Entry Three

Part One:

What makes a good question? That’s a good question. I think that a good question is something that has an answer, but it isn’t set in stone. A good question is something that makes someone think about things, it makes them connect things in ways they hadn’t before. I think a good question can have many answers, each person with a different one. My central question would be something along the lines of this: Are alternative means to education beneficial enough to ignore what they cost, and put them into place? My answer would be a big, indisputable YES.

Why? There are so many reasons they are beneficial.

-         Cost effective (for the student)

-         Student grades improve

-         Graduation rate increases

-         Offers support they don’t otherwise have

-         Teaches children responsibility

-         Helps them achieve their dreams.

Why are these beneficial?
Because these are just starting points. One, for example, would be that it is cost effective for the student. It’s no secret that our economy isn’t at its peak. I don’t care if anyone says we are out of the recession. It’s just something we have to deal with. The cost of education is at its highest, and we can’t keep ignoring that. When a student enrolls in running start, it is taking the money normally used for their high school education and spending it on their tuition at a community college in their area. Because of this, students spend significantly less on a beginning college education. This, in turn, makes it easier for students to pay for a university after high school is over, and after they earn a transfer degree. This, in turn, makes them less likely to have a lot of debt, and more likely to spend money, stimulating the economy.

Part Two:

Using field research (surveys, interviews, observations) is something I plan to do for my final paper. I am excited about this already. From the survey I posted to the discussion board in my online class, I have had 6 people respond. It isn’t a lot, but it is enough to show me that a lot of students in my class are leaning toward my perspective.

I am going to be using the CEO program at Bellevue College for a lot of my argument. I won’t go into explaining what it is right now, but I will definitely be doing that in my paper. Because there aren’t any peer reviewed journals about the CEO program, all of my information will have to come from a reliable source. Luckily, I know just the people. I am very close with all of the staff running the CEO program, lucky for me. I am going to interview, not only the program manager, Glenn Jackson, but also,  CEO instructors Lori smith-Berry, Paul Whiteman, and Linda Flory-Barnes.

I am very excited about the field research aspect of my paper.