Take a Side: There's No in Between
“It is very possible you too will be ranking your choices.” After listening to Tweak the Vote, I got an unsettling feeling of uncertainty mixed with hope. Uncertain of what is to come, the reactions of the public yet hopeful that younger generations become active and willing to be involved.
Explained in the podcast, the ranking system is a unique method intended to be a more fair and “useful” voting method. Fracassa explained how a pair of candidates teamed up during the 2018 San Francisco mayor race and used the ranking system to their advantage. This change of direction surprised people since politics “ends up being a zero-sum game, oftentimes, in which you are relentlessly attacking your opponent(Tweak the Vote, 2018). This quote goes to show that individuals have pushed this notion of the need to defeat someone else more the need to win. Even now it feels as if current elections are to be joked about, making viral videos to reach audiences and use it to mock their opponents. With the increase of social media, there is more news(real or not) about candidates, which individuals can use to support or belittle one another. I will admit some media is funny, however, it comes to a point where it is extremely important to be informed and understand policies rather than to get a good laugh from x person.
It was interesting to hear that Alaska has been using the ranking system and I am now wondering how citizens responded to this change, how officials explained this new system, whether was there a higher voter count than previously, and how long did the process prior/during election season took? Would it be better to introduce this system at a local level first? These questions made me think of Wilson’s and the author's view of using critical literacy in the engineering world. How can “new” methods aid the general public to agree to a common baseline?
After being introduced to DeStigter’s view of argumentative writing, I recall having to research and write papers for most of my time in high school. Even though I enjoy creative writing, it was sometimes difficult to free-write because I wasn’t put into the mindset of “defend this.” I knew what I wanted to write about but lacked how to start it. When students only write papers like these it may translate to their everyday life, where they think they need to take a stance, that there is only a black-and-white view. To clarify, I do believe there's importance in learning argumentative writing but it may also lead to individuals being less open-minded. It may also lead to individuals being protective of what they believe to be true. Going back to the podcast, perhaps because of this push of argumentative writing it is more likely to have elections take “1 winner only”, creating more division than ever.
Ranked choice voting is the proper way to have elections in our current duopoly. It makes too much sense therefore, it will not happen. The idea that politics have become a fear mongering sport where it is not really about the policies that you want to enact, but making the opponent look scary, bad, unethical, is saddening. I miss the days when politicians would tell me what they wanted to do and then when elected turn around and not do it. *cough* Obama's 2008 promise to codify Roe v. Wade *cough*. With ranked choice voting we may actually be able to break from the two-party system and actually put people's feet to the fire for change. Until then this country will remain status quo in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI loved DeStigter's piece because everything I teach in history is argument based. Every day there is a question that students need to be able to answer. I always frame it as topic sentence/thesis practice for their argumentative writing. However, I do agree with your point that open ended questions can be difficult. We do not do research essays in my class as that is saved for their Sophomore year, but students know the essay question at the start of the unit, we go over it every day, and make more and more connections to it throughout the unit to build their understanding so there are less students who are clueless by the start of their writing. Yet....there are always a handful that just do not know what is going on.
I was also interested in the idea of ranked voting. If ranked voting was how we vote in the US, then we might have a better system for choosing who is president. It would allow multiple candidates for both parties and create a more accurate presidential decision. This is especially important for our current society because since most of the US did not like either candidate, having multiple choices might make the voters more comfortable with their decision. It would also pave the way for other candidates who are not Democratic or Republican. After waking up to the results of this election, I have less confidence in our current voting system and electoral votes. I am also fearing the future of America...
ReplyDeleteI think argumentative writing is an important skill students need to practice because it will help them for the rest of their lives. All humans have opinions and need to know how to back them up and how to find reliable evidence for their argument. These skills are especially prominent in math classrooms as students always need to show their work and are often asked to explain how they came to their answer. When students approach a math problem using a different technique than taught in class, they need to prove their work is correct and explain how by using skills similar to those one would use in an argument.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's important to show the many different sides to an argument, especially in math. There are so many different ways of thinking and steps to take to solve a problem so highlighting this fact can diminish some of the stigma surrounding the idea that there is only "one right way to do math" because it's simply not true.
I was interested in the idea of ranked voting as it would be a better voting method, in theory, for how the US can vote. Especially with how people felt about both candidates, as Maya said this would give other candidates an fair opportunity to have their voices be heard and share their ideas than just the two main parties that are always pinned against each other.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Julie's comment, math often involved argumentation and reasoning. If someone does not know how or why they are able to do the things they did in order to solve a math problem then they do not truly understand what it is being taught. I think that's why many of us in Real Analysis struggle, at least for me it is, as we understand the math concepts and what they do but were not really shown how to explain it. For me, most of my math classes have been a just remember this and check that it works but in Real Analysis we have to think of what are the conditions for how a something can work based on a theorem? and based on a function and its domain what are you able to do and why?