 30,000 first-year students across the country showed that nearly half were spending more hours drinking than they were studying.

III. Conclusion #3. Bringing down inflated grades together with encouraging real learning is not an impossible task.

(3) Case examples:

Princeton University actually began to do something about its grade-inflation problem. Its guidelines have the effect of now limiting A's on average to 35 percent of students in a class

A similar successful effort has taken place at Wellesley College in Massachusetts

And through a concerted effort on the part of faculty and leadership, grades at Reed College in Oregon have stayed essentially constant for 20 years

Princeton, Wellesley, and Reed provide evidence that the effort to keep grade inflation in check is not impossible

(3) Appeal to authorities:

I asked Dean Nancy Malkiel at Princeton why so few schools seem to be following Princeton's lead.

"Because it's hard work," she answered. "Because you have to persuade the faculty that it's important to do the work."

# data[].attributes.body
1. Argument 1: Grades continue to go up regardless of the quality of education
- Evidence: "...average GPA at public schools is 3.0, with many flagship state schools having average GPAs higher than 3.2. At a private college, the average is now 3.3. At some schools, it tops 3.5 and even 3.6. "A" is average at those schools!"
- Type of evidence: research studies
2. Argument 2: College classrooms are filled with students who do not prepare for class.
- Evidence:
+ Many study less than 10 hours a week
=> Instead of learning, students drink:
=> Survey: 30000 students (nearly half were spending more hours drinking).
=> Research studies.
3. Argument 3: grade inflation is a complicated issue => solution and result from:
+ Princeton University
+ Wellesley College in Massachusetts
+ Reed College in Oregon
=> Appeals to authority.
4. Conclusion: Colleges and universities must roll up their sleeves, bring down inflated grades, and encourage real learning.

In order to support the conclusion, the author had used many various types of evidences. Each evidence support different points, making it more persuasive.

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DON'T JUST DEPEND ON THE TYPE BECAUSE SOMETIME IT'S NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE. SO TRY TO BE AS CRITICAL AS POSSIBLE.