Consigny (1974) said it best when he stated that “Vatz and Bitzer pose an antinomy for a coherent theory of rhetoric” (p. 176). Furthermore, Consigny (1974) pointed out that both Bitzer and Vatz attempted to establish a meaning-making process for situations that are essentially vague. Similarly, in the “Top Five Science and Engineering Terms” activity, your team had to discover and to manage the particular needs of a specific situation in order to transform a vague solution into a clear resolution.
In your post, reflect on your team’s selection and arrangement process and determine if any of Bitzer and Vatz’s understanding of the “rhetorical situation” are applicable to your team’s meaning-making process. For example, did your team select terms based on students’ needs (aka, “exigence”)? How did Vatz’s concept of “salience” play a role in arranging the terms’ order of importance?
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Your posts are due by Monday, September 26.
- Use Anderson’s “Guidelines for online correspondence” on page 451 to structure your response.
- Your response needs to be limited to two (2) full paragraphs.
- One (1) full paragraph is an acceptable response.
- Use professional and grammatically accurate language.
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ReplyDeleteOur selections and arrangement were based on necessity as it relates to the background that the students have and the careers that those backgrounds are well-suited for. We did indeed select terms based on exigence, and more specifically exigence in the workplace. Many in industry have textbook knowledge but no method to apply this knowledge effectively. That is why application of theoretical knowledge is in the list.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to salience of each point, Calculus (as an example) was placed last in the list because of its narrow usage due to being a "hard" skill. A hard skill would be something that is domain-specific, while "soft" skills are less intended for specific areas and more general. Soft skills such as the application of theoretical knowledge were placed higher in the list because of their universal applicability and salience.
Our team, "Vitzer & Batz", selected science and engineering terms on the basis of their relevance in post-college environments. We realized the impracticality of summarizing every students' views, so we took highlights from each of our own experiences at Georgia Tech and arranged them in order from most applicable to most specific. We had all collaborated and we all knew that we would be required to collaborate after college, so we put that term in the most salient position in the list. We all agreed that the scientific method was something that every college graduate should know front and back, so we put it second in the list. The third item was actually "time management" before it was haphazardly switched to "information graphics". I would say that time management, though perhaps not a technical term, is the most important skill that I have learned at Georgia Tech. It represents a solution to the urgent need or exigence in our daily lives of determining how to optimally spend our time. The fourth term, "divergent thinking" was a compromise among our group as to a term that represented critical thinking, analysis, problem solving, and creative thinking--the cornerstone of Georgia Tech's pedagogy in our minds. In retrospect, perhaps this term should have been placed second in the list to reflect its importance. The final term, and the only "technical" term in the list, was "Ordinary Differential Equations." This was my input, and reflected what I thought was the key mathematical subject that a practicing engineer should have mastered by the time they enter the workforce.
ReplyDeleteOf course, our choices were subjective solutions to what was essentially a vague situation. In all honesty, Vatz's and Bitzer's arguments played only a very small role in our decision making process, due to their abstract and paradoxical natures. Indeed, "salience" and "exigence" are the only rhetorical terms that appear in my analysis. I must conclude, therefore, that I do not truly understand the relationship between Vatz's and Bitzer's arguments and their applicability in this in-class activity. Perhaps a more explicit elaboration of this relationship would clarify matters in my mind.
Our team, Team PTFE, selected science and engineering terms that GT students encounter from their first day of Tech and will continuously develop throughout their time at the institute and beyond. Vatz’s and Bitzer’s argument of rhetorical situation was not really a factor in a meaning-making process nor our arrangement process. The activity was very general and Vatz’s and Bitzer’s argument seemed to be an over analyzation of the situation. Our group did not see how their argument tied into the class activity and relied more on how the exigence of each term played a role in the lives of Tech students.
ReplyDeleteOur first term, methodology/thought processes was deemed the most salient because no matter the product, be it a term paper, experiment or senior design product without a well-trained thought process and methodology the final product will be lack luster. GT students no matter their discipline are developing the tools needed to cover all bases of a situation and be able to convey this to others. Our next two terms, cross disciplinary work and life time learning were closely ranked because all the training in the world will not help if a student cannot work with others to create the product. Students must be willing admit that they do not know everything and when working with those in other fields that they will be teaching and learning for the rest of their lives. The last two terms, time management and George P. Burdell are drilled into from the moment a student arrives at Tech. Time management is the foundation for first three terms but is also developed when developing the terms so it’s salience was determined to be lower than the others. George P. Burdell represents tradition at Tech so rounds out our team’s list. George P. Burdell has done it all at Tech and is a beacon of hope that reminds students that it can be done. Without the other terms though a Tech student is not allowing the George P. Burdell within them to shine through so he was ranked last
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ReplyDeleteOur selection started as an overview of common grounds of each Georgia Tech (GT) students. Regrettably it's impossibly difficult to find engineering jargon that pertains to every GT students. To the misunderstanding of both parties, we choose our topics based on general skills rather than engineering and science. Our five topics are Problem analytics and solving, Collaboration, Technical Communication, Researching techniques, and Data analysis. Problem analytics because we felt like a large part the problem is understanding the problem; which link backs to rhetoric. The professors at Georgia Tech would want us to think in the same way on the special situation presented on the problem. We therefore conclude that problem analytics at GT is likely more in Bitzer’s scenario. Collaboration on the other hand is more of a relative process, the among of collaboration is defined from individuals to individuals which is more of an argument from Vatz. We choose Technical Communication because literally almost every undergraduate at GT has to take LCC 3403. Researching techniques is more referred to the self-study process that resulted from many classes. Lastly, Data analysis is aimed at mostly understanding basics of statistics such as Standard Deviations, Average, Mean, etc.
