Meal plan

Post your final revised paragraph responding to the research article, ensuring that your paragraph is a complete academic argument with all MEAL plan elements. Additionally, share at least one specific resource or strategy that has helped you revise and explain how it helped.

Breaking Down the MEAL Plan: Beginning with the Main Idea

 Monday, April 21, 2014   Featured  ,  Organization  ,  Paragraphs    14 comments

The MEAL plan* of paragraph development and organization is a popular acronym at Walden. Whenever I ask students if they’ve heard of it, at least half already have and the other half immediately start taking notes as I explain it. The reason it’s popular is clear. It’s easy to remember and helps to demystify a topic that can seem quite murky: paragraphs.

However, to use the MEAL plan effectively to develop and revise paragraphs, it needs a little bit of explanation. In this first of a series of blog posts about the MEAL plan, I’m going to tackle the first letter:  M, standing for “main idea.”

The main idea of a paragraph is often called a topic sentence. 

There are a few requirements of a topic sentence that you should always check off:

√ You should always have one!  Each paragraph should start with a topic sentence—that’s right, each and every paragraph. This type of sentence is that important.

√ The topic sentence needs to introduce the main idea you’ll be exploring or explaining in the rest of the paragraph.  It’s sort of like the  thesis statement  of the paragraph in this way: it helps tell the reader what topic all the sentences in the paragraph will have in common.

√ It probably shouldn’t have a citation.  While this isn’t a hard and fast rule, it’s a good guideline. A topic sentence may include research (with a citation), but it usually doesn’t because it should be an overall statement of the paragraph’s focus (rather than a specific idea or fact that needs a citation).

Here’s a sample paragraph with a topic sentence: 

          Many infant and mother deaths can be prevented, especially in the third world. Worldwide, around 11,000,000 children under 5 years old die primarily from preventable diseases, and over 500,000 mothers die from pregnancy- or delivery-related complications annually; almost 99% of these occur in developing countries (Hill et al., 2007). This high number is devastating because while infants in these countries have a high risk of dying, their risk does not stop once they are adults. For women, the lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes is about 100 times higher in Bangladesh than in developed countries (WHO, 2004). The continued failures in implementing straightforward interventions targeting the root causes of mortalities have been responsible for these deaths (McCoy, 2006). The medical community has not been able to come up with simple, cost-effective, and life-saving methods that would help save lives in developing countries. This lack of innovation in the medical field has resulted in the continued unnecessary deaths of thousands of mothers and children.

In analyzing this paragraph, we can check off all of our requirements for a topic sentence:

√ First, it exists ! I know this sounds simple, but students often forget to include topic sentences in their hurry to include evidence from sources.

√ Second, it tells us what this paragraph’s focus will be about . After reading the rest of the paragraph, we can see that all the other sentences reflect this focus—they develop and support this idea that (a) infants and mothers are dying, (b) these deaths are preventable, and (c) this is happening in the third world.

√ Third, the statement is general enough that it doesn’t need a citation . Instead, it’s an overall statement that summarizes the focus of the entire paragraph, not just one idea or fact that would need a citation.

√ Lastly, take another look at the paragraph and imagine if that topic sentence wasn’t there.  While each sentence on its own would make sense, we wouldn’t know the main point or idea of the paragraph until the very last sentence. Waiting until the end of the paragraph to understand the paragraph’s main idea impedes the reader’s ability to understand how these sentences fit together. 

I hope you’re getting a sense of what a topic sentence looks like and why it is important. However, most writers don’t naturally include topic sentences in their paragraphs, and that’s okay! What’s important is that you are able to  revise for topic sentences. To do so, I always suggest that students review each paragraph of a first draft: look for paragraphs that don’t have a topic sentence that fulfills the requirements I outlined above, and add or adjust as needed.

* The MEAL plan is adapted from the Duke University Writing Studio

M (Main Idea)

Misalignment between instructor practices and student preferences on writing feedback significantly impacts student learning.

E (Evidence)

According to Gredler's (2018) research, the participants preferred the rubric because it gave them techniques for approaching future assignments.

Most students, 61, desired to improve their writing skills, while 53 and 37 favored proximal feedback and clear, detailed feedback, respectively (Gredler, 2018).

Previous studies, such as Mulliner and Tucker's (2015) research, have shown that feedback must be supportive and constructive through critical and positive feedback balanced and aligned with assignment learning objectives and criteria.

A (Analysis of the Evidence)

The evidence from Gredler's (2018) and Mulliner and Tucker's (2015) research suggests that students prefer rubric-based and proximal feedback. It is important to note that the feedback derived from the rubric gives the learners a very straightforward way to adapt so that they can monitor their progress as they work. The type of feedback in this case is grounded on the constructivist theory, which postulates that learners study well when the engagement levels are high. The instructors and their peers give them feedback occasionally. Another critical aspect that should be noted in this case is how the evidence indicates that motivated learners are in an excellent position to improve their writing skills adequately. Studies conducted by Gredler in 2018 revealed that 61% of the learners had a strong desire to improve their writing skills, and this only happens in instances where the feedback is effectively aligned with the learning needs of these children and their respective preferences.

Reflection on the Process of Analyzing the Evidence

The process of scrutinizing the evidence unfolded in a manner that, while not inherent, demanded meticulous consideration of the evidential context. One difficulty that loomed on the analytical horizon was the heterogeneous nature of the studies under review. To illustrate, Gredler's (2018) investigation was confined to online research, in stark contrast to the context in which Mulliner and Tucker (2015) conducted their research, characterized by face-to-face interactions. This inherent disparity casts a daunting shadow upon the prospects of generalizing the empirical findings to encompass the entirety of the student population.

An additional impediment during my analysis came from the relatively miniature scale of the studies. The implications of this scale were profound, as it cast a shadow upon the overarching representativeness of the findings, instilling uncertainty. Nevertheless, my steadfast conviction remains that the evidence drawn from Gredler's (2018) and Mulliner and Tucker's (2015) investigations complement the argument.

Gredler, J. J. (2018). Postsecondary Online Students' Preferences for Text-Based Instructor Feedback. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 195-206.  https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1184996 Links to an external site.

Mulliner, E., & Tucker, M. (2015). Feedback on feedback practice: Perceptions of students and academics. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 1-23. doi:10.1080/02602938.2015.1103365