We are nearing the end as we are in our final preparations of thinking, brainstorming, organizing, and outlining. This entire term, we have engaged in class with several different debates. We have seen how arguments work, and by now, we can assess what makes and argument strong and what doesn't work.
Briefly and concisely, state one or two of the arguments that you plan to use to support your position. Make your first post by Sunday night. Then, please respond to two of your classmates and feel free to challenge them on their arguments. Make your response posts by class next week. Remember to include your ID# in your post.
Aj. M
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ReplyDeletePosition: A teacher’s salary should depend on their evaluations
Argument 1 (Motivation):
Getting paid more and the prospect of getting paid more is highly motivating (especially in Thailand, where pay is generally quite low compared to cost of living). According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, motivation obtained from satisfying lower segments (safety/security) is a good predictor of having higher levels of motivation derived from the upper segments (self-actualization/self-esteem). Overall, more motivation from more money up to a certain point, in which I strongly believe Thailand has a long way to go before reaching this point. I also argue that the prospect of getting paid less and getting paid less is highly discouraging and aids in preventing poor job performance. This leaves us with the question of how we measure job performance in the classroom. One such way that is assuredly informative and insightful is the evaluation, whether done by teacher, students, or even both.
Argument 2 (Business):
Thai public schools, or any institution for that matter, should want to spend their funding and capital as efficiently as possible. A way to achieve this is by motivating high-performing teachers monetarily, and vice-versa, paying low performing teachers less incentivizes them to teach at an acceptable standard and reduces the ratio of cost of payroll to student satisfaction in the case replacement teachers cannot be found. Paying good teachers more keeps them in the school, as well as possibly bringing in more students. This can especially be the case in universities, where well-known professors will bring in students. Adjusting worker salaries helps to save money. Investing money into teachers who are proven to teach well and will teach well in the future will always be a good choice.
Argument 3 (Morality):
I am willing to bet that every single person has been to a school where there are teachers who stand out. Wouldn’t you say that those teachers deserve to be paid more than those teachers you remember being useless or even detrimental to your learning. Those teachers that you remember fondly put in more effort and thus deserve to be paid more than their counterparts who seldom put in effort that falls close. Teacher evaluations done by students would surely highlight teachers who inspired. Even though there are teachers who give good grades and have a lax class who will get good evaluations, these can be balanced out by other types of evaluations, such as peer evaluations, and evaluations done by third parties such as the council of international schools or public institutions.
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DeleteWhile I agree that better quality teachers should be paid more, isn't this how most jobs are operated? When a employee first starts, their wages are quite low compared to others. As you continue you gained more experience, thus being higher quality and getting a pay raise. If you consistently do poor, you get fired or laid off, or in the case of foreign teachers here in Thailand, your contract doesn't get renewed. Teachers with lots of experience therefore are paid much higher starting salaries than a teacher teaching for the first time. Some schools also have trial periods where they hire a teacher for a year to see how they teach. Obviously this can still go very poorly, my own calculus teacher in high school was terrible, the system your suggesting also doesn't solve this problem either (Quarterback problem we had early basically).
Another problem I see is that new teachers would have a hard time starting in the profession, as they lack the experience needed. Under your system they would have been paid less due to being new to teaching and thus have lack of experience. This leads to the problem that not a lot of people are willing to get into that profession, as it may take years to earn a decent amount of money. This has already been seen in the pilot industry, where there is currently a lack of pilots due to nobody willing to invest massive amounts of money and time on flight school.
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ReplyDeleteArgument 1: Schools should be teaching about animal agriculture because society is misinformed on the topic, and resistant to learning about it.
Widespread misconceptions regarding animal agriculture are well-documented in surveys and various research. Furthermore, there is clear evidence that people can be quite stubborn to learn about it. The scale of this misinformation is concerning due to the sustainability issues with animal agriculture (discussed more in argument 2). Schools have in interest in preventing the spread of misinformation by teaching students how to overcome it, however this is usually in a general sense. I need to cite past examples where educational associations have taken up strong positions to reject specific misconceptions.
