Rae Odiorne 

Written Communication

"The learner will exchange ideas and information with others using written text in a manner effective and   appropriate for the intended audience"

            The paper I have chosen for my Written Communication artifact is from a 16 week American Literature course. The assignment for which this paper was written, was to compose a paper using material from the Norton Anthology: American Literature book. This was the textbook for the course, and it contains a wide selection of poems, stories and papers of American literature. This paper took about two or three weeks in total to complete and required extensive research along with the textbook. Upon taking a closer look into the writings of female authors in particular, I began noticing the common thread of resisting oppression against women. These writings were written and published long before the civil war and suffrage movement occurred, and so to be writing about these things took me by surprise. I then decided to compose my end-of-term paper on how female authors resisted oppression, demonstrated feminist ideals, and proved that women are capable and worthy of respect as members of society. I focused my paper on the lives and writings of three influential, female authors in early American literature- Anne Bradstreet (America’s first female author), Fanny Fern (author on marriage and men’s view of women), and Lydia Maria Child (who wrote about true equality). These three women’s writings gave me the information and material I needed to compose this paper called Defying Societal Constraints in Early American Literature.

             The first goal I set for myself in Written Communication was “To develop the skills and use analysis to interpret a text in a new way.” This assignment helped me to practice analysis and interpretation, something I had not done a lot in the past. Because I was using the writings of early American authors to prove their progressive and feminist ideals, I had to carefully dissect what each of these authors said. It may have been dangerous for some of these women to write pieces blatantly talking about equality and feminism and their writings most likely would not have been published if they were. Because of this, I had to do a lot of interpretation and reading in context along with researching about the authors themselves to try and piece together what they were trying to convey in these writings. By looking at the lives of the authors and what they wrote, I was able to fulfil this goal through my paper.

            The second goal I made is “To implement solid data and research into my writing and support ideas with evidence.” Because I was making a claim about early American writing without being able to talk to the authors themselves, I had to prove my claims were supported with evidence from the authors writing and information about their lives. This paper required me to not only make a bold claim about these authors and what they stood for, but I had to convince my readers that my assumptions were well founded. Each specific claim I made was made because of something I found from analyzing the writings. For example, I make the claim that Lydia Marie Child openly discussed equality of the sexes, and I proved this claim to be true by analyzing and discussing her writing called Women’s Rights. Child not only discussed women’s rights, but she talked about how men and women should embody the same character qualities. When discussing the Biblical commands for women to me modest and gentle, she talks about those things by stating that men are also called to the same things. Additionally, Anne Bradstreet showed her feminist ideals when she refuted the claim that women cannot rule adequately. She composed a poem about Queen Elizabeth in which she praises the queen for her powerful reign and how Elizabeth had men following her orders and admitting to her capabilities. The three women I discussed in my paper all had progressive and feminist ideals and discussed these ideas fairly openly.

             In conclusion, this paper on the female authors of early America showcases my fulfillment of both goals- to analyze and to back up claims with evidence. This paper stretched me in many ways and allowed me to create a new kind of paper. I had never written a paper of this style before, and it was a great learning experience for me. A few lines in my final paragraph stood out to me as I re-read my paper. It says, “Literature has proven time and again to be an incredibly impactful medium for the advancing of societies. Books change culture, and the people who write books therefore have immeasurable influence”. Just like all literature changes someone’s perspective or at least introduces someone to a new outlook, these women changed the culture of early America and paved the way for equality and feminism long before the Civil War and Suffrage Movement happened.

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Oral Communication

"                                 The learner will exchange ideas and information with others using the spoken word in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience"

                                                 The artifact for Oral Communication is an informative speech from my 8 week, seated COM 132 or Public Speaking course. This                                                           speech was given in the summer of 2018 and is roughly 8 minutes in length. The requirements for this speech were to chose a topic                                                     which you had interest in and research that topic and present the information along with a PowerPoint presentation. For my speech I                                                  chose to talk about Gerontology which is the study of aging. At the time I gave my speech this was the field I was considering                                                               pursuing. Though I have since changed to a career as a Physical Therapy Assistant, studying the field of Gerontology equipped me to be a PTA in many ways which I will discuss later.

