Persuasive Writing
Mary Grant
University of British Columbia
ETEC 565A- Tatiana Bourlova
July 29, 2017
Visit the site: Persuasive Writing
Username: student66b Password: @Student66b
Introduction
This Persuasive Writing Techniques Moodle course module is being designed for students in Rocky View Schools, aged 7-11. This unit explores how we use persuasive language to convince others to agree with our feelings, opinions and ideas ultimately persuading them to agree that with our opinion. The online portions of the course will be blended into the weekly Daily 5 lesson in the face-to-face classroom. At the beginning of the week an explicit lesson on persuasive techniques will be taught by the teacher in the classroom – the face-to-face component, then students will be required to work independently on their Daily 5 tasks including those in the Moodle course. While the Daily Five literacy structure allows for differentiation in the classroom and provides a classroom management system for use in reading and writing workshops with groups of students, the blended framework encourages the learner to work independently and develop self-efficacy
Pedagogy
This unit’s design encompasses understandings and techniques from a variety of theorists and methodological approaches including Constructivist theory and Social Cognitive Theory. It also applies Bates’ (2014) SECTIONS framework to decision making for online learning design. First, many constructivist theorists, like Vygotsky (1978), emphasize the importance that community plays in the process of making meaning. In an authentic and active learning environment, like Moodle, the teacher’s role shifts from the directive role of a traditional learning approach to that of a facilitator of learning who guides students to deeper understanding (Jing, M. A. 2016). In this instance, the Moodle platform enables the designer to integrate social interactions that involve the exchange of experiences and ideas through discussion forums and teacher feedback, which are key principles of the constructivist theory. Because this course is tailored for students aged 7-11, it is vital to take into consideration Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), to ensure that activities and content are delivered and scaffolded developmentally appropriate. Secondly, in social cognitive theory the premise is that learning by direct experience, people construct conceptions of behavior from observing the effects of their actions; in learning by modeling, they derive the conceptions from observing the structure of the behavior being modeled (Bandura, 1989, p. 46). In other words, learning continually occurs through social interactions and influences from the community, media and the Internet (Koch, C. 2013). In creating this module course, the intent was to provide the learner with opportunities to reflective, interact and inquiry about their learning with an online community. Lastly, Tony Bates (2014) proposed a methodology called SECTIONS for use when approaching decision-making about media and technologies for teaching and learning. With this in mind, I was able to use the Moodle platform to achieve many of the recommendations, as it parallels many appropriate learning technology characteristics highlighted in the model. For example, as highlighted in the illustration, this moodle course has incorporated clearly stated curriculum requirements and feedback loops for assessment within the teaching and learning aspect, as well as active, self-directed activities and discussion with peers that are indicative of interaction to promote learning. The Moodle LMS provides easy access to the appropriate tools to leverage opportunities to develop student knowledge and skills related to persuasive writing techniques.
Unit Structure
The concept of persuasion is very complex, in reality and there can be up to fifteen different persuasive writing techniques that are used in the process. Since this unit is an introduction for very young learners, the content for this module of Persuasive Techniques highlights four of the most common techniques; plain folk, association, wit and humour and repetition. Focusing on these four is developmentally appropriate and respects the limited time available. The unit is organized around building awareness of, and skill in using, four persuasive language techniques and one literary technique: questioning, acquiring information, analyzing information, and second voice respectively. The unit includes both an overall definition of each as well as multimedia supporting resources. A Moodle activity is connected to each of theses sections for the learner to actively engage in understanding the meanings through practice. My strategy for the module is to have every activity and assessment tool incorporated within Moodle, as I feel that students at this age may get navigationally confused by blending additional attachments or other standalone platforms. This clean, uniform and predictable layout is maintained throughout the course, thereby avoiding content overload and providing easy access to site elements.
The last section of the course, Persuasive Writing summative assessments, consolidates the components of persuasive techniques into three sections. First, the summative quiz is encompassing multimedia elements to engage students to apply their knowledge of persuasion in in advertisements. Second, journal entry is an inquiry based question based on a real-world application. Lastly, the self-assessment activity allows students to reflect and evaluate the quality of their work and learning of persuasive techniques. Furthermore, assessment of student learning is on three levels of understanding that incorporate three different types of responses. Recognizing the importance of inquiry and critical thinking, the following sections applied several aspects of the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy structure (Krathwohl, D. R. 2002). i) Quiz- Recalling factual knowledge by selecting an answer and reply ii) Journal Entry- Critical thinking, constructing and designing a real-world application. iii) Self-Assessment- Using a simple likert rating scale, through self knowledge students will reflect and evaluate the progress of their own learning.
Achieving Unit Objectives Through Tools and Design Elements
This content module, 2.0 Persuasive Techniques, is designed with a focus on three curricular objectives and provides learnings with access to a range of different learning materials that are embedded in the digital environment. RockyView Schools encourages teachers to write school objectives as “kid friendly” I can statements. The following “I can” statements are associated with this module;
- I can identify the characteristics of second point of view in persuasive writing.
- I can recognize and define the following persuasive techniques; association, plain folks, wit and humour and repetition.
- I can identify persuasive writing techniques on the page and/or in my environment.