ReplyDeleteVatz and Bitzer’s argument played little role during our selection process. Instead thinking from the abstract level down to a clear situation. We first defined our audience and exigence then we choose our topics that seems to best suit those situations. Then we took those topics and determined whether it was Vatz or Bitzer’s argument.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOur rhetorical choices in the class were based on the exigence of the rhetorical situation.
ReplyDeleteThe first step in selecting top five science and engineering terms, concepts, events, or characters that Georgia Tech college students should have learned about and understand by graduation was to identify and to filter out most useful terms from the brainstormed list. The second is to identify the priority of each of the element in the list. Our team used the definition of the exigence by Bitzer in order to do that.
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According to Vat's, with one choosing certain events and deciding their value of importance, this creates a certain presence, or salience. Vatz’s quotes Chaim Perelman: “By the very fact of selecting certain elements and presenting them to the audience, their importance and pertinency to the discussion are implied. Indeed such a choice endows these elements with a presence…”
The choices that our team made were based on what we felt students should know in order to establish themselves in a career after college. We did this by brainstorming ideas and then ordering them by how important we felt they should be to each student, regardless of major. In establishing the importance of each idea that students should know,we reflected on the exigence of each to see where it should fall in the list of the top five ideas.
ReplyDeleteVatz's concept of salience played a role in the process of arranging the terms by imbuing each of the ideas with a certain presence once we had defined them and placed them on a list of ideas to consider. Once we had uttered the ideas and started thinking about them, they each had a place in our rhetorical discussion that was important and real. Each term influenced the next term that was thought of, creating a chain reaction of brainstorming until we had formulated what top five ideas we felt that each GT student should know.
My team chose Force (Newton’s 2nd law), programming loops, derivatives/integrals, ethical frameworks and technical communication, in order of importance (force being most important). The most important factor that was used by my team, consciously or unconsciously, was the exigence, rather than the concept of salience, of students at Geogia Tech. Students at Georgia Tech, no matter the major, are taught a plethora of concepts. However, their exigence causes them to remember some concepts over others and my team thought the above given concepts were some that students chose to remember throughout their career out of the exigence that they would be helpful in other classes and/or their careers.
ReplyDeleteMy team’s choices were on the whole based on decisions that were rather vague due to reasons such as time constraints. This activity did not help me gain an in depth perspective into the differences between the viewpoints of Vatz & Bitzer. Maybe, a more elaborate activity will help me understand such ideas.
The top five attributes that our team selected were based on how exigent they were for the student to succeed at Georgia Tech. Being a difficult school, problem solving was the most important for success. After thinking of problem solving, time management became more salient because in order to accomplish goals, one needs to set aside the time to do it.
ReplyDeleteThose were the two most exigent characteristics at both Georgia Tech and the real world. Jobs do not give out homework and assignments, but real problems that require solving. After discussing the most important features, the rest just came naturally. The first two attributes increased the salience of the last three that we listed.
Other than those two ideas, I did not feel like Vatz and Bitzer's arguments were integrated well with the assignment.
Our group, Team PTFE, selected words that were largely related to life skills as opposed to engineer-specific skills. After all, engineers are people too. The exception was "George P. Burdell", which was mostly intended as a playful gesture that simultaneously met the requirements of the assignment. The rest -- "Methodology/Thought processes", "Cross-disciplinary work", "Lifetime learning" and "Time management" -- were selected as being important to most, if not all, professionals regardless of scientific background. In particular, this is an example of Vatz' salience in effect. Rather than take the question of what five terms are most important to scientists and engineers, our group decided to include the greater picture of professionals as a whole. In addition to altering the scope of the question somewhat, this served to add depth to our group's answer -- once again, engineers are people too.
ReplyDeleteAside from the issue of salience and causation that separate Vatz from Bitzer, the situation also fits Bitzer's definition of a rhetorical situation. An assignment, for an in-class grade, is certainly exigence for a student. After all, an assignment is urgent and needs to be completed. The audience was the rest of the class as well as the professor, who we as a group were trying to convince that we had fulfilled the requirements of the assignment. Being in a classroom setting, there were certainly many constraints, particularly on the type of language that should be used and the nature of acceptable reactions on all sides.
Our selections were based on what we considered necessities for students graduating from Georgia Tech. In other words, our selections were based on exigence. This is evident in our selections as critical thinking skills and optimization are two concepts that are mandatory for any graduate to be successful post graduation. Additionally, the other three concepts we listed were also prerequisites for success in the professional world.