                                                Because this was the first speech in the course, the primary purpose of this assignment was to research a topic and present                                                                    what  you learned in front of the class. The requirements were fairly simple because the teacher wanted the students to focus on                                                          being comfortable talking in front of people. I chose the topic of Gerontology because it was a career I was considering, specifically                                                    Geropsychology or end-of-life counseling. Most of the students in my course had not heard of Gerontology, and so I was able to                                                          provide about 15 people with information on the benefits and purpose of this field. The speech and PowerPoint cover the importance of Gerontology and caring for the elderly and is centered on the idea of studying the patterns of aging to pave the way for better care and resources.

Growing up and being home-schooled or in private home-school groups all my life I was required to give many presentations and speeches before entering this course. Because of this, I was already equipped with the tools I needed personally to feel comfortable with public speaking. Because feeling nervous was not an issue, I had a hard time deciding what goals I wanted to set for myself with public speaking. I wanted my goals to expand upon the confidence I built in speaking in front of others.

             My first goal is, “To utilize Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in my speech, meaning using ethics, emotions and logic to make my audience engaged and interested.” I was taught about Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in my high school English courses, but I had not taken the initiative to try and implement those into my speaking. In my speech each of these appeals are made. Ethos means appealing to ethics which is done by establishing credibility or character. I established credibility in my introduction, stating I had many years of experience interacting and working with the elderly and also had done an extensive amount of research to provide the most accurate information. Additionally, I explained that Gerontology is the field I planned to pursue and therefore had a lot of knowledge about the field in general prior to researching for my speech. I also cited many reputable sources in both my PowerPoint and the speech itself.

             Second, I used Pathos, the appeal to emotions, which is often done by evoking sympathy or anger to persuade people to action. Because the topic of aging and passing away is already an emotional topic, this appeal was not necessarily difficult, but it is different to discuss dying to a group of elderly people than to a classroom of young college students. To appeal to their emotions, I began my speech saying, “What would you say if I told you that you could know what your life will be like in 50-60 years?” This opening statement instantly made the audience imagine themselves as an aging and dependent person in need of care and resources. My main point which appealed to emotions was the fact that the field of Gerontology has to be understood and discussed among young people because if only the elderly know what they need, they will never receive the help they require. In other words, if we do not discuss Gerontology now as young people we will not be cared for when we are older as we could have been. My ending statement was that we can not only know what our life will be life in 50-60 years, but we can shape that life now and make it better decades in advance.

             Third, I used Logos, the appeal to logic, which is convincing the audience of something by using logic. As I alluded to earlier, it makes logical sense for young people to be up to date on the status of caring for the elderly because young people are who have the ability to care for those people. Additionally, we will all grow up and require care and resources to make our aging experience as comfortable as possible, and so it is a topic which effects everyone. As we learn about Gerontology and make decisions and help to change the care our elderly receive, we create a ripple effect which will eventually make our time as aging people better. Logically, knowing about Gerontology is vital for everyone.

             My second goal is, “To speak slowly and clearly and with a steady voice so my audience can understand what I am saying.” While I have no anxiety about talking in front of people, my voice often makes it seem that I am. When reviewing videos of my speeches in high school I would always think that I was talking far too fast even though it felt like I was speaking at a normal pace when giving my speech. For this speech, I practiced many times and recorded myself multiple times leading up to giving the speech. I was able to practice at a pace that seemed too slow, but when I watched the videos back it was an appropriate speed. I learned that I sound slower in my head when in front of people than I actually am. As the video displays, I was able to present my speech at an appropriate speed and speak clearly.

             Both of these goals were met and can be seen in my speech on Gerontology. While I am no longer pursuing a career as a Geropsychologist as I stated in my speech, I am pursuing a career as a Psychical Therapy Assistant. I mentioned the benefits of Physical Therapy in my speech as one career under the broad Gerontology field that helps the elderly. Both of the goals will also be useful in my career as a PTA because I will be able to speak to patients and the physical therapists in a clear and composed way and will also know how to appeal to logic, emotions and ethics when I talk.