Argument 2: Schools should be teaching about animal agriculture because of its environmental impact.
Although food production overall has a huge environmental impact, the degradation caused by animal agriculture is known to be far higher than plant alternatives. This includes greater greenhouse gas emissions, lower efficiency, greater water consumption etc. As educational institutions address environmentalism and sustainability already, the challenge here is arguing that animal agriculture should be of high priority within the climate curriculum. I’ll do this by showing that decisions students make concerning animal agriculture are more effective at climate change mitigation than the current syllabus.
This is an interesting topic. I never really thought about the fact that animal agriculture is not taught in schools, and it should be. The way we raise poultry in factory farms is disgusting. Not to mention the methane production that cattle breeding leads to.
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DeleteI agree with this. There are a lot of atrocities taking place in the animal agriculture industry that need to be put into light.
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DeleteAlthough I agree with how people should learn about animal agriculture and the atrocities behind it, why animal agriculture specifically? Is it more important than other issues where misinformation is prevalent? The same question can be asked about its environmental impact.
I think the misinformation pandemic is quite a large thing to tackle and drastic changes to our current society will need to be made.
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DeleteWhile I agree with promoting the increase of education in animal agriculture, I feel like you can provide more information about how this new addition to the education system can be executed. I think that your premises are clear but would still be difficult to implement.
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ReplyDeletePosition: Tutoring business practices absurd exploitation of parents insecurity
Argument 1 Ensuring job security has become a consideration for the younger generation
Presently, Thailand has been experiencing a constant decline in birth rate.As birth rate continues to decline and automation continues to improve, the market for labor would eventually decline, thus directing these newer generations toward the intellectually required market work force. The current competitive landscape that exists within Thai education is already one that is overwhelming and naturally every parent would want to give their children the very best chance they can get from every level of education.
Argument 2 In order to ensure certain employment, younger generations are to perform better academically and parents are pressured into helping their children academically
The demand for both private schools and well-funded state run schools exists. The barriers in entering private schools would be English skills as well as higher class manners. The one that exists for well-funded state run schools would be the academic knowledge required for such entrance exams. Both barriers put extra pressure to both rich and poor parents as many struggle to meet their children's academic needs.
Argument 3 Tutoring business are targeting parents under such pressure
To put into perspective, there are courses in tutoring centers offering roadmaps style plans of courses that are suitable for entrance prep for certain Universities’ majors, and it starts from elementary school. One of the current “Monopoly '' in the tutoring business is OnDemand. Currently OnDemand runs 14 different tutoring business including, OnDemand, Ignite, Farose, Premier Prep, Money Class, Berante, TCASter Mock Exam, Aims, Artstudio, Perfect10, Upbrain, DA’VANCE and หงหล่าาวซือ. Each of these businesses target oddly specific demographics.
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DeleteThis is a well-developed 3 step argument
birth rate decline -> more competition & desperate parents -> tutoring business monopoly
It is sad that these businesses exploit a parent's want to provide the best for their child. I wonder if these companies justify it by saying the education system is what's failing these students and they are simply bridging this gap. How would you respond to this argument?
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DeleteI agree with these arguments, but the question is what is going to replace the tutoring sector. Even if we increase the quality of every single school in Thailand, parents will still try to get their student into the "best" quality possible.
I do not think the tutoring industry is a bad thing, especially one on one courses can really help improve a student in areas they are lacking in. However, seeing the same cookie cutter style "tutoring" videos that they give you for high prices just makes this topic more depressing. Like a dystopia where students sit in front of a computer screen watching the same videos from one monopoly/authority. Just like OnDemand does.
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ReplyDeletePosition: Virus research must be conducted with strict, clear safeguards.
Argument 1: Virus research is necessary to protect mankind.
Viruses have been studied since the late 19th century by pioneers like Louis Pasteur. Presently, virology looks vastly different than it used to, due to advances in technology and the compounding of information over decades. Due to virus research, diseases such as measles, polio, and tetanus have been completely eradicated. Polio alone killed half a million people yearly in the mid-twentieth century. And now, thanks to the development of the vaccine, it poses no threat to us. In fact, the vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 only took 11 months to develop; a feat that is truly remarkable and only possible due to the paths already paved by mRNA research in the past. When another killer virus is mutated and released into the world, virologists must be armed with the real weapons: knowledge.