ReplyDeleteVatz's concept of salience played a minor role in the ordering of our selections. The ordering was mainly subjective and based on a quick judgement made by our team. Salience was not directly considered when we made these decisions. We came up with an ordering simply based on a quick agreement of what we each thought was important.
The five attributes chosen by our team were selected based on the skills required in the workplace. The exigence of this situation creates the need for certain understanding and abilities in order for a graduate to succeed after college. While there are many things needed in order to succeed, the team brainstormed many items and then ranked them in order of their salience. Salience was an important factor we considered because the items needed to be ranked on their importance as well as prominence within the workplace.
ReplyDeleteWe found efficient and technical communication to be the most important item because the exigence of the workplace requires it frequently. Communication is key in any workplace environment because knowledge is useless without the ability to explain it to others. Problem solving is second on the list because of its prominence in any job. Application of theoretical knowledge is very important in the workplace because theoretical knowledge is useless without proper application based on the exigence of the situation presented in the workplace. Research and Data Collection are also important features of many engineering jobs. Finally, most jobs need skills learned in calculus courses. This is at the bottom of our list because it is a very specific skill as opposed to the others that can be applied in almost any job setting. Overall, each of these items was chosen because they will help to solve problems presented by the exigence in the workplace.
My team's name is 'The Blizterz'. Our selection of skills that must be learned by every Georgia Tech engineer graduate was based on our previous experiences in respective fields. We analyzed the work scenario after graduation and the exigencies of qualities required for success in a work environment. Firstly, We all think that an engineer should be proficient with Statistics. He should be able to analyze the test and comprehend the performances of the equipment engineered. It is essential to understand the boundaries of performances' for appropriate use of the item. The second most important skill according to us is 'Programming'. Programming enables one to fully use the capabilities of computers. Repeated tasks can be automated and work can be done in an efficient manner. Our next skill was 'Technical communication'. It is important to know about ways and standards of technical communication because without such skills, one shall not be able to understand your work and it's importance to the organization. The fourth skill we think is important is 'Researching Techniques'. When one is trying to perform a task in the most efficient manner, one would first research amongst his field for previous implementations to take an outer perspective. Lastly, we think that fifth most important skill is 'Leadership'. Leader ship is very important in organizations with hierarchical positions. These were the five skills we think every Georgia Tech Engineer should acquire before graduation.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the top five science and engineering terms that Georgia Tech college students should understand by the time they graduate, our group, “The Honey Badgers,” took into consideration the student’s needs, exigence, as well as incorporating a small amount of salience into the order. We placed Microsoft office first because this seems to be a necessity in terms of technology this day in time and is used on a consistent basis throughout a student’s experience here at Georgia Tech. Problem solving is also used on a consistent basis, and is next on the list because a student needs this in order to be successful with their assignments. Algebra is a basic necessity, and is third on the list because it is a building block for the math classes that are to be taken after this. At the fourth position of the list, programming is of lesser importance and may not be used consistently with engineering and science majors, along with Newton’s elementary physics concepts. This order displays exigence more than salience, though salience does pertain to Microsoft office because it is so widely used and popular.
ReplyDeleteIn determining the top five science and engineering terms, our team focused on the skills that a Georgia Tech graduate from any major could utilize in any environment. The process involved brainstorming concepts while considering the salience. Also, the exigence of the environment after graduation was considered. This is apparent in terms we have chosen such as the searching databases and optimization skills, both of which are utilized in work places.
ReplyDeleteOur team found the critical thinking skills in terms of problem solving as one of the most important terms because of its exigence out in the real world. The terms following it were research development processes, optimization, making scientific ethical decisions and searching databases, all of which terms were chosen due to its exigence. However, the actual salience of one over another was not really considered, thus the ordering was done based on what the group members thought was important. Besides, the salience and exigence, Bitzer’s and Vatz’s arguments had no influence in our decision making. As a result, I find it difficult to see the application of Vatz’s and Bitzer’s arguments in class activities such as these. Possibly an explanation of the exigence of Vatz’s and Birtzer’s arguments in our activities could help us understand better.
Our team (FTW) chose our five top science and engineering terms every Tech student should know based on student's exigence and salience. Microsoft office was the most important one because every major uses some aspect of the software throughout their college experience here at Tech, whether it was powerpoint, excel, or word. Another one that was placed in our list based on student exigence was the knowledge of programming control flow. Here we related the fact that each major has some type of programming course attached to its curriculum. Independent of the language, most programming language requires some type of "if, for, while loop statements".
ReplyDeleteOur team also placed salience into our choices as well. For example choices three to five we thought was something important that everyone student should have been taught in Georgia tech. Things like writing for a specific audience should be done in all forms of communication throughout all major at Tech. Our fourth choice was differentiating/integrating, which we thought was important for any math based major. Each person in our group has gone through a course that requires knowledge of the topic to complete assignments there we placed salience in that topic. Finally for our fifth topic, we believed again that all majors whether conducting a survey or performing research it is a form of designing an experiment. We placed salience in this topic because we believed that it's important for each Tech student to know and to also perform their job well in the future. Based on this analysis it seems that salience played a larger part than exigence.