2.1 In the first mini-unit, second person perspectives, learners are exposed to the idea of different perspectives for the first time. The learner is exposed to the second person perspective without given prior knowledge. The goal is for the student to recognize the pronouns used in unfamiliar second perspective You Tube videos. Then, they are asked to independently read the criteria and are then provided with given contextual examples and a visual graphic to explain the different voices. The definition of a second person perspective is highlighted to bring attention to it. For those struggling readers and writers, Google Read and Write is available to support their reading and writing tasks. This is followed up by social learning activity in which requires students to identify and post real-world examples of second person voice. Finally, the learner will read other’s postings and participate in a discussion on those posts. Learners are provided with a discussion forum rubric to consider when crafting their own observations and reflecting on others’ postings. The purpose of this activity to give notice to others literary voices, specifically second person perspective and make meaning from what they have read. The first and third learning objectives are addressed in this section; identifying the characteristics of the second point of view in persuasive writing and identifying persuasive writing techniques on the page and/or in my environment.
2.2 A majority of this module’s content focuses on the persuasive technique section. Learners are asked to recognize four persuasive techniques; plain folks, association, wit and humour and reputation. With each technique the student is asked to identify examples of the specific technique being discussed that are evident in specific commercials, and then students engage collaboratively in an activity or discussion group relating the technique to a prescribed picture or video. The purpose of these activities is to provide the students with social learning experiences through discussion groups that enable students to connect what they already know about these techniques and to solidify their understanding through social negotiation. The second and third learning objectives are addressed in this section; recognize and define the following persuasive techniques; association, plain folks, wit and humour, and repetition, as well as identifying persuasive writing techniques on the page and/or in my environment.
2.3-2.4-2.5 In the summative assessment section, students will have the opportunity to participate in three overview activities to construct a deeper understanding of persuasive techniques. First through participating in a recall quiz on Techniques. The purpose of this activity is for the learner to recognize the characteristics of persuasive techniques and to identify them as one of the four techniques. Second, students will complete a journal entry activity about a new real-life scenario. The goal is for them to constructing meaning of all the techniques and deepen their understanding of persuasive writing. Lastly, in the self-assessment activity students are asked reflective questions about their learning. The purpose of the activity is to to reflect on and self evaluate their progress on understanding of the persuasive writing techniques. All objectives are addressed in this section; identify the characteristics of second point of view in persuasive writing and recognize and define the following persuasive techniques; association, plain folks, wit and humour and repetition and identifying persuasive writing techniques on the page and/or in my environment.
Each section does include navigation icons (previous page, home, next page) to have accessibility to each topic. Such aesthetically designing elements, as font size and colour and navigation tools included in activities are limiting in this Moodle platform. In my opinion, these programming constraints could have an impact, for this age group, to receive the optimal learning experience.
Role of the instructor and Feedback
As a constructivist educator, my goal is to pose questions and problems that provoke deep thinking, and then guide students to help them find their own answers. For this reason, I feel it is vital that this course encourages the use of strong communication and collaboration skills in both student and teacher. Bandura (1993) argues that when learners have a stronger sense of self-efficacy they set higher goals and show a firmer commitment to attaining those goals. The teacher and peer feedback activities incorporated in this Moodle unit facilitate the development of learners’ beliefs that it possible to improve skills and abilities as well as work ethic to be successful. Feedback will be provided in a way that it enhances learning and improves student achievement. A rubric for each discussion forum outlines the student expectations; however, supplemental teacher feedback may be necessary to ensure the learner has a clear understanding of their work. In some cases, the teacher may seek clarification and inquiry about an answer through the activities, communicated through the course or face-to-face. Additionally, it is important that teacher monitor learner’s postings to ensure they adhere to the student RVS technology agreement.
License Type
My course will be licensed under the Creative Commons license, CC BY-ND Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. According to the Fotor Blog (2015), this license allows for redistribution commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged as a whole, with credit to the original work. I taught in Australia for several years, and I found the strict copyright restraints prohibited easy access to share and obtain educational materials. I chose the CC BY-ND as it would allow the freedom and flexibility to share materials, while giving accreditation to the original author. Originally, the site license was going to be displayed on a block on the side of the site, unfortunately this particular Moodle theme does not allow for additional blocks. Therefore, the CC BY-ND license is displayed at the bottom of the course.
Conclusion
Creating and designing this Moodle course has been profoundly intense but just as rewarding. I feel I have produced an online learning environment that is engaging and incorporates collaborative tools that will assist the 21st Century learners to successfully meet the objectives of this course and that blends with the Daily 5 framework.
References
Bandura, A. (1989). Social cognitive theory. Annuals of child development. 6, 1-60.
Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educat. Psychol. 28: 117–148.
Bates, T. (2014) Teaching in digital age. Chapter 7.6: Social media: general characteristics. AND Chapter 7.7: A framework for analysing the pedagogical characteristics of educational media. (online book)
Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: An overview. Theory into practice, 41(4), 212-218.
How To Attribute Creative Commons Photos – Foter Blog. (2015). Foter.com. Retrieved 27 July 2017, from http://foter.com/blog/how-to-attribute-creative-commons-photos/
Pedagogical differences between media: Social media. Teaching in digital age. (online book)
Koch, C. (2013). Social cognition and social learning theories of education and technology.
Jing, M. A. (2016). The Application of Moodle-Based Platform in College English Learning. Sino-US English Teaching, 13(5), 332-337.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.