Argument 2: Viral researchers must improve their safety and security protocols.
In 2021, it was revealed that the Wuhan lab at the center of the lab leak theory was studying bat coronaviruses. While the efficacy of this research is debated, the truly frightening fact that scientists learned was that the research took place in a lab that followed Biosafety Level 2 - the same as high school laboratory. Delving further into the regulations worldwide, a concerning trend begins to take shape. Less than 5% of national governments provide oversight for research on dangerous pathogens. Considering the history of recorded lab leaks since the 1960s, it is a truly disappointing figure. Virus research labs lacking proper safety guidelines are landmines waiting to be stepped on. All it would take is for one scientist to be contaminated with a super-virus for a new kind of contagion to take over the planet. It is important that we treat this kind of research as seriously as we treat nuclear research. Strict biosecurity standards must be set and penalties must be enforced.
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DeleteGiven what you’ve said about the dismal state of most viral research labs, it’s ironic that safety is emphasized so much when learning laboratory skills. I’m not sure there are any valid arguments against increased safety (aside from lack of funding or resources). However, I think there is a debate regarding who should be enforcing these policies and whether or not it is actually achievable. You’ve said that only 5% of national governments oversee viral research, but is more government intervention the answer? It may be difficult to convince governments of different countries to agree upon universal safety measures.
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DeleteWouldn't stricter punishments and a system that rewards snitches be an easier way to stop this? For example, all labs must be equipped with cameras and the video recording can be used as proof to snitch. Something along the lines of that. It might be easy to set high standards but it would be hard to make sure people follow them.
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ReplyDeletePosition: Thai schools should give greater emphasis and control to student run clubs
Argument 1: Student clubs are beneficial to students by letting them improves themselves in a safe environment.
As children grow up, they gain hobbies that they enjoy doing. By allowing students with similar hobbies to get together in a student club, you create a constructive environment for students to develop their interests further. This environment allows students to improve their social skills such as leadership and teamwork/cooperation. The nature of student clubs also gives students a mental rest from studying in school. Teacher led school clubs are less effective compared to student clubs. Activities that a teacher may have a school club do can be fundamentally different from how students may choose to do. Students in schools that have banned student led clubs may have a hard time finding a teacher who is willing to led that club, especially if the club itself is considered a niche hobby. Student run clubs only need an advisor, which puts considerably less strain on the teachers as well as allow teachers the possibility of advising multiple clubs at the same time.
Argument 2: Activities done by student clubs help improve their local community, both within and outside schools.
Student clubs are not only for those interested in a hobby to join, they also promote their hobby to their community. A chess club may go and compete in local tournaments. A drama club may have a public performance for other students to see. An astronomy club may host a public stargazing event to watch the stars. By doing their favorite hobbies, they serve as community ambassadors and help improve their area with their activities. Teacher led clubs as stated before may not do the activities that the students in the club want to do. Foreign teachers in schools also may not understand the community that students want to serve/promote their club to. Students also are more prone to risk taking, doing activities that traditional teachers may not have suggested or would have done themselves. While this could lead to inevitable problems, advisors still have a final say on whether or not students should be doing a particular activity.
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DeleteI understand this is an exception but what about clubs that seem to impede on student development. There are probably clubs that do not improve any student's character/skills and are only there to waste time. In these situations, wouldn't a teacher-led club be better? Or is there maybe a better alternative?
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DeleteWell the arguments here are rather looking at things a bit too optimistically. Sure clubs are beneficial, but the specification of "in a safe environment" could also be implied that the fact that clubs doesn't exist in schools is because providing such safe environment isn't within their skillsets and that allowing clubs to run could actually create a toxic community within the school.
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ReplyDeletePosition: The government shouldn’t provide the service of education, it should only fund it.