Our team selected mostly conceptual skills that GT students use repeatedly throughout their degree program. We thought about the parts of the process of the development of a final product, whether that is a group paper, a presentation, or a design for a new medical device. "Methodology/Thought processes" was our highest ranked item because we approached the assignment by thinking of the preparation processes during a project. A group member stated that when one looks back at all the coursework and classes within a typical student's career, one would only remember the general ways in which he or she got to the final product and none of the minutiae. Students at Georgia Tech are faced with problems (exigence) in academia and at-home life that they are expected to develop solutions for, so I think my group thought about the problems we have been faced with and reverse engineered those situations to find the skills that we developed.
ReplyDeleteThe next three items: "Cross-disciplinary work," "Lifetime learning," and "time management" are all interrelated in my opinion, and it was difficult to rank them. I think that cross-disciplinary work encourages lifetime learning because one is constantly bombarded with new and exciting ideas and techniques from his or her colleagues in different fields. Time management is really the keystone of all of these items, but is produced from the experience of each of the prior listed skills, which is why it was not the most salient concept to our group.
The Metallic WarBears initially proposed about 9 different ideas. We then pared it down to 5 by focusing on the nature of the assignment given to us. We felt that, while the assignment was intentionally vague, we should stick to what little exigence it did provide.
ReplyDeleteOur first qualification was that the terms/concepts chosen were actually Science and Engineering terms. Many people said things like "Collaboration" or "Critical Thinking Skills," and while we agree that they are very important to scientists and engineers, they weren't really scientific or engineering concepts in essence. Next we focused on who the assignment was about: GT college graduates. More importanty ALL GT college graduates. We focused on broadening our selection to cover as wide a group as possible, as opposed to terms that ONLY a graduating engineer would know. Mostly, this lead to analyzing ideas that all students would learn in their 'core' classes.
My group PTFE and the Computer Geeks/Nerds/Dorks decided that being able to communicate efficiently is a necessary skill that all Georgia Tech Graduates must obtain. Building on communication are the skill of collaboration and problem solving. The mindset set of a Tech student has to be always analyzing any situation they are put in. Application of theoretical information and research were another set of skill that we decided on whether it be applying the information and research to deepen the understanding of the material one learns in class or research to find new information and deciding how to make use of it it is a necessary skill a successful Tech student learns. The last skill the group decided on was some understanding of calculus and how it applies differently to each and every major.
ReplyDeleteOur selection was based on a brain storming in our group. We started by asking about backgrounds and majors in order to find common grounds and also differences which could contribute in this in-class activity. I could argue that there was an exigence, and that would have been the necessity of class mates to gather around and generate solutions for a problem, however I honestly could not relate our in-class activity to “meaning-making process” of Vatz and Bitzer. Rhetorical situation is a vague concept, and for a better understanding of it, Bitzer and Vatz had two different arguments which led them to a meaning making process, but is our concern about Georgia Tech students’ need a vague term or situation that needs more or better definitions?
ReplyDeleteThe selections my team made were somewhat difficult, as I did not see eye-to-eye with my teammates on a couple yet I conceded in order to prevent arguments. However, I do believe the choices we made had a great deal to do with exigence. The students need to know several of the concepts in order to be successful in their developing careers as scientists and engineers. However, there was a definite salience in our selection process. First of all, I would argue that it is nearly impossible for any person to not notice the selections of other teams on the google doc or hearing them out loud, which may affect your opinions of which terms you feel are the most important. Also, We are often told that every scientist and engineer needs to understand basic concepts such as force, but that knowledge would have very little exigence to a computer scientist who works as a developer doing only coding for something other than modeling physics simulations. I believe our choices did have a degree of exigence, but overall there are two phases in which a definite salience was introduced in the creation of this list.
ReplyDeleteMy team, Team Party Rock, created our "Top Five Science & Engineering Terms" list based on the concept that Bitzer & Vatz call "exigence". Exigence is one of the three constituents of rhetorical discourse - audience and constraints being the other two - according to Bitzer. Summed up, exigence is what prompts you to react. It is a sense of urgency or a problem that requires immediate attention before moving on to the next step. Keeping this in mind, our list - ranked in no particular order because certain things apply to individuals more so and in different ways - consists of what these Georgia Tech students would need to learn throughout their college careers so that they are immediately prepared for life after college. These terms represent concepts and skills that will help them succeed in careers, graduate school, and daily interactions.
ReplyDeleteThe list is as followed:
1. Application of Knowledge
2. Problem solving
3. Ethics
4. Adaptability
5. Time Management and Prioritizing
Individuals should be able to apply the knowledge they learned in the class to their maximum ability so that they can deliver the best performance possible. In doing so, the concept of adaptability was incorporated using Bitzer's idea of exigence and responding to a situation that needs immediate attention. While applying what one learned, they may need to tweak it to fit the situation or apply it in a way that they've never done before. This concept of adaptability was the only that drew directly from Bitzer & Vatz, but the overall list was still catered to the concept of exigency.
