Category Archives: group 1

Hi everyone.

Like Dana, I was so busy writing my paper that I forgot to blog sooner! But I’m writing this post with a smile on my face because I finished my paper! After working on it extensively all of last week and through all of this weekend, (and the whole semester for that matter) I finally completed it. Thankfully I have a cousin who is a editor for the Daily News. I sent my paper off to him tonight,  and I will be making any necessary revisions with his feedback tomorrow morning before handing it in. Congratulations to all those who completed the paper, and good luck to those who are still working on it! See everyone tomorrow!

-Rene

Hello class,

As the title of the post indicates I feel like in 40% done with my final paper. The first draft I turned in was not really my ideal because I wish I could have added to it. At the same time im glad I turned it in since it takes some weight from my shoulders. The biggest  reason I didn’t feel good about the drat was because I didn’t develop my ideas well enough.  I added explanations of the policies im discussing for about 2 paragraphs each so that gave te paper more substance. I recently had a incident where my research tabs got deleted so now I have to work a little extra to find  the research again. The good thing is I have  a photographic memory and I can  recognize the web pages. The challenges im still facing are finding true statistics for public health economic costs. Many sources say use different numbers which are all relatively similar in terms of percentages but I would like to have concrete number for my own knowledge as well as for the paper.

My sources are also varied and im not sure which one to take out and which to leave. The issue there is that several sources provide similar information so im not sure if I should use one or more . Other than that, Im moving along rather well.

Hi everyone.

So the time has finally come to start writing my paper.  I started writing today. Hopefully I progress along nicely and not get stuck anywhere. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, the annotated bibliography assignment really helped me out a lot. After doing the presentation on Tuesday about my research progress, I feel even more confident. I know where there are certain ‘holes’ to be plugged, in terms of my argument and evidence. The questions and comments I received at the end of the presentation were extremely helpful as well. It allowed me to see what information I’m missing and it helped me get a sense of how to explain my argument as effectively as I can. As I explained in my presentation, one of the big challenges that I am facing is figuring out how to explain my evidence and how it supports my argument in the most simplest terms. I want the reader to clearly understand my argument and evidence, in the least confusing way possible. Hopefully I can achieve this goal and write a solid paper.

I hope everybody is having success writing their papers. Good luck to all.

-Rene

Hi everyone.

After completing the annotated bibliography assignment, I feel like I have a better grasp of my reasons and the evidence that supports those reasons. I am currently preparing some notes and looking through all of my research again in preparation for Tuesday’s presentation. I feel pretty confident so far but I still feel like I have a lot of work to complete. I wanted to begin writing my paper this weekend (so I can get a sense of where I really am, and also see if there is anything missing in my research), but it doesn’t seem possible at the moment because of a ton of other school work I have to do. But I plan to start writing my paper Tuesday night, and write 2-3 pages per day for the rest of the week (hopefully). As I mentioned before, the annotated bibliography assignment really helped a lot and I am hoping that the presentation helps me a lot as well (the reason I say this is because you need to have a really good understanding of your topic, and know the reasons and supporting evidence in order to fulfill the criteria we decided on for the presentation. In turn, that will be very beneficial when writing the paper). And as I’ve been putting in my other blog posts, this paper is intimidating but I’m pretty sure things are going to work out just fine.

Good luck on your presentations and writing your papers in the next couple of weeks.

-Rene

I have been challenging with rethinking my argument to better understand and come to grasp essentially what is that I want to demonstrate throughout my research paper. Ultimately it comes down to demonstrating that vocational programs are capable and have demonstrated an increase in transfer rates to four-year colleges. In working to demonstrate this concept throughout my research, I have come across the evolving role of community colleges and the programs that have slowly shaped the colleges’ mission and are very much reflective of the times, a diverse population and currently a national call toward increasing the number of students in higher education. Community colleges have embraced the call and vocational programs have undergone changes in function, embracing a transfer focus while preparing students both professionally and academically. It is interesting to note that ‘multiple pathways’ toward the workforce are being studied and have been implemented in the launch of the Pathways to Prosperity project, which offers high school students an opportunity to position themselves with the middle skill job market. Thus alternatives routes to the to bachelor pathway are being considered and vocational programs are mainly proposed to advance such objectives but innovative approaches and development with vocational programs has demonstrates an increases in expectation, engagement and transfer rates within community colleges. The focus of my argument is to demonstrate that vocational programs are conducive to transfer and meanwhile workforce development has been an integral component of these programs, it does not solely define the capacity of the program, which has expanded a transfer focus and has demonstrated proven success.

