Discussion Board Policy

Each week there will be 2 or 3 discussions in the Discussion Board (DB). Here's how the policy works:

•    You can earn up to three points per discussion based on all of your posts in each discussion.
•    You will lose points if you miss the deadlines or if the posts are shorter than the required lenth. (Refer to Discussion Scores, below, for details).
•    You may not earn points (or extra credit) for "optional" discussions.
•    The DB is 30% of your class grade so it's best to earn 3s as often as you can.
•    Students who earn less than 50 points all semester will automatically fail the class.


Deadlines and Length Requirements

1.    Post a comment (at least 50 words) to each of the week’s discussions by 11:55 p.m. Wed.
2.    Post at least one response (at least 25 words) to a classmate by 11:55 p.m. Fri.
3.    You may continue to post until 11:55 p.m. Sun. to keep the DB interactive.

Discussion Scores

3 points
•    The student’s posts indicate understanding of the reading material, how it applies to this class, other classes, life in general, etc.
•    The student’s comments and questions prompted on-topic discussion.
•    The student consistently helped clarify or synthesize other students’ ideas.
•    If disagreeing with another student’s ideas, the student stated his or her disagreement or objections clearly, yet politely.
•    Student interacted with others; replied to questions/comments.


2 points
•    The student's first post was well-developed but the student missed the Wednesday or Friday deadline.
•    The student’s post makes a slightly less insightful comment on the material; may simply expand on a post by someone else.
•    The student was notably lacking in one or two of the items listed for 3-point score.
•    The student consistently had to be prompted or coaxed to participate.
•    The student usually, but not always, expressed herself or himself clearly.
•    Student interacted with others by posting at least one reply, but reply was less than 25 words or the student missed the Wednesday or Friday deadline for posting to the discussion.

1 point
•    The student posted minimal comments such as agreeing with another post; posts show no indication that the student has read the material.
•    The student was consistently lacking in two or more of the items listed for 3-point score.
•    The student was extremely reluctant to participate, even when prompted.
•    The student rarely expressed him/herself clearly.
•    The post is not developed or the student did not interact with others (i.e., posted to the discussion only once).

0 Points
•    The student failed to post by the Sunday deadline.
•    The student frequently attempted (success is irrelevant) to draw the discussion off-topic.
•    The student was rude or abusive to other course students.
•    The student consistently failed or refused to participate at all, even when specifically prompted or questioned.

Students may post as many times per discussion as they like, but may not earn more than 3 points per discussion.

Over the course of the semester there will be a total of about 50 discussion threads (about three per week), so students will have the opportunity to earn points every week. Each week the student’s points earned will be added to the Gradebook, where the student can see it at any time.