Writing for Academic Discussion Universities in 50 years - revised -

What are your thoughts on how universities will evolve over the next 50 years?  (education)

 

 

☆Let’s Think

Think about the following points related to recent changes in schools. They can be the hints to see universities in 50 years.

Schooling: home schooling, online schooling, self-directed learning, international school

Systems: authoritarianism, lack of diversity, gender gap

Curriculum: four-year degrees just to get a good job, vocational training, internships or on-the-job training, complaints from students that the courses are unrelated to their future jobs

Financial factors for students: high tuitions and student loans, limited scholarships, educational disparity

Researches: interdisciplinary researches or collaborated researches across disciplines, researches related to the challenges the humankind face, researches to make the world better

 

 

☆Hints for Points

1.        Campus will be more democratic, tolerant, and inclusive than now. Patriarchy, misogyny, and authoritarianism will be gone. Diversity will be the norm. Half the professors and students will be females.

 

2.        University education will be more flexible. Instead of the traditional-style lectures and other schoolings, online or hybrid classes will be choices as default. School years will be gone. Students can take classes anytime, anywhere, and as long as they like.

 

3.        Technological advancements, especially that of artificial intelligence, will make learning experiences more personalized. People will be able to take courses that best match their needs and conditions.

 

4.        In 50 years, climate crisis will force universities to focus on the solutions. They will be integrated into an international institution to tackle the impact of global warming globally and interdisciplinarily.

 

5.        Colleges, or the first four-year part of university, will disappear or become something like amusement parks partly because of diversification of learning styles and partly because of the decline in intelligence of the human race caused by factors such as infectious diseases, pollutions, and dysfunctional society. People who still have learning abilities and aspirations will directly belong to graduate schools, library archives, museums, research centers, laboratories, and the military.

 

 

☆Sample Answer for Ideas and Expressions

【Thesis】I think universities will be totally commercialized in the future, and freedom of university will be lost.

【Supporting Details】Neoliberalism in the West has been commercializing and cutting costs of public organizations and institutions. The private sector has been involved in funding and researches in universities. (Funding from corporations have been affecting university managements.) National universities have been merged and they have been required to make profits. Science departments have been prioritized compared to the humanities departments because the former is more commercially profitable than the latter, and applied researches are more funded than fundamental researches for the same reason. Tuitions are 10 to 40 times higher than in the 60’s, and student loans, which didn’t exist then, now keep those who graduate in debt until they are in their 50s. The change has been going on for decades and it does not seem to stop. Based on the present situations seen above, it can be expected that universities will be completely part of the industry and for profits in the future.

【Counterargument-treatment】Academia, especially the faculty staff, may want to protect the freedom of studies, but it won’t do anything in the end. It has never really resisted any government policies. In the end, universities, including private ones, are subsidized by the government and they have conformed to the status quo, expelling dissenters. Therefore, they will be integrated into part of the industry.

【Conclusion】Unless each citizen becomes aware of the ill effects of neoliberalism and stand up to fight it, public resources, including universities, will be consumed by capitals, which siphon money from the bottom 90% to the top 10%. (268 words)

Write your draft in 10 minutes. Show each other your drafts. Write down questions or suggestions to each other’s draft.

 

 

 

 

DRAFT

 

 

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            

Writing for Academic Discussion Universities in 50 years - revised -

What are your thoughts on how universities will evolve over the next 50 years?  (education)

 

 

☆Let’s Think

Think about the following points related to recent changes in schools. They can be the hints to see universities in 50 years.

Schooling: home schooling, online schooling, self-directed learning, international school

Systems: authoritarianism, lack of diversity, gender gap

Curriculum: four-year degrees just to get a good job, vocational training, internships or on-the-job training, complaints from students that the courses are unrelated to their future jobs

Financial factors for students: high tuitions and student loans, limited scholarships, educational disparity

Researches: interdisciplinary researches or collaborated researches across disciplines, researches related to the challenges the humankind face, researches to make the world better

 

 

☆Hints for Points

1.        Campus will be more democratic, tolerant, and inclusive than now. Patriarchy, misogyny, and authoritarianism will be gone. Diversity will be the norm. Half the professors and students will be females.

 

2.        University education will be more flexible. Instead of the traditional-style lectures and other schoolings, online or hybrid classes will be choices as default. School years will be gone. Students can take classes anytime, anywhere, and as long as they like.

 

3.        Technological advancements, especially that of artificial intelligence, will make learning experiences more personalized. People will be able to take courses that best match their needs and conditions.

 

4.        In 50 years, climate crisis will force universities to focus on the solutions. They will be integrated into an international institution to tackle the impact of global warming globally and interdisciplinarily.

 

5.        Colleges, or the first four-year part of university, will disappear or become something like amusement parks partly because of diversification of learning styles and partly because of the decline in intelligence of the human race caused by factors such as infectious diseases, pollutions, and dysfunctional society. People who still have learning abilities and aspirations will directly belong to graduate schools, library archives, museums, research centers, laboratories, and the military.