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ReplyDeleteMost of the meaning-making process for my team was thinking about why a question such as the one posed might be asked. The implication of "[what GT students] should know," by my team's interpretation, was that this input might be used to inform academic policymaking by the Institute. By this measure, answers such as "George P. Burdell," while technically meeting the requirements of the prompt, would be of little relevance to the supposed intent of the activity.We attempted to narrow our focus to skills that would be specifically expected of graduates from a school heavy on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines. This ruled out the also technically valid "Time Management" response because that is a life skill that would serve anyone well, not just a college graduate in a technical discipline.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between rhetoric and situation here is murkier; the rhetorical situation is seemingly defined and literally demands a response, but there is no notion of a single strictly correct way to respond. The validity of any response is a function of one's interpretation of the situation. Seemingly, the situation created the rhetoric (per Bitzer), but the exercise did not 'call out' for a particular response.
In choosing our top five science and engineering terms, our team (Anteaters, one of only two teams to get a proper vetting in class) focused on the skills that a Georgia Tech graduate from any major should know or understand. We brainstormed concepts while keeping in mind that our terms needed to be both universal and salient. One mistake we made was that we did not consider that each term needed to be related to science or engineering. Our initial list was updated to reflect the in-class criticism it received for this reason.
ReplyDeleteOur team did not choose our terms based on Bitzer's exigence, rather choosing concepts that are likely to arise from an exigence here at Georgia Tech. For example, "using a computer" is something that every GT student is familiar with, simply because you cannot succeed at this institution without at least a rudimentary understanding of the computer.
During this activity, a lot of students focused on a general application of exigence. There was a lot of group discussion on students needs in general (i.e. leadership, cooperation, etc.), but team “Metallic Warbears” really focused on exigence in relation to science and engineering terms. Our team focused on lab safety, Sir Issac Newton, statistics, computer competency, and pieces of an atom. These five terms and concepts would truly reflect that students have obtained a basic knowledge that might be expected of a Tech graduate.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Vatz’s concept of salience, or order of importance, was a little less emphasized in our group’s decisions. We did not rank the five items in order of importance, perhaps because we felt that all five items were necessary and reasonable to understand prior to graduation. However, salience should be considered when creating a list, because there is always the rhetorical situation of “if I could only pick one, which one should I pick?” Even if our group didn’t purposefully choose our five items based on salience, the level of importance could have been lying within the subconscious.
For the top five Science and engineering terms, our team tried to establish what the typical graduate student would indefinitely know coming out of Georgia Tech. At first we assumed these would be skill based, and in general, skills that
ReplyDeletethey could use any situation. The exigence of what would be expected of that Georgia Tech graduate was considered, which ended up being the wrong context of the assignment. But none the less, under the premise of what we as a team believed a Georgia Tech student knew, the concepts below summarizes our trail of thought.
Our first and highest ranking of the concepts was the necessary Critical Thinking Skills required in a high degree of caliber and expected from in the workforce. The second ranked was more related to the specifications of the assignment. The concept of development of research processes was deemed as a skill that filled the role in terms of exigence. The next three which were optimization, making scientifically ethical decisions, and database searching, were all made in attempt to fill the exigence already established. The analysis ideologies brought through Blizters and Vatzs rhetoric was not in the development process of this list, and therefore any attempt in correlating their analysis processes would be impractical. However misinterpreted the assignment was, the fact these skills are undeniably necessary for any Student, especially one from Georgia Tech, is there.
Our team, "Vitzer & Batz," selected collaboration as the most important term Georgia Tech graduates should know and be able to utilize. In retrospect, a better word for this would be social intelligence. Social intelligence describes the exclusively human capacity to use very large brains to effectively navigate and negotiate complex social relationships and environments (Wikipedia, 2011). Basically social intelligence involves knowing how to talk to people, effectively understand verbal and nonverbal communication, and develop relationships with others. This is the most important skill for any college graduate to master because almost every job involves working with others. We live in an interconnected world full of complex social norms and networks, and must have the capability to navigate this through this sometimes bewildering terrain. Developing social intelligence is especially important for the numerous engineers and scientists that Tech produces. Unfortunately, in my experience, many student at this fine school lack fundamental social skills. As future professionals, it is vital that they have the capability to work with a diverse group of people and articulate complex ideas into language that common people can understand. Overall, social intelligence is such an important skill that it trumps all other skills, technical and nontechnical, that Georgia Tech graduates should master.
ReplyDeleteAs Joshua mentioned in his analysis above, our choices were quiet subjective and we barely utilized Vatz and Bitzer in our deliberation. Part of the reason for this was the time constrain and the nature of the task. We spent a majority of the time contemplating what terms could be applied to all students at Tech. This was quiet a challenging undertaking because not everyone at the university studies engineering. For example, I'm a STaC major and have never had to utilize newton's equations, understand how gravity works, or deal with any sort of derivatives. For this reason, we focused an broad skills that everyone should know and selected collaboration (which I define as social intelligence) as being the most important.
