The following appeared as part of a newspaper editorial:
"Two years ago Nova High School began to use interactive computer instruction in three academic subjects.
The school dropout rate declined immediately, and last year's graduates have reported some impressive achievements in college. In future budgets the school board should use a greater portion of the available funds to buy more computers, and all schools in the district should adopt interactive computer instruction throughout the curriculum."
Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.
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The conclusion of the given argument is that all schools in the district should adopt interactive computer instruction throughout the curriculum. The author of the newspaper editorial cites certain premises such as the decline in school dropout rate, achievements in college to support his argument and thus also recommends adoption of greater spending and funding to buy more computers; however the argument where it stands is unconvincing and doesn't justify the author's view.
Firstly, the author assumes that the school dropout rate declined due to the use of interactive computer instruction in three academic subjects. However, there could be other factors like poor faculty in the other schools in the same area where Nova High School is located or the fact that Nova High School's faculty was very good that contributed towards a lower school dropout rate.
Secondly, the author considers the impressive achievements in college also as a result of the use of computer interactive instruction. The special achievements could also be as a result of the calibre of students, the daunting effort that students made or the entire team of teachers and students that worked together to accomplish those achievements.
Thirdly, the author recommends more spending of funds to buy more computers and the adoption of interactive computer instruction at all schools in the district throughout the curriculum. The author here fails to consider the software, medium of presentation used by the Nova High School and at the same time is trying to generalise the methodology adopted by a single school to all the schools in the same district.
Thus, to conclude, if the author had substantiated his argument with suitable examples and findings, the argument would have been more convincing.
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"Two years ago Nova High School began to use interactive computer instruction in three academic subjects.
The school dropout rate declined immediately, and last year's graduates have reported some impressive achievements in college. In future budgets the school board should use a greater portion of the available funds to buy more computers, and all schools in the district should adopt interactive computer instruction throughout the curriculum."
Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.
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The conclusion of the given argument is that all schools in the district should adopt interactive computer instruction throughout the curriculum. The author of the newspaper editorial cites certain premises such as the decline in school dropout rate, achievements in college to support his argument and thus also recommends adoption of greater spending and funding to buy more computers; however the argument where it stands is unconvincing and doesn't justify the author's view.
Firstly, the author assumes that the school dropout rate declined due to the use of interactive computer instruction in three academic subjects. However, there could be other factors like poor faculty in the other schools in the same area where Nova High School is located or the fact that Nova High School's faculty was very good that contributed towards a lower school dropout rate.
Secondly, the author considers the impressive achievements in college also as a result of the use of computer interactive instruction. The special achievements could also be as a result of the calibre of students, the daunting effort that students made or the entire team of teachers and students that worked together to accomplish those achievements.
Thirdly, the author recommends more spending of funds to buy more computers and the adoption of interactive computer instruction at all schools in the district throughout the curriculum. The author here fails to consider the software, medium of presentation used by the Nova High School and at the same time is trying to generalise the methodology adopted by a single school to all the schools in the same district.
Thus, to conclude, if the author had substantiated his argument with suitable examples and findings, the argument would have been more convincing.
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