Instructions for Discussion Board

You may be assigned into discussion groups at the beginning of the semester, or participate as a total class. You will be asked to reflect and respond to Discussion Board questions and post your responses.  Your responses should be clear, accurate and complete sentences. When offering an opinion, please support it with specific references and evidence, when possible.

Evidence is supporting information from course readings, an outside resource, research (book, website,) or specific real-life application from your work experience or prior coursework.

Discussion assignments require that you post your contribution first, read the answers posted by your classmates, and give at minimum 2 responses to other postings within the group, unless otherwise directed.

Grading of Discussions and other interactive assignments will be based on following these instructions, additional written instructions, or rubrics.

For each Discussion Board topic:

• Read the materials and questions.
• Click on “Reply” to write or paste your answer. Longer answers may be easier to write and spellcheck in a WordDoc first.
• When you have finished entering your answer click on the “Submit” button.
• Respond to at least 2 other students’ posts in your group.
• Check back frequently for new additions. 

*Do not wait until the last minute to post to Discussions! Posting early allows you to write thoughtful answers and to be the first one to make important points. Posting early also ensures that you will not miss deadlines.

Discussion Board, Email, and Feedback Guidelines

In your communication with other students, please:

• Expand on or clarify an important point.
• Offer an additional argument to support a position taken in an answer.
• Suggest ways in which an idea could be more clearly expressed.
• Identify passages where you think the writer misunderstood a concept or applied it incorrectly.
• Disagree with a point or position made in an answer.

If you disagree with the views of another student, please:

• Be constructive and respectful.
• Politely critique a position on an issue, but not the person.
• Avoid sarcasm, swearing, or language that would be considered rude or argumentative.  
• State precisely the point you disagree with.
• Offer reasons why you think their view is incorrect and support your position by citing the text or other sources.

Student Responsibilities

The purpose of Discussion Board Assignments is for students to reflect thoughtfully and exchange ideas of the academic topics covered in this course. As a class, you will benefit from this assignment only as much as you put into it. Last minute posts that are inaccurate, sloppy, unorganized, and unclear help no one. If you find that a post is unclear or inaccurate, it is your role to ask your classmate for further clarification or to point out the inaccuracy. If someone replies to your post with a question, you owe him or her the courtesy of a response. You are also responsible for posting your answers and replies on time. 

Instructors will also comment where appropriate on the posts or discussion threads. Instructors may correct inaccuracies or lead discussions where there is confusion, and also look forward to reading  posts or discussions that are particularly thoughtful, insightful, or well written.

12 Netiquette Ground Rules for Course Discussions, Email, and Internet Postings

Participate: Please participate in the shared learning environment. Avoid lurking in the cyberspace background. It is not enough to login and read the discussion thread of others. For the maximum benefit, everyone is intended to contribute. 

Report Glitches: Discussion forums are electronic. They break. If for any reason you experience difficulty participating, please call, email, or otherwise inform your instructor of the issue so that it can be corrected as soon as possible. 

Help Others: When you have more experience with online discussion forums than the person next to you, please give them a hand. Show your fellow classmates a good example, and they appreciate it!

Be Patient: Please read everything in the discussion thread before replying. This will help you avoid repeating something someone else has already contributed. Acknowledge the points made with which you agree and suggest alternatives for those with which you don’t. 

Be Brief: Make the effort to be clear and to articulate your point, without being preachy or pompous. Be direct. Stay on point. Don’t lose yourself, or your readers, in overly wordy sentences or paragraphs. 

Use Proper Writing Style: This is a must. Write as if you were writing a term paper. Correct spelling, grammatical construction and sentence structure are expected in every other writing activity associated with scholarship and academic engagement. Online discussions are no different.

Cite Your Sources: Another big must! If your contribution to the conversation includes the intellectual property (authored material) of others, e.g., books, newspaper, magazine, or journal articles—online or in print—give the proper attribution.

Emoticons and Texting: Social networking and text messaging has spawned a body of linguistic shortcuts that are not part of the academic dialogue. Please refrain from :-) faces and c u l8r’s. 

Respect Diversity: Be sensitive to the ethnically rich and diverse, multi-cultural community in which we are participating. Please avoid any language that is—or that could be construed to be—offensive toward others. Racist, sexist, and heterosexist comments are unacceptable, as are derogatory and/or sarcastic comments and jokes directed at religious beliefs, disabilities, and age.

No YELLING! Step carefully. Beware the electronic footprint you leave behind. Using bold upper-case letters is bad form. It is the equivalent of stomping around and yelling at somebody (NOT TO MENTION BEING HARD ON THE EYE).

No Flaming! Criticism must be constructive, well-meaning, and well-articulated. Please, no tantrums. Rants directed at any other contributor are simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The same goes for profanity. The academic environment expects higher-order language.

Lastly, Remember: You Can't Un-Ring the Bell. Language is your only tool in an online environment. Be mindful. How others perceive you will be largely—as always—up to you. Once you've hit the send button, you've rung the bell.

Review your written posts and responses to ensure that you’ve conveyed exactly what you intended. This is an excellent opportunity to practice your proofreading, revision, and rewriting skills—valuable assets in the professional world for which you are now preparing.

Polish your Presentation. Read your post out loud before hitting the send button. This will tell you a lot about whether your grammar and sentence structure are correct, your tone is appropriate, and your contribution clear or not.

Borrowed from: http://teaching.colostate.edu/tips/tip.cfm?tipid=128