School & learning
School life, learning, college choices and how we think.
Should Students Wear School Uniforms?
A qualified argument that schools should prefer clear dress codes and require uniforms only when a school-specific evaluation shows that their benefits justify their costs and restrictions.
Should Schools Explain What Happens to Students' Data in Digital Tools?
Schools should explain the data practices of the tools they choose, limit information to what instruction requires, and communicate in age-appropriate ways. Evidence about the value of education helps show why schools should support learning responsibly, but it cannot establish how a particular tool handles student information.
Competition for Grades: Does It Motivate Students or Undermine Learning?
An argumentative essay weighs the motivational value of grades against the harms of grade-focused rivalry, arguing that useful feedback should be preserved while competition for rank should not define classroom success.
GRE Argument: Should Universities Require Courses Outside Each Student’s Field?
A model argument for a limited, flexible general-education requirement. It weighs intellectual breadth and civic judgment against the real costs of rigid requirements, using the land-grant tradition and Eisenhower’s warning about university independence as concrete examples.
Who Should Judge Work: Experts and Critical Judgment
A qualified argument that expertise is essential for some judgments of work, but that informed outsiders can contribute meaningfully when judging accessibility, public consequences, and ethical costs.
Educational Institutions and Student Choice: When Should Schools Discourage a Field of Study?
An argumentative essay contending that schools should offer candid, evidence-based guidance about academic and career paths without treating present difficulty as proof that a student cannot succeed.
Should Schools Teach Students How to Evaluate AI Answers?
An argument for teaching students to check AI-generated answers, using evidence about teen chatbot use and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
GRE Argument: Should College Students Choose Interests over Job Prospects?
A qualified argument that students should treat interest and employment prospects as complementary priorities, adjusting their balance to personal circumstances and the demands of particular fields.
Learning from Agreement and Disagreement
An argument that learning depends less on whether people agree than on whether discussion makes room for evidence, challenge, and revision without coercion or hostility.
Why Students Should Collaborate With Peers
An argumentative essay explaining how peer collaboration can deepen learning when students have a shared, demanding goal, and why independent work remains valuable for preparation, practice, and assessment.
Student Input and Curriculum Design
An argument for using students’ stated interests to make curriculum more relevant while preserving educators’ responsibility to teach essential, unfamiliar, and challenging material.
Career Guidance and Fields with Plentiful Jobs: GRE Issue Essay
An argumentative essay that supports active, evidence-based career guidance while warning institutions not to turn employment projections into pressure or a narrow definition of success.