Our team, OAAR, chose logical thinking, following instructions, scientific method, statistics, and technical leadership as our top five science and engineering terms, concepts events or characteristics that Georgia Tech college students should understand by graduating. We began our discussion with becoming familiar with everyones major. Quickly we found out how different our group and came up with five things that most graduating GT students are likely to use in the real world with whatever work they choose to do. In our disussion we did use Bitzer's definition of exigence. Basically exigence is a problem that requires an immediate reaction or immediate attention. Our top five things GT students should understand before they graduate are five things that will help them with the workplace after college. Even though our group was so diverse, the jobs each of us get after college will have problems that we have to solve immediately and to do so understanding these top five concepts will be very useful.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Bitzer and Vatz directly apply to the activity given that rhetoric was only marginally involved (presenting and persuading were not parts of the assignment). As we were not assigned to create rhetoric, it's difficult to relate the activity to the readings without twisting meanings. It is true that 'exigence' is a synonym of 'need,' but Bitzer spoke of exigence as a need for rhetoric, for words. To equate that with skills needed by students is to ignore any meaning Bitzer intended for the term.
ReplyDeleteThere was rhetoric involved in that we had to convince each other what ideas to choose and how to rank them, but this only counts as rhetoric under a broad definition. The exigence was our mandatory participation, and ideas, along with supporting arguments, were given salience when someone saw fit to say them out loud. However, we did not have very strong opinions to begin with, so the process mostly involved us thinking out loud and coming to mutual agreements. Very few attempts at persuasion (i.e. rhetoric) were made.
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ReplyDeleteThe problem wasn't a rhetorical situation but Blitzer's perspective was applicable. The problem was approached in terms of finding the lowest common denominator. In other words, finding a solution in terms of the problem's demographic constraints. As a result, knowledge possessing the attributes of being general or foundational guided the brainstorming process.
ReplyDeleteMy team, the Fighting Mongooses, chose the following top five Science and Engineering terms: Research, Optimization, Testing/Experimentation, Logic, Forces/Free Body Diagram. We started by compiling a list of all the science and engineering terms we could think of in a few minutes. We then began to cross out some and combine others into overarching categories. Our main goal was to come up with very broad terminology to encompass as much of the field of Science and Engineering as possible, while still remaining largely specific to these fields. We defined these two characteristics to be the exigence of the situation. My team chose to rank our terms, based on what we believed to be most important and characteristic to the two fields.
ReplyDeleteIt is ambiguous whether our decisions throughout this process supported Bitzer's or Vatz's theory of rhetoric. Our choices could be interpreted to fit Bitzer's theory, as the two fields must hold some inherent meaning for several of the teams to come up with similar answers. However, one could also argue that we followed Vatz's theory by actively choosing out of the many concepts which to make salient.
My team, the Fighting Mongooses chose Research, Optimization, Testing/Experimentation, Logic, and Forces/Free Body Diagram. We actually had Interdisciplinary Collaboration instead of Research, and thought it was a very important thing to know and learn. It is probably the most important thing every student should learn and practice at Tech, because it will be experienced in almost all professional workplaces. We changed this based the in class discussion.
ReplyDeleteLike collaboration, all but forces/free body diagrams were based on exigence. The student needs to understand how to research, optimize, and test effectively to be productive. Logic is also a concept that needs to be mastered in all sciences and engineering. We came up with Forces/Free Body Diagram simply because of its salience. We thought about a class that everyone needed to take (Physics), and took the most used and most useful concept from it.
Our team, The Fighting Anteaters, determined science and engineering terms that Georgia Tech college students should have learned about and understand by graduation. We reflected our knowledge regarding Bitzer and Vatz’s understanding of the “rhetorical situation” to come to an agreement among the group members. One of three constituent parts make up rhetorical situation that we considered mostly was “exigence”. Following lists of the top five terms are based on exigence of the situation presented in any environment after the graduation:
ReplyDelete1. How to use communication software and programs (email, Skype, etc.)
2. How to use a computer
3. Statistics
4. Mechanical Forces
5. Ethical decision-making with regard to efficiency and safety (cutting corners)
Our first and second terms can be understood in the same context. In the information Technology Era, using communication software and programs, and computer are necessary, even mandatory. Exigence of work place requires tech communication with these skills learned in Georgia Tech. Statistics and mechanical forces are functional and effective studies that could be applied to scientific research and technical report writings. In addition, ethnical decision making with regard to efficiency and safety is another term. It provides answers to the exigence in any environments that happen to meet.
My group selected Research, Optimization, Testing/Experimentation, Logic, and Forces/Free Body Diagram as our five terms. Everything that we choose with exception to Forces were chosen because the urgency/exigence to understand the concept upon graduation. Those terms are all science terms that can be actually applied outside the sciences and engineering fields making them extremely important. Forces/Free Body Diagrams was chosen because it seems that this basic concept of the governing mechanics of the universe should be understood by everyone upon graduation from Georgia Tech. Basically, our last concept was chosen as a basic science term that was very applicable to the situation.
