BlackBoard Discussion Guidelines

A significant part of your course grade depends on your participation in both online and in-class discussion forums. As you know, this course is not a lecture-oriented course; I depend on you to provide thoughtful questions that can serve as the basis for the learning of all members of the course. And just because the syllabus says that only 10% of your course grade depends on the BlackBoard discussions doesn’t mean that; the BlackBoard discussions make possible your participation in in-class discussions (25% of your grade), as well as deeper thought given to the issues you’ll be examined on (30% of your grade) and will be asked to write on in the issue papers (30%). As such, nearly your entire course grade depends on what you do with regard to these discussions.

Each week, you are required to post the following to that week’s BlackBoard discussion forum:

Ø     One thoughtful discussion question, designed to provoke discussion and debate among your fellow classmates;

Ø     Two thoughtful responses to others’ questions that engage the question, as well as the responses of other members in the course.

In order to do this, you need to have read that week’s readings in advance, thought about what is discussed in the readings, and developed a question (and responses to other questions) that engage what the reading is telling you (and what others have thought about those readings and questions). The bulleted points at the start of the lecture and reading schedule in the course syllabus are a good way to achieve this.

The questions you post will also be used as the basis for in-class discussion during the Wednesday class session. You should, therefore, print out the questions for that week (as well as the discussion – select “collect responses” to pull everything together) for Wednesdays and bring them to class. Do not utilize other people’s questions or responses to questions as your own during the in-class discussions; discoveries of this misuse of others’ work will be dealt with as instances of academic dishonesty.

Evaluation of questions and responses

Your questions will be evaluated on an “A or F” basis. “A” questions are thoughtful, reflect the fact that you’ve done and thought about the readings, utilize the readings to develop the question, and provoke a good deal of discussion by your classmates. “F” questions have to do with definitions, are not thoughtful (i.e., only focus on the surface level of the readings), and provoke little or no discussion.

Your responses will also be evaluated on an “A or F” basis. “A” responses engage the question, utilize the readings to develop a response to the question, and engage other people’s responses to the question. “F” responses show little or no thought in the response, do not utilize the readings to develop the response, and fail to engage other responses to the question.

Technical issues with BlackBoard – posting questions and responses

Each week’s readings will have their own discussion forum on the course BlackBoard site, labeled something like “Week 2 Discussion.” (Follow the directions given in class for getting on to the BlackBoard site.) Do not send questions or responses directly to me, or to the entire class by way of the BlackBoard email feature; they will not be counted for credit.

To post a question: Within that week’s forum, you will choose to post a New Thread. The subject of that thread should be the question that you are asking (the one sentence version of it); that way, I can compile all the questions for use in class. Questions must be posted no later than 8am Eastern Standard Time on the Wednesday of each week. After that time, that week’s forum will be set up so that no new threads can be posted, and no discussion questions inserted into responses will be accepted for credit. Be sure to print out the discussion questions for use in class on Wednesdays.

To post a response: You should read through all the questions and responses that have been posted on that week’s forum prior to deciding on the ones to which you’ll respond. Once you’ve found questions and discussions to which you’d like to respond, simply click on “add response” and write in your response. Responses must be posted no later than 12midnight Sun/Mon Eastern Standard Time each week. After that time, that week’s forum will be locked, and no new threads or responses will be allowed to that forum.

You will be able to view the forum for each week, which may be a good idea in preparation for the exams. However, once the “new threads” are turned off, and once the forum is locked, no new postings will be accepted.

Forums will be opened up one week in advance (so as of the first week of classes, forums for Week 2 and Week 3 are open), so you can post questions in advance of the actual week you’re in. That way, you can ensure that you have enough time to post your questions (and responses to questions that are already posted, if you choose).

Fair use and academic integrity issues

The material posted on the discussion forums is for the collective benefit of everyone in the course. Participating in discussions like this is beneficial to everyone in the course, and will help you think more carefully about the course materials and issues. However, you may not use material submitted by someone else, whether question or response, as your own on any credit-bearing assignment in this course. If you do and it is discovered (and it will be discovered), it will be treated as an academic dishonesty issue, to be dealt with as described in the syllabus.

Restrict your use of the BlackBoard discussion forum to the discussion of course materials and assignments. Restrict your use of the BlackBoard email feature, by which you can email everyone in the course, to the distribution of information about issues or events related to the course. Misuse of these features will be dealt with through the MU electronic usage policies.

Labor dispute issues

In the event of a faculty strike resulting from negotiations between APSCUF and the State System of Higher Education, all BlackBoard discussion forums will be locked. There will be one continuing forum for discussion, so that you can continue to deal with course issues and materials during any strike; however, postings there will not be counted for credit. In no event will any assignment submitted to an instructor other than Dr Schaffer be counted for credit in the course.