Academic and Professional English Essay Example

University Affiliation

Assignment 2: Part One- Reading Log

Reference

Angelino, L.M., Williams, F.K. and Natvig, D., 2007. Strategies to engage online students and reduce attrition rates. Journal of Educators Online, 4(2), p.n2.

Argument

The article circles the issue of high rates of attrition in distant learning and the authors argue that while many suggestions may exist on how to tackle this problem, early engagement of the students may be the best option. According to the article, this early engagement can be achieved simply by those responsible for teaching the students. They should ensure that they properly prepare strategies and techniques that will enable them to engage the student which in turn, should reduce these high rates of attrition (Angelino, Williams, and Natvig, 2007, p.9). The number of students taking distance learning will inevitably go up and this is why a framework that takes into consideration the integration and engagement of these students which will, in turn, develop their persistence enabling them to either complete their courses or achieve their personal goals as well as reducing the attrition rates (Angelino et.al, 2007, p.8).

Academic Credibility

The authors are credible, first because of the number of times the article has been cited on Google Scholar. The article has been cited more than 350 times which is quite a high number compared to some of the other popular books. The authors have also written other articles that are quite popular and are well cited according to the information provided by Google Scholar. Their profiles indicate that the authors are well established as they are also associated with plenty of other well-cited articles. The authors use information sources that are credible as the number of times most of the articles have been cited is quite high too. While the authors heavily make references to other journal articles, there is still some level of personal opinion they incorporate. The information provided in the article is pretty convincing and well researched, however, no matter the levels of engagement that students receive there are other factors that might affect their attrition levels like attitude towards learning and other emotional factors like stress that might make this engagement less effective than it actually should be.

Headings

Strategies to Engage Online Students and Reduce Attrition Rates

Abstract

Key Terms

Introduction

Definition of Terms

Purpose of the Study

Methodology

Statement of the Problem

Key Concepts about Attrition and Distance Education

Strategies to Reduce Attrition

Summary of Key Findings

Future Studies to Address the Gaps in the Literature

Conclusion

TABLE 1. Strategies to Reduce Attrition

References

Reading in Depth

Different strategies to reduce attrition rates have been suggested in this article, and they are pretty dominant in the Strategies to Reduce Attrition heading. Integration of the students in the social and academic part of the university has been stated as being crucial since the students will be more familiar with and they will be absolved in the curriculum with little or no fuss. The other strategy suggested in this heading is the use of learning communities which involve the act of ensuring that the students collaborate with each other to work towards their goals. Developing strategies that focuses on Online Student Services that are convenient and also easy to could reduce the attrition rates. This ensures that student participation is to the maximum and students’ engagement is improved as they are able to access the study materials easily.

Usefulness of article

This article is quite useful in answering that question as the statistics of why there are high attrition rates is widely covered as well as the strategies to conquer the barriers that make life difficult for first-year university students. The barriers to success and the strategies to solve them are separated in two different headings.

Relevance of Article

This article is quite relevant in answering that essay question as the barriers to success can be found in Key Concepts about Attrition and Distance Education heading, where there is an emphasis on the statistics which provide key facts about the causes of the high attrition rates. The authors state that some students reported being confused as the teaching staff did not give them feedback. The Strategies to Reduce Attrition heading offers several methods to deal with these barriers where it offers Online Student Services as one of the solutions.

Assignment 2: Part Two-Applying a Recreational Drugs Article to the End of Course

E-tivity 3.4

1. This topic according to my initial understanding requires one to describe how they view soft drugs and alcohol as the general consensus is that they are less harmful compared to hard drugs.

2. The decriminalizing of recreational drugs can be done to some drugs that do not have effects that are associated with alcohol. The removal of the prohibitive laws on some drugs makes sense because these drugs are less harmful compared to other legal drugs.

3. While this is more of a personal opinion, having done research, recent studies show that all the negatives associated with these soft drugs are actually less compared to alcohol. These negatives may include violence and harm to one’s body.

4. This essay is asking one to weigh in on whether the prohibitive laws on some drugs should be reconsidered and make them legal.

E-tivity 3.7

I used Google Scholar to search the first article A case-Control study estimating Accident risk for Alcohol, Medicines and Illegal Drugs. After reading the article, it actually brings some new facts into light that don’t agree with my initial opinion. I was of the opinion that the soft drugs did not present as much harm as alcohol but according to the article, these drugs are responsible for majority of the road accidents. The situation worsens when the soft drugs and alcohol are combined leading to disastrous consequences.

I would be able to use the Discussion section in my end of course essay where the conclusive findings are nailed down. This discussion section identifies the expected result and the result revealed by this study. The results march the expected results of accidents when a driver is under the influence of alcohol.

The purpose of this study was to take into account the accident risk associated with the use of drugs and alcohol. Alcohol was associated with an increase in accidental risks. This risk was even higher when the drivers combined both alcohol and the soft drugs.

REFERENCES

Angelino, L.M., Williams, F.K. and Natvig, D., 2007. Strategies to engage online students and reduce attrition rates. Journal of Educators Online, 4(2), p.n2.

Kuypers, K.P.C., Legrand, S.A., Ramaekers, J.G. and Verstraete, A.G., 2012. A case-control study estimating accident risk for alcohol, medicines and illegal drugs. PLoS One, 7(8), p.e43496.