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Cultural Literacy

"The learner will demonstrate a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts”

             My artifact for Cultural Literacy is from the 16 week, online REL 212 course. This course was Introduction to the New Testament and I wrote an end-of-term argumentative paper called The Names of God. This paper discussed the Greek and Hebrew original names for God and how those translations and meanings are important for how we read the Bible. The different names for God in the Bible, including Elohim, Jehovah, El-Shaddai and more, all have specific meaning. The use of these specific names in certain verses of the Bible help readers to understand the full meaning of the verse. This 5 page paper was written over the span of a week and required extensive research including understanding the Hebrew and Greek translations.

             In my first semester of college I created a list of academic goals that I wanted to accomplish before graduation. The goals for Cultural Literacy were to demonstrate a knowledge and appreciation of other cultures and be able to have appropriate interactions in different cultural settings. Learning about different religions has been important to me during my time here at South Piedmont and I have taken every religion course offered here because of that desire to know more. My first specific goal was, “To research an uncommon cultural or religious topic and construct a well-documented paper discussing that topics importance.” This goal was accomplished through this paper because I was able to write about a topic I had not heard discussed before and used the paper to show readers the importance of this topic. Understanding how important the original translations and meanings behind the Greek and Hebrew names of God is imperative to our knowledge of what the scriptures say. Regardless of one’s personal beliefs, it is important to know what the author said in their original text before it was translated many times, and the same is true of the bible.

           My second goal is, “To learn about the history of a culture or religion and prove its importance for people today.” Like my previous goal, I wanted to be able to study a culture or religion and be able to persuade others about it’s importance not only in history but also for today. My paper, The Names of God displays the fulfilment of that second goal. The difference between this second goal and the first goal is that the second goal is related to the history of a culture instead of just a culture of modernity. The importance of this difference is that history informs what we understand today, and we need to respect and honor the history of cultures and religions. In my paper, I discussed the history of these biblical verses and the original Hebrew and Greek names for God and their meaning in context with certain verses. The history of the original biblical texts are just as paramount to our understanding of the Bible today as it was when the Bible was first written.

             There is a lot which I learned from this assignment, not only about the names of God, but also about the importance of learning different cultures and religions. Regardless of a persons beliefs, honing this skill of looking at the history of a religion or culture and being able to make connections and implications in how we view that religion or culture today is a skill which will serve me well in the future. While I may not be utilizing my knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew words for God in my profession as a PTA, I will be able to use the understanding and acceptance which learning about these different religions has taught me.

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​Technology

"The learner will select and use technology to access, process, and exchange information in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience"

             The artifact for the Technology core skill is a math project from my MAT 152 Statistical Math course. This was a 16 week, seated course and the project, called Sampling Distribution Investigation, took only a few days to complete. While this was not a collaborative project, our teacher did have us work in groups to help each other navigate the software program StatCrunch. The project was to create graphs, find the mean, median and mode, standard deviation, etc., of various numerical problems and then summarize the findings at the end. This project required the use of StatCrunch- a mathematical software program designed primarily for statistical math to help students and mathematicians solve problems and create graphs more effectively. While the software is designed to make problem solving easier, it did take a while to learn how to use the various functions. Being able to complete this assignment using StatCrunch is a display of my skills in learning and utilizing new software to complete a task.

             While I would not consider my high school self to be technologically ignorant, I certainly had many areas to improve in. The first goal I set for myself was, “To learn a new software program in addition to PowerPoint and Microsoft Word.” In fulfillment of this goal, I learned how to use StatCrunch and Excel. The artifact I have chosen to reflect my technological skills required the use of StatCrunch, a math software program, to complete the assignment. I had to learn to navigate the program in order to finish the project. The second goal was, “To learn and utilize the features in Office 365 to collaborate with others on a project or paper.” This goal was completed, but in a different assignment. The difficult aspect of my technological goals is that I wanted to learn two different computer programs which were never required for the same assignment. However, the goals were met, and I was able to use Office 365 to make a collaborative PowerPoint for a Psychology course.

