Narrating Students' Futures: Class, Privacy, & Surveillance
Our readings have emphasized that classifications are built on assumptions. While assumptions are unavoidable in any classification system, we are obligated to examine the values and beliefs behind them. To do this assignment, we will examine ACT ENGAGE system for predicting student success. We will characterize ENGAGE by comparing it with our own -- and other students' -- notions of what determines success in college. Throughout these readings and discussions, we will recognize the need to assess the legitimacy of the claims made by ACT about its ENGAGE survey
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PREVIOUS READINGS: re-read and review your completed TEQ Sheets for the following:
• Jean Anyon. "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work"
• Shaun Johnson. "Why America's Prep Schools Aren't Following Arne Duncan's Public School Education Reforms"
NEW READINGS AND VIDEO
• The College Board. "Types of Colleges: the basics"
• Gail Mellow. "The Biggest Misconception About Today's College Students."
• Meridith Kolodner. "New research shows the number of single moms in college doubled in 12 years, so why aren’t they graduating?
• Vox. "The subtle ways colleges discriminate against poor students, explained with a cartoon."
• Jose Ferreria. "Education Datapalooza"
• "Digital Scarlet Letters: Social Media Stigmatization of the Poor and What Can Be Done" (Read only the abstract)
• Eli Pariser. "Beware Online Filter Bubbles"
• ACT on Engage Survey (explore all links on the site, especially Engage for College Students)
• Macomb Students' Survey for predicting success
• Comparison Chapter (see "Modes" link at top of page, and read "Comparison" chapter). Pay close attention to the difference between a simple comparison and a complex comparison. You are writing a prospectus for a complex comparison. Pay close attention to pages 4-9.
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ASSIGNMENT
SO FAR: In the first project, we examined the connection between class and education. In this project, we have examined how assumptions about class are built into some standardized testing tools, social media, and other digital tools. We've seen these issues in the differences between a survey designed by ACT and another designed by students at Macomb. While working on these topics, we've come to realize that schools, corporations, and many others use digital tools to surveille us in ways that seem to invade our privacy and direct us into a small set of choices.
NOW: You will compare the ACT-Engage to the Macomb Students' survey. Your work will identify the key differences between these two strategies for measuring the likelihood of a student succeeding. You will identity and discuss the assumptions that each survey makes about students, their lives, and their beliefs about education.
Note that this is not a pro/con document. You are not "proving" that one survey is better than the other.
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Sample rough draft of Prospectus
To complete this assignment, do the following: 1) three TEQ Sheets, 2) a Purpose & Problem Statement, and 3) a Prospectus. You will not write write a paper.
Begin by doing TEQ Sheets for
• "Digital Scarlet Letters: Social Media Stigmatization of the Poor and What Can be Done
• ACT Engage categories on page 5 of "Comparison chapter under "Modes" tab.
• Macomb Students' Survey for predicting success
Next,
Write a useful Purpose & Problem Statement. Review the link under "Tools" that offers guidance in producing this document. Note that the Purpose & Problem Statement is influenced by the teacher's assignment (red text above).
Then, in a 250-500 word Prospectus (about 1-2 pages), answer the question raised in your Problem Statement. Review the link under "Tools" that offers guidance. Remember that this is where you develop a claim that could control an entire essay.
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Other Requirements
See the list at the end of Assignment #1