WTF? Public Speaking DSST Discrimination

[Bmarsh]

I took my Public Speaking DSST on February 2, I thought I did great, seeing as I had done 3+ practice speeches for the oral section. I waited and waited to get my results and here comes April 28. I finally got the results on the 28th.........after my Mom called DSST to find out what was going on.

I never got my detailed score report, and on top of it all the vague score report I got informed me that I failed the test. We called DSST to find out why I did and and they informed me that I passed the written exam with flying colors, but I failed the Oral section because of the lack of a compelling arguement.

I was given "Women in Combat" as my topic, something which I am opposed to. (I am not saying women can NOT be in the Army, I'm merely saying they do NOT belong in combat) I proceeded to give my opinion, proven facts, AND the example of Jessica Linch, the woman who got captured because she didn't know how to FIRE HER WEAPON! She got captured, we had to get her out, I'm pretty sure at least one of those soldiers got wounded, and SHE GOT A MEDAL FOR BEING A POW!

If that's not a good enough example I don't know what I'm gonna do.

I most likely got a female professor examining my speech and grading it, and she must not have liked my ideas........ideas which have been proven repeatedly.

We have the test being reevaluated and If I get a turnaround I will be thrilled. I also hope they pass me because I haven't failed anything but that one, and if I fail because of someone ELSE that's absolutely retarded.

[malcs]

Sounds a lot like the Miss California thing. A person asks a question and expects to hear back their own opinion. My daughter's boyfriend got all A's on his AP projects because he always slipped something in about Women's Rights, and that hit a chord with the teacher. His content was usually crap.

In reality, people should be given extra credit for making and defending their case against the popular view.

My daughter is in the Army, and i disagree with your viewpoint, but you have a right to your opinion and the quality of your speech should not be judged on your experience/beliefs.

[Ruddigore]

I also hope they pass me because I haven't failed anything but that one, and if I fail because of someone ELSE that's absolutely retarded.

Quite quite.

The test should be graded on your skills as a speaker, not as a philosopher, etc.

[ShotoJuku]

Quite quite.

The test should be graded on your skills as a speaker, not as a philosopher, etc.

What are you really trying to say?

[alissaroot]

From what I have read from other posters, this test is notorious for failing people on the speech portion. You can contact Prometric and ask to have the speech reevaluated, and they may charge a fee for this, but most people seem to pass it upon the second evaluation from Prometric.

[alleycat]

Excellent advice Alissa!

[dshlvrsn]

It's funny. I just had this discussion with my daughter about her SAT prep class. I know that we don't have the whole content of you speech but, based on the grading, I may have been inclined to fail you as well. Please I'm not trying to troll, just explain my position.

The assignment is to create a compelling argument. In order to do that you must a, state your position b, give reasons for your position c, demonstrate that you understand that people will take the other side of the of the opinion and d, explain why in spite of that why you feel you have a position.

To me the exaple you quoted is very weak. There is not an element that can be directly tied to gender. In fact when you look at the numbers and the REDICULOUS body count from friendly fire there are a lot more than a few females that don't know how to properly use the equipment they've be given.

Your position must make sense. A logical, defendable position could be that physically there is still a great difference and women are not suited to combat because of it. The olympics are still seperated because in many of the sports if it were open to all there would not be any women represented. That is a defendable true proven statement. If the argument is made that only the strongest fastest etc should be in combat then you are on to something. A counter argument could be made that there are many men that don't reach the mark either. You need to recognize that there is a counter point and then address it. So in this case in spite of the fact there are men that don't make the mark they are still more likely to based on physiology.

Just so you know personally I would have taken the other stand just from the ability to create stronger arguments and and recognize counter points. There just aren't that many things that we are better at than women. Even in this recession women run companies are performing better, on the whole, then male run companies.

I talked about my daughter. She couldn't figure out why she got 2's from all of the reviewers. Then she showed me her essay. Every sentance was "I think, I feel". Not a fact to be found... and after reading it I almost didn't know what her position was.

I'm trying to be constructive and if you really need this course in six months you can retake. I'm sure you can ace it based on your written aptitude and some fine tuning of your approach to creating a compelling argument.

I know that failing a test can be rough. Focus on your next step in your degree jouney and come back to this one later.

Oh, and try a search of the forum. I seem to recall someone appealing their grade on this since can be construed as subjective.

[retake]

Are you actually given time to research the topic before you give the speech? Or is it completely based on your prior knowledge?

I don't think I'd be able to pass this DSST either. I have an opinion, but don't know much about the topic (i.e. facts/statistics).

[malcs]

By the way, the fact that " SHE GOT A MEDAL FOR BEING A POW! " shows your anger, and that has nothing to do with the argument for women in combat.

Be careful about the "we had to get her out". Did you mean WE, to be the men in the army? You could have said that "she had to be rescued", and that would have been a neutral statement.

"because she did not know how to fire her weapon". My daughter earned her marksman rating, so that is a bad generalization. Lot's of women can fire guns if they have to.

One other thing. Jessica Lynch's story is full of controversy. There seems to be lots of blame to go around on this. You would be better presenting a broader case.

[entwive]

Are you actually given time to research the topic before you give the speech? Or is it completely based on your prior knowledge?

You are given 10 minutes to prepare an outline without the use of any research tool. The proctor gives you the subject of the speech and the clock starts ticking. Most of the subjects do not require in-depth knowledge but it is very difficult to persuade without facts. I have no problem with public speaking but this was very hard for me without tools to prepare. I prepared for several subjects prior to the test but was given 12 month school as a topic. Honestly, I don't know the pros and cons....so I waffled. No grade yet but expecting to fail.