Critical Reasoning Question 7-High School Curriculum - Private Tutoring

Critical Reasoning Question 7-High School Curriculum BobbiM Feb 9, 2014 The local high school students have been clamoring for the freedom to design their own curricula.  Allowing this would be as disastrous as allowing 3-year-olds to choose their own diets.  These students have neither the maturity nor the experience to equal that of the professional educators now doing the job. Which of the following statements, if true, would most strengthen the above argument? A.  High school students have less formal education than those who currently design the curricula. B.  3-year-olds do not, if left to their own devices, choose healthful diets. C.  The local high school students are less intelligent than the average teenager. D.  Individualized curricula are more beneficial to high school students than are the standard curricula, which are rigid and unresponsive to their particular strengths and weaknesses. E.  The ability to design good curricula develops only after years of familiarity with educational life. Think you know the answer? The correct answer is E. first, we need to understand the structure of the argument.  Here the statement, Allowing this would be as disastrous as clues us into the authors opinion.  Assumption:  One needs maturity and experience to design curricula.  If the assumption were true, the argument would be strengthened.  Check the answer choices, and look for one that affirms the assumption.  (A) is just a restatement of the evidence; this choice adds no new information. In (B) the argument made an analogy:  Allowing students to make their own curricula is as disastrous as letting 3-year-olds choose their own diets.  If an argument uses an analogy to make a point, it had  better do so effectively.  The better the analogy, the stronger the argument.  This choice does strengthen the argument by showing the analogy to be true.  But the question asks for the best strengthener and a more relevant strengthener may be present. (C) is a classic faulty comparison choice; it is also out of scope.  The author doesnt distinguish between local high school students and average teenagers.  Moreover, the focus is on experience and maturity, not intelligence.  (D) shifts the focus of the argument from who should or should not design curricula to what kind of curricula is best.  Notice the scope change in this choice.  Its tempting, especially since it brings up an intelligent point about tailoring to individuals, but thats topic for a different discussion.  The best strengthener is (E), citing the experience needed to design curricula.

Hackschooling and LOI English

Hackschooling and LOI English What do you want to be when you grow up? Is this is a common question in your country? What do you think the term hackschooling means? Do you think happiness and health are part of your countrys goals for education? Does homeschooling, unschooling, or hackschooling exist in your country?LOI Englishs classes are a perfect tool for the hackschooling movement (our  Spanish classes are too). We allow  people to access high quality education without the normal boundaries of place and time, and all students get to move at their own pace.The video below is a very popular TED talk about hackschooling, given by a 12-year-old who is taking an unusual approach to his own education, with help from his parents. Watch the video and see if you can answer the questions.Answer the questions in comments and well respond.What answers do adults hope for when they ask, What do you want to be when you grow up?What is the best answer to this question?Education is important but why is being ______ and _____ __ not considered a part of education?What kind of scientist is Dr. Roger Walsh?What was the most popular TED talk of all time? Here is  link to it on our website.It _____ a lot of people _____.The above phrasal verb means: a. To be excited about something. b. To be scared about something.What does he think being a hacker means?Why does he call his education hackschooling?What are the priorities for his education?After listening to the talk do you think that he is getting the education he needs? Would you allow your children to do hackschooling. What would the challenges of this type of education be in your country? Would you be able to get into university?