Writing Project #1: Review & Submit

Teaching Generation Z:

Improving Education in the 21^st Century

DUE: Upload (publish) your paper to Canvas by Thursday, March 19 by 11:59pm.  After receiving a grade, you will have the opportunity to revise this essay. 

 PURPOSE: Writing Project #1 gives you the opportunity to summarize, discuss, analyze and synthesize ideas, course readings, and research to contribute to the solution of a national concern, in this case, improving education for Generation Z, typically those born between the mid-1990s and 2010. Equally important is your deep reflection on your experience and observations as a student, as you bring your own level of expertise to the conversation. With ongoing support, you will continue to use the writing process (invention, prewriting, writing, revision, proofreading, and publishing) to create an effective argument that will strengthen your skills as an effective critical thinker and communicator in your personal, academic, professional, and civic life.

 Skills: For this project, you will practice the following skills that are essential in this course and beyond:

• • analyzing and responding to a college-level prompt;
  • reading critically and analytically, identifying major claims (theses, central argument) in different kinds of nonfiction texts;
  • distinguishing between author, subject, intended audience, genre, context and purpose;
  • conducting research in response to a problem and locating and evaluating primary and secondary sources for depth, breadth, and credibility using the library databases;
  • using different strategies to advance and support your central claim (thesis, central argument);
  • making effective choices regarding point of view, tone, and voice in relation to intended audience and purpose;
  • synthesizing, integrating, and contextualizing multiple outside sources (though quotations, paraphrasing, and summary) with your own voice, analysis, and position, while avoiding plagiarism
  • comprehending the value of accurately formatting papers and citing sources, using MLA format and style.

 Knowledge: This assignment will also help you to become familiar with the following important content knowledge in (as well as outside) this discipline:

• • the rhetorical situation
  • critical reading strategies
  • the writing process (invention, prewriting, writing, revision, proofreading, and publishing)
  • academic research and documentation
  • argument
  • direct, implied, closed, open thesis statements (central claim, argument)
  • academic voice

 TASK:  Now it is your turn to join the conversation. You will be using previous course writing and additional ideas and information from the course readings, short films, and your own research, experience, and observations to construct a paper that responds to the following critical question: How can teachers improve education for Generation Z?

Your intended audience is teachers and those concerned about education; your goal is to persuade them that there are things they can do to strengthen their teaching and improve education.

For the writing project, incorporate each of the following in a multi-paragraph essay using MLA Format and Style:

1. 1. Introduce and define the assigned problem/concern;
   2. Illustrate and analyze the effects of the problem/concern on students, and if you like, other people who care (i.e., parents, managers, taxpayers, communities, our civilization, etc.), drawing on personal experience and observations, course readings, and/or your own research;
   3. explain and exemplify the ways in which the problem can be addressed and perhaps solved, drawing on course readings, research, and your own, original ideas;
   4. consider obstacles to the problem/solution and how they might be addressed;
   5. recap your proposed solutions and persuade your reader of the vital importance of working towards improving and/or solving this problem for now and the future.

Additional Guidelines:

• Use a minimum of four sources, two course readings, selecting strategically from Carol S. Dweck’s “Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn”; Michael E. Martinez’s “What is Metacognition?”; Jeff Duncan Andrade’s “Growing Roses from Concrete,” and/or “Education Visionary: He Wanted to Be a Pro Basketball Player. He Became a Teacher Instead,” as well as one-two additional outside source/s from the Grossmont College Database.
• Write so that someone not in our class could understand your paper. Assume your audience has not read the texts or watched the films. That means you’ll need to briefly summarize key ideas/information and explain any unfamiliar terms. Short quotes are also helpful.
• Sum up your major claim in a clear sentence in the beginning of your paper with a closed or open thesis statement. It should respond directly to the question: How can teachers improve education for Generation Z?
• Write 3-5 complete pages, typed, 12-point font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. In other words, use the MLA format and style, including a Works Cited page. Keep in mind that you will have more than one opportunity to revise this paper.
• Relax—enjoy this academic adventure. We need your insight and ideas to improve public education!