Argument 1: Corruption, Inefficiencies, & Poor Scores.
Thailand is near the bottom of the list (110th out of 180) when it comes to not being corrupt. The Thai government has spent 16.8% of its budget on education, 4.6% higher than the OECD average in 2018. Yet, in the PISA test which measures how well the average student in a country scores, Thailand scored well below average for Science, Math, and English. Private companies on the other hand, when provided with competition, perform considerably better than the public sector and are less prone to corruption.
Argument 2: Equality
The United States experiences wealth inequality in their education system. Charter schools were vital in diminishing this problem. The students from minorities in charter schools ended up scoring significantly higher than the country’s average for their groups. A similar tactic can be used to solve Thailand’s educational wealth inequality. On top of that, private schools are more widely accepted in areas of conflict which can be applied to the situation in the south of Thailand. Furthermore, privatization allows the government to finally implement their own goal of decentralizing the education system after years of failing. This allows schools to adapt to the children’s needs so no one is left behind.
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DeleteI believe that by funding education, my government's control will be weakened. Furthermore, for-profit schools will emerge as a result of this. Although I agree that the government's management style is not ideal, there is no guarantee as to who would be in charge of the school's management once the government gives funding. How can we be certain that the third party will not be corrupt? Your argument is great but it needs development as to how will this ensure good quality education ultimately.
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ReplyDeleteArgument 1: Sleep is essential to adolescent brain development.
Late school start times deprive students of their much needed sleep. Many studies have shown that important mechanisms in the brain such as emotion regulation, memory, and cognitive ability are affected by insufficient sleep. Not only does lack of sleep affect brain development, it can also lead to an array of physical and psychological issues such as fatigue, anxiety, and low self esteem.
Argument 2: Academic performance correlates with school start times.
Academic performance has been shown to improve when school schedules are altered to start at a later time. Students are able to have quality sleep, thus improving many areas of their school experience such as the ability to focus in class and better mental/physical well being. It can result in higher attendance and better performance, which in turn influence grades and graduation rates.
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DeleteAre you also advocating for shorter school periods? Personally, I would prefer to start school earlier if it meant coming home quicker. Also, how would you respond to the argument that early start times prepare students better for the working world? The consequences of poor time management are much worse for employed adults than for students. Wouldn't schools be doing students a service then, by forcing them to create realistic sleep schedules? From your first argument, sleep length is what actually matters, not timing. Therefore, if students just slept earlier, an earlier start time would make no difference.
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DeleteI like your idea, but I feel like your premises are not strong enough in the way that both arguments seem closely related to each other. While your argument is pretty strong, it can be easily rebutted as well. Such arguments could include either sleep schedule being a matter of choice or even providing alternative solutions that would not involve altering the school start time. For example, the opposing side could propose decreasing the amount of work given to students instead.
I appreciate the thought but I belive in our own university as of now is already implementing a system that requires the improvement of time management skills in a fair environment in my opinion. As for your study about academic performance I believe it is mainly about preference and time management skills. The amount of sleep is the issue and some may have overlapping schedules like work or other activities. So I think you should strengthen your arguements.
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ReplyDeletePosition : Gender should not separate students, which is why gender neutral education can work to get rid of the barrier that exists in students of this age.
Argument #1 : Gender neutral education can make it so that education is solely about education. Implementing such systems would help it so that outside influences (such as societal norms, tradition, etc) will not be factors that play into the education of students.
Argument #2 : While statistics show that female students are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to education, focus should be placed on finding a balance between both genders to ensure that there is no further gender disparity.
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DeleteHow would one define gender neutral education? In my opinion education that is taught in most schools is mostly gender neutral. Male students have the same amount of opportunities as female students. The only difference I can think of off the top of my head is in Physical Education where evaluation for health for each sex is different. From my knowledge, the difference in evaluation is based on biological differences between the sexes.
Is there evidence to show that gender neutral education (based off of your definition) is actually beneficial to students (improved academic performance, greater participation in class, engagement in scholarly extracurriculars etc)?