 

 

☆Sample Answer for Ideas and Expressions

【Thesis】I think universities will be totally commercialized in the future, and freedom of university will be lost.

【Supporting Details】Neoliberalism in the West has been commercializing and cutting costs of public organizations and institutions as follows:

- The private sector has been involved in funding and researches in universities. (Funding from corporations have been affecting university managements.)

- National universities have been merged and they have been required to make profits.

- Science departments have been prioritized compared to the humanities departments because the former is more commercially profitable than the latter, and applied researches are more funded than fundamental researches for the same reason.

- Tuitions are 10 to 40 times higher than in the 60’s, and student loans, which didn’t exist then, now keep those who graduate in debt until they are in their 50s.

- The change has been going on for decades and it does not seem to stop.

Based on the present situations seen above, it can be expected that universities will be completely part of the industry and for profits in the future.

【Counterargument-treatment】Academia, especially the faculty staff, may want to protect the freedom of studies, but it won’t do anything in the end. It has never really resisted any government policies. In the end, universities, including private ones, are subsidized by the government and they have conformed to the status quo, expelling dissenters. Therefore, they will be integrated into part of the industry.

【Conclusion】Unless each citizen becomes aware of the ill effects of neoliberalism and stand up to fight it, public resources, including universities, will be consumed by capitals, which siphon money from the bottom 90% to the top 10%. (275 words)

Write your response in 10 minutes. Show each other your responses. Write down questions or suggestions to each other’s response.

 

 

                                                   DRAFT

 

 

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                          

Writing for Academic Discussion Which is better, a member or a leader in a group? - rewrite -

Writing Topic: Do you think it is better to take on the role of a leader in a group or to contribute as a member?  (sociology)

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.       Name examples of leaders.  e.g. captains, community organizers, managers, CEOs, Presidents, etc.

 

2.       Do you know of any examples of the problems or hardships that a leader of a group faces? If you do, share them with others. e.g. The prime minister has to take responsibility when a government official is involved in a malpractice or scandal.

 

3.       What are the advantages of being a member of a group and being a leader of a group?

 

 

☆Hints for Points

A member

l  You can enjoy supporting the leader:

I like to see the whole picture and do what I can do to assist the leader and the other members. In a basketball game, for example, I like to read where the ball will go, be in the position to get it, and pass it to others so that the forward can make a shoot.

 

l  You can concentrate only on what you are good at or what you are told to do:

I am good at drawing pictures and other jobs that require concentration to details. I am always chosen to do such jobs in class projects and I am happy with it.

 

l  You can have your own time:

Although I like to work with others, I also value my own time. I like to be with my family and friends and I like to spend my time doing my hobby. Being a member of a group allows me to do them while a leader has to spend more time on making sure the project goes well and all members feel happy.

 

A leader

l  You can manage the projects and the members in your own way:

My father used to work for a company before, and now he is the president of his own company. He is full of good ideas and enjoys implementing them. Before, his ideas were often rejected for reasons he did not understand, but now he can carry out whatever he thinks of and this makes him very happy.

 

l  You can grow up to a higher level as a person:

Last year, I was elected to be a captain for the first time in my life. A year later, I realized that I had evolved to be a different person. In a year, I have become a better communicator than before. I have learned to mediate and organize. I have learned from my mistakes and have become stronger, especially when I face criticisms. Also, I came to have the courage to make an important decision and take responsibility.

 

l  You can be entitled to be a manager of a company:

A person with experience as a leader is highly to be qualified as a manager because working as the leader of a group grooms you to have a managerial job.

 

 

☆Sample Answer for Ideas and Expressions

【Thesis】Being a member of a group is potentially dangerous because a member of a group is at the disposal of the leader, and a bad leader can throw the members into a predicament.

【Supporting Details】For example, in capitalist countries, the wealthy oligarchs hold the power and make the government work for them, not for the people. The people in the U.S. have suffered from a huge inequality under ruthless capitalist politicians since the beginning of the nation. The same thing has been happening in Japan, especially in the last ten years. The former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his successors, out of touch and cold to the public, have conducted crony capitalism. The country has seen an economic downturn as the GDP has come down from the 2^nd to the 5^th in the world and the people have become as ignorant as ever due to the media propaganda and intervention to education. Democracy must reflect public opinions, but bad leaders will never listen. They just go tyrannical.

【Counterargument-treatment】Of course, not all leaders are incompetent or abuse power. However, the fact that it is a leader who has all the information, has the authority to make a final decision, and implement plans. Therefore, a member is not free from the impact if the leader is a wrong person.

【Conclusion】Thus, it is better to be leaders, not leaving decision-making to strongmen. (228 words)

 

 

Write your response in 10 minutes. Show each other your responses. Write down questions or suggestions to each other’s response.

 

 

                                                   DRAFT