Discussion Forum

The discussion forum topics will be based on the readings in the text, assigned essays, or materials on selected Web sites. Students should read the material before signing in and responding to the question.

Participation involves signing in, reading the discussion question, responding to the question and to other student responses. This second response is intended to create interaction among students much like a classroom discussion. We will conduct discussions on topics important to your understanding of the topics and cultures covered in the course.

Student participation is measured the the number and quality of contributions to Discussion Forum.

Students will locate the "prompt" in the Discussion Forum. It is set up to handle the discussion and log participation, which is part of the requirements of the course.

Participation in the Discussion Forums is a requirement of this course, counting for (20-30%  ???)  of the student's grade.

The responses should be thoughtful comments that directly address the issue. Simply writing "I agree" will not be sufficient. Generally. students' responses should be at least one or two paragraphs (100 - 200 words). You may want to read the question or topic then compose your responses in Word and paste them into the forum. This will give you an opportunity to think about your response in depth. You will also have the benefit of the spell checker. To receive credit for each discussion forum, students must check in and post at least two different messages to each topic within the specified time.
(Usually the topics will be open for a week to 10 days.)
 

Students are expected to keep up with reading and check the Discussion Forum as scheduled. If a student gets several weeks behind in readings, he or she may miss the deadline to participate in the online discussion.

With asynchronous discussions students do not have to be online at the same time. You will need to respond within a specified period time; I will generally allow several days. You might want to check a forum on Monday and go back later in the week to respond to the comments posted by other students. This will also give you time to think about your comments. Asynchronous discussions allow you time to think about your responses and compose you answers carefully. By integrating an asynchronous discussion board, discussions can be extended over several days, and those students who require more time to formulate responses will be able to contribute. Although some students may not be entirely enthusiastic about communicating with discussion forums at first, the asynchronous nature of such communication does provide substantial benefits by accommodating for different schedules and encouraging more thoughtful discussion.

Do not insult or attack the views of others. The forum is intended as an exchange of thoughtful ideas on the issues. You may disagree with other students' opinions, but comments must be supported with facts or evidence from the readings or from recommended Web sites.

The Discussion Forum is intended to provide an opportunity for students to communicate and discuss topics as they would in a traditional classroom. I have started a number of discussion threads which you will need to read and respond to. For each thread, you will need to respond to the topic and then to at least one comment made by a classmate. If you would like, you may create a new thread to explore another topic. I will read student comments and respond to some of them. I do not want to dominate the discussions. The Discussion Forum gives you a chance to share ideas with classmates and to create an online community.

Click on Start a New Thread, and you will be able to respond to the discussion topic. Remember to respond to the original topic, and check back so that you can respond to at least one student.
 

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