For this discussion activity, consider the fictional draft and comments presented below.
Then, engage in all of the following:
Post an initial post by the deadline indicated in the module. You will not be able
to see the posts of your colleagues until you have posted.
o Rank the comments from most important to least important in helping the
author to make the argument they are trying to make.
o Share your ranking and the reasoning behind it.
o Refer to Graff and Birkenstein (2014) as it applies to your response.
Read the posts of your colleagues and respond to at least two of them. If
someone has two responses, please move on to someone else to ensure that
everyone is invited to the conversation. While you may agree with your peers,
simply agreeing is not an acceptable post. Appropriate responses include:
o Agreeing and building on an idea in a colleague’s post.
o Respectfully disagreeing with an idea and providing new information to
consider as part of the explanation.
o Asking an essential question to better understand or clarify the ideas
presented.
o Providing a resource that might help your colleague.
Finally, respond to those who responded to your initial post.
DRAFT (fictional)
Matthews and Jordane (2001) successfully argue that baskets must be woven
when the straw is wet in order to avoid sharp edges and cracks later. Their study
examined baskets made under different conditions of temperature and moisture.
Until now, their work has been considered a cornerstone in basket production.
Recently, Wilson and Merrill (2005) conducted a study in which they claim that
their experiment proves Matthews and Jordane’s findings false. Wilson and
Merrill didn’t provide enough detail on the conditions of their study to determine
how well the experiment was designed. This makes it difficult to interpret their
claims. Shortly after the publication of the Wilson and Merrill study, Jamison and
colleagues (2006) published the results of their meta-analysis of 15 studies on
the matter, showing that all concurred that baskets made when wet are stronger.
While it seems obvious that baskets made when the straw is wet will be stronger
and more durable, and there is strong evidence for the wet process of producing
baskets, does that mean the Wilson and Merrill (2005) study has no merit?
Some might say, “How can their study can be taken seriously since it doesn’t
mention controlling for the other variables?” The study report also does not say
that they didn’t take those variables into account. I decided to dig further
because sometimes the lone voice has discovered something everyone else has
missed. I contacted the authors for further details. Wilson and Merrill had taken
a few variables into account, specifically the kinds of straw and the age of the
straw. Somehow this information didn’t make it to the published article, but it
identifies new potentials for basket producers. Baskets made when the straw is
wet are not always stronger!
COMMENTS (fictional)
1. The author’s use of a naysayer provides a foundation for the argument.
2. The author identifies who should care about this information.
3. The author repeatedly underscores that potential value of the Wilson and
Merrill study.