ReplyDeleteThe team I was called the BOMB Squad. The task for the day was to pick five engineering and/or science terms that every student at Georgia Tech would have encountered and basically defines a tech student. Our decision making was based primarily on salience and our group experience and less on Vatz's or Bitzer's argument of rhetorical situation or any of their theories. We did not truly utilize what we have learned about them in this assignment. The final terms we picked should relate to all tech students at some point of their career at tech.
ReplyDeleteThe first term was Newton's Second Law (F = ma) because almost every major has to take physics and even if you dont take physics, this is a very basic topic that you would have taken at high school. Even when you think about it, the more mass or acceleration an object has, the more force it usually has. The next term was conditional programming statements and loops because every major is required to take at least one computer science class. Tech believes that with the ever increasing dependent on technology, its students should know how the logic behind what you use work to some extent. Third word was ethical framework because again most majors require some or other ethical class to be taken. Even without the class, tech has an atmosphere that promotes ethical habits and conveys the importance of following your principles than conforming to the norm. The next phrase was technical communication skills. Now this was debated a bit but the overall reasoning of picking this word was by being at a technical school, every student will pick up some form of technical communication. For example, GT1000, which most freshmen take, teaches them to put a signature in their emails with their name, major, college, other job titles, and phone number. The final phrase was derivatives and integrals because that is basis of calculus which almost everyone will have taken or at least heard of.
While I was not in attendance on Friday, I still believe that the activity is a useful way to not only review the concepts presented by Bitzer and Vatz, but also a way to see how a group of students has opinions that vary. It goes without saying that upon graduation from Georgia Tech, it is expected that students will have gained knowledge which will not only help them to excel in their technical field, but also the knowledge necessary for them to make decisions that will affect both their professional and personal lives. Exigence will vary from person to person, however some characteristics should be common in the knowledge base of each student. While the salience of these skills will also not be tested until after graduation, it is important that a general set of skills and guidelines be determined, for the benefit of the students.
ReplyDeleteThe choices we made to support the listing of science and engineering Georgia Tech graduates should know were moderately varied. We originally tried to just randomly come up with items that fit into the given categories. We tried to focus on things that were common and of great importance.To prioritize the list, Bitzer's concept of exigence aided us. The most critical things were at the top of the list while the less critical science and engineering terms were at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteOur team decided on the terms by examining what subjects college students, specifically at Georgia Tech, have to take. We used Vatz's idea of salience to determine these terms. We started by listing core classes that every Tech student must take. Then we listed subjects, programs, and ideas that you must understand and use in order to pass these classes. Once we had the ideas down we used Bitzer's idea of exigence to order the items based on what was most important to us.
ReplyDeleteTeam FTW chose Microsoft Office, programming control flow, writing for a specific audience, differentiation/integration, and designing an experiment as the five science and engineering topics that a Georgia Tech graduate should have learned. The items were organized top to bottom with respect to salience. Further, understanding of these topics should reflect a graduate’s preparedness to become a member of industry.
ReplyDeleteMicrosoft Office was decided as the most important since it is highly likely that no matter what job the graduate takes, they will be using the various tools that Office offers. Under this same basis, programming control flow was given the next highest priority. Both Office and basic programming are extensively discussed and used throughout the academic career of engineering, science, and computer science students. This may be because of the wide field of jobs that require prospective employees to know how to use Matlab and Office. Writing for a specific audience is used from writing emails to writing a research proposal for the NIH. Without knowledge of Office or basic programming, it is unlikely that a graduate student will be able to properly relay the information that industry professionals want to be told. Differentiation and integration are basic calculus concepts that graduates will be expected to use in the workplace. These fundamentals of calculus are necessary to understand many calculations, evaluations and theories used in industry. Understanding how to properly design and conduct tests is imperative for any graduate looking to work in the engineering or research science fields. Since this topic’s important cannot apply to all Georgia Tech graduates, it is placed fifth.
During the “Top Five Science and Engineering Terms” activity, my team selected the top five terms that all graduates from Georgia Tech should know upon graduation. We took this to mean five things that would be needed when entering the workforce. When we first started brainstorming we wrote down any terms we could think of and then consolidated terms and narrowed down the list to our top five. Once we had our top five, we then used Bitzer's concept of exigence to order the list. Our basic rating system was based on how often you would have to show a certain trait on a given workday to be considered a valuable employee.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of this exercise, Vatz's description of rhetorical situation, as defined by the rhetor, was absolutely the case. While the assignment might have been one thing, our group took it and ran with it, to define it on the fly as we saw it. Through group discussion, however, we learned the true meaning of the assignment and reworked our list to reflect this change.
My group, "The Honey Badgers," determined the top five science and engineering terms, concepts, themes and characters that Georgia Tech college students should understand by graduation through several criterion. Salience was a key factor in our decisions, as a graduates direct experience with each of these terms plays a much larger role with whether or not he or she retains the information through graduation. Thus, our group sided with Vatz, at least for the purpose of this assignment.
