Argument & Design Exercise
According to U.S. News and World Report, the Engineering department at the University of South Florida (USF) has over three times the number of male students (76%) than it does female students (24%). Of the 1,126 students, 856 students are male, and 270 students are female. In order to increase the diversity at USF, the alumni and deans of the College of Engineering have asked for proposals on how to increase the female engineering population within their college.
Your assignment is to use this data as well as other information from the links provided below and your own research on the topic in order to create a brief proposal that accurately does the following:
Establish a persuasive argument:
- Identifies and contextualizes the problem for the audience
- Attempts to find a solution to the issue
- Incorporates visual aids to depict data more vividly
- Persuades your audience that this solution would work and supports your claim(s) with evidence
- Incorporates this argument into effective document design
Design a document that:
- Organizes information using headings and/or lists
- Employs stylistic principles of fonts
- Effectively utilizes margins, white space, and/or grids
- Logically integrates visuals
In a separate memo to me, explain the following:
- Why would my proposed solution work to solve this issue?
- What data does the audience need to understand my argument? How can this data be best displayed through visual aids?
- How can I ethically present the data to my audience?
Resources
• USF College of Engineering Website
• The Various Engineering Programs at USF
• U.S. News and World Report Statistics for USF Engineering Enrollment
• Article: “How to Involve More Women and Girls in Engineering”
• Article: “Why Do So Many Women Who Study Engineering Leave the Field?