Project 5: Discussions
Specifics of Participation . . .
Discussion forums for each week will be posted by Monday. I will start discussion threads--you should feel free to start new threads if you'd like to raise another topic/issue.
VERY IMPORTANT: Follow the directions about the specifics of discussion.
- You are to participate in discussion each week (except finals week).
- You are to participate at least two times for each discussion.
- You are to read the posts of others in the class.
- You are to participate on two different days for each discussion. You cannot participate just on one weekend day. You'll gain the most from discussions if you try to spread out the times when you access the discussion web site so that you can read and respond to what others have written.
Please feel free to participate as much as you want to. Many people learn through discussion.
Assessing Responses . . .
All responses to the discussions will be assessed based on the quality of the contribution. That is, your response MUST make its own point; it CANNOT simply be "I agree with what everyone has written." That's a trivial posting. If you are confused by a concept or idea in the leadership posting or in a response, you can post "I do not understand what is meant by [a term]" or "I'm confused. Please explain the point being made." You do not receive credit for such a response, but you are helping forward the discussion because if you are confused, other class members probably are to. If someone responds to you, answering your "query," that person can earn points.
A response that departs from the topic is also considered a trivial posting. For example, if the discussion is about audience and we are reading an article about tax laws, comments about personal tax problems or the inequity of the tax system are inappropriate. Comments about the obfuscating language used in the tax code, along with an appropriate example, are appropriate. You may want to address the research being discussed, rather than its validity and research methodology, especially if the research concerns a subject matter you feel strongly about. You will be more likely to find that type of research in the popular press as opposed to professional journals in your field.
Thus, you should try to focus on, and argue about, only the CONTENT of responses. Writing something like "The point student B made about subject X is just wrong-headed" is unacceptable. Instead, you should respond something like "The idea that subject X can help us understand audience could be examined in another way....." Simply keep personality out of the discussion and focus only on CONTENT!