I don't understand the statement “female students are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to education”. Are you trying to say female students get lesser opportunities to get education? But that's not related to your topic. In schools we are taught gender-neutral education...and which type of opportunities have been denied based on gender? 6381040
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ReplyDeletePosition : Universities should stop requiring standardised admission tests
Argument #1 : Costs and expenses
Taking the normal SAT once costs roughly $55 in the 2020-2021 academic year, and $68 if the student opts for the essay component, which some universities demand. Registration fees, late registration fees, waitlist testing fees, change fees, phone registration fees, and score report fees are also additional charges for some students. However, this is only the cost of one standardised test; it does not account for the money spent on preparation for these tests. Many test takers spend a significant amount of money on preparation courses and books, which range in price from $50 to $2000 depending on the type of course and whether you opt to study independently or enroll in a course.
Argument #2 : Those with socioeconomic advantages benefit from standardised tests
Test preparation classes are also created by test preparation companies. You can even pay specialized teachers to help you pass a test if you have the money. People who cannot afford it and whose school is located in a poor socioeconomic area with less funding than wealthy schools, on the other hand, will not receive the same exam preparation as wealthier kids. That can greatly affect their performance in these test, which can determine whether they get into the university of their choice or not.
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DeleteIf universities stop requiring standardized test, what alternatives would universities require for entrance instead? and why would these alternatives promote equality in university applications to those of different socioeconomic statuses? Also, with the abundance of online resources, the need to pay a tutor in order to achieve a good score is essentially eliminated. Also, if spending money on a few standardized tests is a cost too much for some people, wouldn't attending a university (private or public) cost too much. There are other alternatives to attending university such as attending trade/vocational schools, gaining an apprenticeship, or even attending a community college as most do not require standardized tests as part of their application.
I think the biggest obstacle for this argument would be to find a better alternative for universities to evaluate students for acceptance. Although I hate standardized tests, I can see how it would help universities differentiate between qualified and unqualified students out of the thousands of applicants they receive in a year.
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DeleteIt is very hard to test someone with complete fairness. SATS is the core for people to enter colleges and a generalized method to test students, which secures them into universities. If SATS are banned, there is no way the university can judge their applicant's skills. I feel like SATs need to be more reformed into more critical and holistic rather than their current form. Removing the SATS will further widen the socioeconomic gap because the rich will get into universities at the cost of the poor.
I agree that expense and costs could be an issue but what other methods are there to identify the quality of an admission. The problems that have risen over the years and the shortcuts for rich people that have been created is definitely in need of resolving. "socioeconomic advantages" is something that can definitely be seen, as i believe a new system should be implemented. But there lies the issues no one has come up with it and made it accepted. The change must come from the top(people in power) ofcourse and if the top is already making money off of it why would they stop. Probably when they see and respect the true purpose of education which is to better the society they and their family has to live in.
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ReplyDeletePosition: Traditional culture should not interfere in the evolution of a society, specifically when it comes to the field of education which is a vital organ in any form of development.
Argument #1 Traditional culture is very subjective and diverse as there are many cultures around the world which is why we should promote education that aims to teach students the ability to think critically and analytically so that they are able to adapt to all forms of cultures and form their own perspectives about the world.
Argument #2 Traditional culture in education limits a student's ability to adapt to the world around them as it places them inside a specific cultural box where they are blocked off from the outside world.
6480607
DeleteYour arguments are good but you might need to provide more examples. For example, provide the names of the countries or cultures that focus on traditional culture in schools. If we talk about Thai schools, I can see where that plays a part. But if we talk about schools that follow an American curriculum, it might be debatable since those schools tend to not be very traditional.
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ReplyDeletePosition: standardized examinations should be replaced with contextual assessments.
Argument 1: standardized examinations fail to properly assess and promote the capabilities of a student which may contribute to society
Standardized examinations ultimately assessing a student's capability in memorizing, relaying, and sometimes applying information from a syllabus towards a simple isolated problem of which they have limited time to study and solve. Problems are, in reality, complex and multi-faceted, often involving a mixture of skills and knowledge, sometimes across multiple disciplines. Due to this design, students are not encouraged to practice their skills in application of their learnt knowledge, but instead their ability to memorize and recall information, even if they do not fully understand it. On average, a student's grades do not show a positive correlation to their future success. Inversely, a general negative correlation has been shown between academic and future success. This shows that the standardized examinations used to determine the grades fail to produce grades which are analogous to students' most important capabilities.
