Maitreyi Agashe
October 31, 2010
ENGL278Z
Rhetorical Analysis
Education is a constantly evolving field of science. There is constant research to see how teaching can be approved. Teaching and education are sensitive issues, since they affect a plethora of people; there are many opinions on teaching and educational approaches. When it comes to new methods to teach, there is a lot of skepticism about the new approach. Many people are skeptical and express their opinions, even if they cannot be considered an authority on the subject matter. While it may seem trivial, an author’s creditability needs to be intact when he/she is writing about education because education is a scientific subject. After researching and finding many sources about the effects of computer simulations on education, I came to the conclusion that the only authoritative sources are the scholarly sources. The two sources that are compared and contrasted, Sports Business Simulation and the article in Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, strengthen this argument.
When looking at the sources, it is important to analyze rhetorical appeals: ethos, logos, and pathos. After examining my sources, I came to the conclusion that out of the three appeals, only ethos and logos are important. Considering the scientific material of the subject, ethos and logos are very important to ensure that the argument has a logical process and that the information is coming from a credited and authoritative author. However, the emotional appeal may be considered more trivial because it is much more of a subjective approach for scientific material. However, it is important not to look at solely rhetorical appeals, but other measures to quantify scholarly sources. Other attributes that need to be considered are visuals, methods of delivery, and peer reviewed. The analysis of all of the elements leads to the determination if the source is scholarly.
The Sports Business Simulation video on Youtube demonstrates to be an unscholarly source. The introduction of Zennie Abraham as the chairman and CEO of Sports Business Simulation lends the video clip intrinsic ethos. Having these positions at the company and being one that had a hand in the development of the simulations, Abraham is very knowledge about the product. However, just because the video has intrinsic ethos, that does not necessarily mean that the video is strong in ethos as a whole. It is questionable if he understands the potential implications of computer simulations on education. Rather, it seems that he is apt at selling the product, instead of understanding the change in the big picture the product has to offer. Other than the brief description of Zennie Abraham that the audience is given in the introduction of the video, there is no other description of Abraham given, that might indicate his qualifications. The video does not have a strong logos appeal as well. Considering the material is regarding rather scientific material, logos is important so that the argument can be properly developed. The video gives the situational overview of the products and how it is used. However, the argument in the video could be considerable stronger if it shows a causal effect as a result of the simulations. From a scientific perspective, without sufficient evidence that a product accomplishes the goal, it is almost a worthless source. One of the major problems of the video is that it is questionable as to which medium the video is being accessed. It is assumed that the audience is teachers looking for computer simulations to use in their classrooms. However, it cannot be determined which channel the teachers are accessing the video other than Youtube. However, at the end of the video, Abraham gives his phone number so that potential customers can contact him. When he gives the phone number, it is questionable in which avenue this video is being sent to the audiences. While the comments section might serve as a mediocre peer review, it is questionable if the comments can be considered “peer”. The comments are left by Youtube users, and there is no indication if the users can be considered creditable. Overall, this source is not creditable and scholarly because the questionable CEO in the video.
In contrast with the Youtube video, the education article in the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education is a very scholarly source. The author of the article, Celal Bayrak is a professor at a Turkish University and has had his article published in a scholarly journal. Bayrak is a professor in the research matter, which makes his argument even stronger. His credentials lend the article a great deal of authority, playing into the ethos appeal. The manner in which the article is written gives a detail description of how the conclusion was reached. This plays well in the logos segment because there is a defined scientific procedure that is followed. This makes it easy to outline the argument. The defined scientific procedure displays a causal effect as a result of the computer simulation. The manner in which the article is presented is very bare-boned. The basic display lends to emphasize the scientific nature of the material. The article is presented in an educational journal, which indicates that it is meant for people of that professional and educational background. The audience will be receptive to the material that is presented in the article because they have the background that will help them grasp the material. The audience also helps the article be peer reviewed. While the peer reviews cannot be seen, it is assumed that the article will be peer reviewed because it was published in a scholarly journal. Overall, these attributes suggest that the article is a scholarly source.
The comparison of the two types of sources demonstrates what is required in order to be a creditable source for the topic of computer simulations. It is not simply enough to be knowledgeable in this field, but one needs to have an educational background in the subject as well. Since the topic of effects of computer simulations in education is such a scientific subject, there needs to be a cause and effect experiment that truly shows the effect of the simulations. In conclusion, it is important that information is obtained from a creditable source so that the information can be authentic.
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