1) Your prompt is to give a very brief description (1-2 sentences) of the main theses of each of the readings.
• Your response must be both relevant to the lecture slides and readings, as well as substantial (demonstrates a thoughtful, informed response) in 400-500 words. No brief, off-the-top-of-your-head responses).
• You are required to make specific references to the course materials being discussed (i.e., all of the assigned readings).
• Your response should be original, not rehashed from lecture slides.
• If you answer something simply to the effect of “I agree,” you will receive zero credit.
• You may pose questions and suggest alternative explanations for another student’s interpretation of the material.
• When intellectually appropriate, give examples from your personal experience.
• If you respond to classmates, you should not reply to every individual posting separately. For example, responding to multiple classmates in a single post is fine, but clearly identify each question to which you are responding.
• When responding, it is a good idea to change the subject line of your response to reflect your posting.
• For long postings, you should employ your word processor so you can grammar- and spell-check your work.
• I will occasionally provide individual feedback each week on the grading of Discussion Forum posts. However, I can also provide individualized feedback in response to individual requests, including if you want feedback prior to posting. Brief feedback will be emailed, but more detailed feedback can be provided during office hours.
2) These additional “netiquette” rules are intended to promote respectful and engaging ideas online.
• When evaluating a classmate’s ideas or arguments, do not be critical of the person.
• You should avoid profanity in any way, shape, or form.
• You should keep in mind that ALL CAPS are reserved for strong emphasis, so you should use this only when you are conveying a significant point or strong emotions.
• Since written communication is different from face-to-face communication, a joke or message told over the internet that was intended to be funny may be misunderstood as criticism and/or be hurtful to others. When you want to show your intended humor through writing, you may want to use emoticons or emojis.
Tracking Student Activity Online:
Student activity is kept track online by: 1) observing the time & date of discussion forum posts; and 2) using a course statistics function within TITANium that allows me to analyze how often students access relevant areas of the course site. (The latter function is one of several that I have access to as the administrator of the course site; as a student, you do not have the ability to use this function.)