Argument 2: standardized examinations have a negative effect on students' mental health and development, limiting their growth and capabilities.
Various studies have shown standardized examinations have been shown to be a significant factor in stress and poor mental health. Sources of stress that stem from standardized examination can be categorized into stressors that occur before exams and stressors that occur during. Stressors such as preparing for the test, worrying about the outcome, and the time limit imposed on most exams. These in turn creates several cascading issues, from mental illness to poor interpersonal relations to further hampering their academic performance, which feeds back into causing their stress creating a feedback loop of poor performance and stress. In the short-term, especially during an examination in which time is limited, the stress hampers active performance and mental capabilities such as memory recall and problem solving. In the long term, it pressures students to focus all their attention on the singular task of earning a grade they deem acceptable through a single event, rather than exploring a variety of things to broaden their toolset of skills, knowledge, and experiences to draw from. In extreme cases, the stress can lead to self-harm and possibly even suicide, which is, unfortunately, not an uncommon occurrence.
Argument 3: Contextual and continuous assessment using simulated tasks analogous to real-life applications of skills and knowledge solves many of these issues.
By using a continuous contextual assessment structure in place of standardized examinations, academic authorities are much better able to determine a student’s capabilities and their potential ability to contribute to society in the future. Challenging them with simulated real-life analogous tasks will show their capability to apply their knowledge and skills to solve a complex problem which reflects how their skills and knowledge could be used to solve a real problem in the future, as well as allows them to demonstrate their ability to problem-solve, apply their creativity, and apply knowledge and skills from other disciplines to help them in finding a solution, possibly even a unique and effective one outside of the predicted possible solutions. It engages them and gives them a tangible goal to strive towards, one that they can track their progress towards achieving. This lets them see their own growth and development, a strong motivator to counteract stress onset by tackling a challenge. Students have time to think about the problem and explore various avenues of which they could approach it, as well as giving them time to de-stress and recover their mental state back to one in which they could perform at their highest capability.
The arguments you have made are really valid. If the education system is based on these “skills and problem solving” types of exam, I can imagine how beneficial it will be for us because what we all really need is having skills and conceptual minds for our career path. 6381040
DeletePosition - Educational institutions have the duty to teach students comprehensive sexual education.
ReplyDeleteArgument 1 - Schools that have implemented abstinence-only sex education consistently experience failure regarding the prevention of unwanted teenage pregnancies and the spread of STIs.
Abstinence-only sex education was created with the goal to provide the “morally” acceptable path to preventing unwanted sexual encounters yet the program has experienced failure at every single level. Abstinence-only education has little effect on the rates teens have sex, in fact they do not delay sexual initiation or reduce sexual risk behaviors. Hormonal and curious teenagers will still choose to have sex
Argument 2 - Abstinence-only programs risk students safety to unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases.
Despite placing an emphasis on abstinence till marriage, teens will still have sex. The only difference between abstinence programs and comprehensive programs is whether or not teens know how to have safe sex. Abstinence programs obscure information on contraceptives thus placing millions of teenagers in danger of unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases. Educators in abstinence programs often inflate the failure rates of condoms, birth control and other contraceptives in hopes of scaring teens from having sex. Yet, all it does is provide teens with unnecessary stress and anxiety regarding a natural human activity.
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Delete1. In this world of media, people are losing their true selves, which is where art plays an integral part and teaches individuals to be kind and calm.
ReplyDeleteLearning art is like comforting one’s self. Once a person starts painting and goes with the flow of the ink, he/she will experience a type of joy that no other activity will give. As there is no right or wrong in art, a person will not consider his/her art bad. The imperfection in the blended colors teaches people how everything doesn’t have to be perfect and from this, people will start seeing the beauty in the flaws. Students will be able to appreciate and support their friends rather than point out the mistakes their friends have made.