ReplyDeleteOur choices for the top science and engineering terms were based on concepts that we decided every student at Georgia Tech, no matter what their major or field of study was, would have to encounter. Basic concepts like Newtons Laws of Motion, the Theory of Gravity, and Algebra were included exactly for that reason - it would be impossible for a student to pass through Georgia Tech without encountering these concepts, and, therefore, these concepts have more salience with Georgia Tech graduates and are thus most important.
Our group, B.O.S.S.,selected five important concepts that an engineer requires to be successful in the workplace. Our list includes:
ReplyDelete1. Research
2. Data Analysis
3. Differentiation and Integration
4. Physics/Mechanics
5. Computer Science
This list is based on skills that are necessary for an engineer to optimize or analyze a product or process. They are listed in order of importance. These concepts are tailored for Ga Tech Grads and therefore have a differing salience than they would have for other college graduates. Needs for a University of Georgia graduate would be completely different. We can use Bitzer and Vatz concepts about the rhetorical situation to structure our lists and assign importance to a specific situation such as "Institute of Technology".
During the "Top five science and engineering terms" exercise our team did a lot f flip-flopping with our answers. We found it difficult to agree on what was important to every major, and it was especially difficult to include non-engineering majors. This led to the selection of extremely broad concepts that then had to be explained in terms of each major as opposed to any indisputable ideas able to stand alone with no need for explanation. In terms of the rhetorical situation there were no salient concepts.
ReplyDeleteBitzer's concept of audience, however, played a huge roll in what each team presented in that the question of "terms Tech graduates should have learned" was posed to soon to be Tech graduates who all share the common goal of finding a job after graduating.
This framed the question in terms of what an individual looking to be employed thinks the most important things are and shifted the focus away from the intent of the question. While only probing for general information, the perceived exigence became the need to get a job in the minds of most, which in turn led to answers such as teamwork, leadership ability, how to write a resume, basic computer skills, and other professional development related responses.
Our team selected science and engineering terms based on what we thought were essential in order to succeed at Georgia Tech and also to be well prepared for the workplace. Our approach was very basic amd general therefore we could not quite relate Vatz's and Bitzer's argument to the class activity.
ReplyDeleteBitzer's concept of exigence definitely helped us pick the 5 basics science and engineering terms that a Georgia Tech student is expected to know such as: Basic programming, Calculus(differentiation and integration)m newtonian physics, use of digital library and research papers.
1. Critical thinking
ReplyDelete2. Numerical relationships
3. Scientific method
4. Physics
5. Research
My team (Me. I was absent.) chose the terms by their centrality and importance to any scientific or engineering education received at Georgia Tech. The ordering of my list certainly creates some salience due to my personal opinion on what is most important, but that does not mean that I had Vatz in mind. In fact, the list reflects a mixture of what I believe Tech is trying to teach us as most important, possibly to meet the future needs of their students. In this case, I'm somewhere in between Vatz and Bitzer, but probably closer to Vatz based on the initial creation of the list.
Our team, the Honey Badgers, chose our five top five science and engineering terms, concepts, themes and characters based on necessity, frequence of use, and salience. Microsoft Office software came in first because it seems like every student in every class requires some sort of proficiency in it to communicate the results of their experiments or research. Other concepts, such as algebra and Newton's laws were included because every student at Georgia Tech would encounter these at least once within their student lifetime. They were also included because of how they are the building blocks for more advanced concepts that students would study. Problem Solving was also included as every Tech student will have to think critically and logically to solve problems they face in and out of school. Finally, programming was chosen due to the ubiquitous nature of computers. Everyone will need to learn how program at least simple functions at sometime. Everything considered, our group seemed to side with Vatz's argument over rhetoric when considering the most important skills for Tech students.
ReplyDeleteTeam 2 choose the following:
ReplyDelete1. persuasion in technical writing
2. critical thinking/problem solving
3. derivatives
4. a for loop
5. Issac Newton
Our first choice comes from the fact that all engineers must be able to communicate effectively within teams as well as with outside people to be effective at implementing innovation. Critical thinking applied to problem solving is absolutely essential to innovation as well and therefore something that students leaving a school renowned for engineering would be obligated to instill its students. Our next two choices were simple concepts derived from much more complex fields; Derivitives and for loops are basic components of calculus and computer programming and something that everyone should be familiar with in today's world of continual innovation as well as heavy usage of computers. Finally knowledge of Issac Newton would be a person we would expect everyone leaving Georgia Tech to be familiar with as he laid the foundations of the physics used by today's engineers. Overall we have to say that the situation of how engineering is done agrees more with Bitzer's prospective that the situation demands certain results.
We used Vatz's concept of "salience" to determine our selections. We also used some other stuff. We determined that Basic Programming skills were essential, because it allows a student to solve complex problems in a relatively short period of time. We listed Newtonian Physics because it would, frankly, be embarrassing for a Georgia Tech student to not know how gravity and forces work. Calculus was listed because, although it has fairly limited applications, engineers and scientists are among the most likely to actually use it in the workplace. Research and writing are important because it is important for use in the workplace.
ReplyDelete