Hi everyone.

With the annotated bibliography assignment coming up, I’m doing a lot of reading (I’m sure all of you are as well). I’m finding a lot of good information regarding my topic in the scholarly articles I have acquired. But one fear I have is figuring out which information is the most relevant and useful for my topic, and which information is not. Most of the sources that I am reading have tons of good information but I want really want to pick out the information that will strongly support my argument. In order to achieve this, I list the important information that I find as I read the article. And when I finish reading the article, I go over the list and only keep the information that I believe will strongly support my argument. It’s actually a very good way to keep track of all the information I will be using in my paper because as I have mentioned before, it is easy to get information overload when reading so much. Also another fear I have is not knowing if I have enough information to write 20 pages. I don’t know if anyone else is feeling the same way, but it is something that has scared me since the beginning. Hopefully after completing the annotated bibliography assignment, I will know if I have enough information or not.

Dear Class Members,

I hope that everyone has fared okay during these difficult times and that you and your family are safe and well. With respect to the progression of my argument, I have been able to widen my database of available resources using specific key words, which has allowed me to find studies and articles that align more closely to my area of study. Whereas, I had started my search with the use of “community college” and “vocational/ career-based programs”, I have been able to extend the variety of resources by simply replacing “vocational programs” with “internships”, which specifies a critical component of vocational programs in community colleges. In turn a relatively minor change has resulted in significant progress, which has enabled me to further develop my argument. I have established my main argument in support of increasing financial funding toward the implementation and expansion of vocational programs with a focus on transfer that demonstrate an integration of vocational and academic programs in community colleges. Vocational programs were originally established as a bridge toward workforce development and known as terminal programs but over times, changes in structure and objective have resulted in successful programs that integrate the main objective of transfer programs and the coursework found in academic programs. I seek to established the importance of the effective allocation of funding toward vocational programs with a transfer focus that demonstrates increased levels of receptivity to the needs of a diverse student base and have shown to bolster social integration, expectations and ultimately transfer rates.

Hi class,

who thought that a little hurricane could effect  a life so much even if your area wasn’t the epicenter.

Over the unofficial brake Ive been reading my sources and getting to know the topic more. i feel confident that i know enough about the topic and where i can pull my evidence from which make me feel better. What I’m confused about is starting to put these things together I am not ready for the presentation but hopefully my group is gonna encourage me on this. My unofficial argument is: US government put Americans at risk of lower quality public health when the bush administration rejected the Kyoto accord. Various scientific research provides proof for this argument.

Hi everyone.

I decided to slightly modify my topic. Instead of comparing immigration policies in AZ and CA, I will be measuring the effects that the immigration policies have on citizens of these states. (My argument: Immigration policies in CA and AZ that were created to restrict undocumented immigrants also negatively affect citizens in that state.) I have found a good amount of evidence to support my argument but I’m having some trouble inputting this information into my argument outline assignment.

For example: I found a scholarly article that shows the link between CA’s immigration policies targeted towards undocumented immigrants and autism diagnosis rates among Hispanic children (and by Hispanic children I mean American-born Hispanic children). I found a scholarly article that illustrates how the immigration policies negatively affect the life experiences of 2 undocumented immigrants and of a long-time citizen and successful entrepreneur, who is of Mexican decent (of course for my paper, I’m interested more importantly in the life of the entrepreneur and how immigration policies negatively affect him). Also, I found another scholarly article that illustrates how Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 not only affects the lives of undocumented immigrants, but the lives of the undocumented community as a whole (both citizen and non-citizen). The issue of racial profiling is most prevalent in this article.

I don’t know if this makes any sense, but I feel like I am finding the “evidence” section of the argument outline and not the “reason” part of the outline.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.