2. Because people lack self-realization, we are becoming human without humanity.
Art changes people’s feelings of a sudden. The artwork gets ruined when people act harshly towards it. From that, people observe and tend to work harder to improve it. From being hot-tempered, art changes people to be patient. Students get to learn deep observation and self-realization when art is taught. Self-realization makes one think positively which leads to becoming a critical citizen. Not only the class environment improves, but gradually the whole society.
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ReplyDeleteArgument: All internships should include a stipend or monetary compensation for their interns.
Argument 1: The unpaid internship culture exacerbates socioeconomic disparity by benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the poor.
Not all students can afford to commit to unpaid internships. Due to their financial circumstances, financially troubled students prefer not to intern or to choose paid internships over unpaid internships, regardless of how advantageous it is to their future. On the other hand, privileged students are willing to participate in unpaid internships and on top pay for traveling and other expenses. This process benefits the privileged more than the poor. Many companies and colleges advertise internships abroad that require students to cover all expenses and have no monetary requirements. Such options are accessible to wealthy pupils. Hence, paying all interns gives both, the poor and the rich equal opportunities, and prevents the widening of the social gap.
Argument 2: It is not only unfair, but also exploitative, to not compensate an intern for their work, time, and effort.
The unpaid internships allow the employers to benefits from the intern's work for free. When most firms are the only ones benefiting from the interns, the internship is marketed as an experience. Because they receive free labor from inexperienced students, most employers assign repetitive and menial jobs to their interns, such as making coffee, cleaning, and filing papers, rather than offering a genuine, meaningful experience. Employees will be obligated to guide their interns if they are paid, as the company is paying the intern. The intern will receive proper guidance and pay, while the company will be more invested to make their money's worth.
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DeleteI agree with your arguments. However, what you said about internships abroad, students can easily choose to do their internships in their hometown, rather than abroad. With that being said, they can also choose paid internships over unpaid if that's what they really want. There are plenty of internships out there that pay the students, even if it just for their travelling costs. Your arguments do make sense but could be stronger by providing real life experiences or more examples.
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ReplyDeletePosition: The government should fund the providing of technological devices to every student in the country, especially those from disadvantaged families.
Argument 1
Technology can be used to improve education.
- Technology can be integrated into the classroom in many forms; interactive games, educational videos. These may help to promote active learning in students and help to keep students engaged during class.
- Technology makes it easier to keep track of student's progress with programs such as Google Docs, google classroom, turnitin, and many other programs and LMS.
- Devices for each student makes it easier for students to access information such as publications (online rather than just printed) and as well as other educational material such as videos, podcasts, interactive websites. --> maximizes students individualised learning needs.
- Access to sufficient (and good) technological devices such as computers are needed in order for students to become technologically savvy.
Argument 2
The Economy is moving towards a digital economy.
- We are moving into the Thailand 4.0 Economic Model.
- Many modern jobs require basic computer literacy skills, and we can see this trend continuing to rise as we move into the future.
- Teaching students to become computer literate from a young age is crucial as we move towards a digital economy. To be able to do this, we need to provide sufficient access to technological devices (such as computers and tablets) to begin with.
- Thai students are falling being in computer literacy skills: The 2013 International Computer Information Literacy
Study (ICILS) states that students (8th grade) in Thailand ranked 2nd to last in Computer Literacy Score (CIL) out of the fourteen counties whom participated in study (IEA,
2013).
Reference
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), ICILS 2013
User Guide for the International Database. (2013). Retrieved 18 February 2022, from
https://www.iea.nl/sites/default/files/2019-04/ICILS_2013_IDB_user_guide.pdf
I think an essential component to this argument would be how this funding can be implemented especially within developing countries who have limited resources and funds to allocate towards developing the country. How would providing technological devices to every student in the country have more benefit for a country vs let's say funding an NGO to reduce poverty.
DeleteThe journal blog is now closed. Thank you for your participation. You can still respond to each other. Aj. M
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