             Completing this assignment gave me a lot of confidence, not only in my technological abilities but also in my competence in math. The semester before starting college I was diagnosed with a learning disability in math and was told I could receive special help and allowances in any math courses I took. I disliked the idea of getting “special treatment” even though I was given it because of a disability. However, I passed the statistical math course without needing any extra help or permissions and this was largely due to StatCrunch.

             As I referred to earlier, this program takes a while to learn but once you understand the features it makes math much easier. Because I was able to learn this technology and how to use it to solve problems, I was able to pass the course with a high B in a college-level math course with no assistance. This may seem like a small victory in the grander scheme of my life, but it is an accomplishment nonetheless. In conclusion, this artifact displays my use of StatCrunch but also serves as a reminder to myself that I was able to achieve something I did not think was possible with the help of technology.

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Critical Thinking-

The learner will identity, interpret, analyze, or synthesize problems before developing and implementing solutions in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience.

             The artifact I have chosen for Critical Thinking is from my 16 week, blended Principles of Biology or BIO 110 course. The artifact is a lab report given the title Fermentation of Various Liquids. This report was written after completing a lab project in collaboration with 3 other students during our open lab session. The purpose of the lab was to explain the fermentation rate and amount of different liquids (apple cider, orange juice, grape juice and sucrose). To complete the assignment, our lab group mixed a each liquid with yeast in a beaker and immediately covered the beaker with a balloon. We set a timer and recorded the inflation of the balloon after every 5 minutes. The objective was to determine which liquid mixed, with yeast, produced the largest amount of CO2. 

There were a few specifications for the critical thinking artifact. The artifact must be from either a math or science course and should display the ability to identify, interpret, analyze, or synthesize a problem and also come up with a solution. This report required the lab group to come up with an answer to the question of not only which liquid caused the largest amount of CO2, but also why that liquid had that result. This is problem solving in a different way than a math problem would be solved because it is more along the lines of tackling a question and testing to find the answer. 

             The first goal I set for myself with Critical Thinking was, “To develop the skills needed to analyze something and explain it well to another student or teacher.” Oftentimes I would find myself understanding how I came to a conclusion or solution but I would have a difficult time explaining that to someone else. I wanted to set this goal for myself so I could practice sharing my discoveries with other people in a way that would make sense. In the lab report I was able to develop my hypothesis, test my theories, discuss with my lab partners and gather data to inform my report. I was then given the task to explain the lab and what I had discovered in a formal report. The fulfilment of my goal is in this report because I was able to take my understanding and the information of how I came to a conclusion and explain it to my teacher.

          The second goal for Critical Thinking was, “To use inquiry to solve problems, meaning to ask questions and gather information to inform my decisions.”      This goal was easily accomplished through this lab report because it required me to do exactly as my goal asked. Gathering data and asking questions of my lab partners is what the entire lab consisted of, and so I was left with loads of material to form my report. I realized during the open labs how helpful it is to have others to bounce theories and ideas off of. I suppose I was lucky, because my group was diverse in their strengths and so we were all able to teach each other something. Many times one person would suggest a reason why a certain reaction occurred and we were then able to discuss the theory and agree or refute its scientific correctness. Additionally, this lab provided plenty of data, and some data we collected that was not even asked for. This helped us later on when discussing why certain liquids produced more CO2 than others. I quickly learned that it is better to collect too much data than to have not enough. The more data you have, the more accurate your solution will be. This artifact displays the outcome of working together and gathering as much data as possible to find the answer.

             In conclusion, the lab report on fermenting different liquids and seeing the varying amounts of CO2 produced helped me achieve my goals of explaining my methods of problem solving to someone else and also my goal of asking questions and collecting data to inform my decisions and solutions. Being a critical thinker is beneficial and oftentimes vital in any career, and it will serve me well to be a team player, have strong communication skills and an appreciation for data as a Physical Therapy Assistant.