Instructions for participating in a Textbook Chapter Discussion Forum:

In each of the 5 modules, chapter content is discussed in forums using a student-led roundtable format. Within the first 3 days after a module opens you are to submit one discussion question for each chapter included in the module.  You then facilitate the conversations started by your questions. In addition, you are required to participate in several other conversations of your choice. These roundtable discussions provide you with the opportunity to pursue in depth the issues and topics you find most relevant and most interesting.  Through your selection of questions to ask and questions to answer, you are able to take control of and customize your learning path through the content of this course.

Suggestions for earning an “A+” on your discussion forums:

1. In each chapter forum, click on the Create Thread button to submit your discussion question. This is the topic you will be “teaching” in the chapter.  Post each of your discussion questions – 1 per chapter – within the first three days that the module is open.
2. Post your discussion question as a complete sentence.  For example:  Why do psychologists do research?
3. You will not receive credit for a question unless it is different from those already posted and requires critical thinking and thoughtful analysis to answer.  Don’t submit questions that can be answered by simply looking the answer up in the textbook.
4. Reply to at least two discussion questions in each chapter forum posted by other students.  Use the Reply button at the bottom of the post you are responding to. You get to select which questions you respond to – and in this way have a great deal of control over which issues you want to focus on in the chapter.
5. Start replying to others early in the module, so you can be an active participant in these discussion threads and interact frequently with the other participants.
6. Facilitate the discussion of your chapter question by responding right away to each student who posts in your discussion thread. You can ask follow-up questions, probe for additional examples or details, etc. Your job is to fully explore the topic you have asked about. You are the teacher and the discussion leader for this topic.
7. Continue to lead your discussion thread and participate in the other threads you have selected throughout the entire length of the module.  You are required to logon and participate in each discussion forum on a minimum of six different days.  There will be a penalty for posting on fewer than 6 different days in the textbook discussion forum.
8. Document your factual material by citing the source. Include all non-original content in quotes.  Failure to properly acknowledge non-original content is plagiarism, and will be considered a violation of the college policy on academic integrity. The penalty for plagiarism will follow the policies established by the college and published in the student handbook.
9. I will grade the quality and quantity of your participation in each forum once the module has ended.
10. If you ask an unacceptable question, I will delete it and you will not receive any credit for that post.  Likewise, if your reply to another student is unacceptable, I will delete it and no credit will be awarded.
11. All posts are subject to my approval.  If I feel that a post is offensive, I will delete it and no credit will be given.
12. You may submit as many posts to each discussion forum as you wish, but only high quality posts that satisfy the 2 Cardinal Rules will contribute to your forum grade.
13. If you wait until the final few days to submit many of your posts, those posts will not receive full credit.
14. Your forum participation be evaluated based upon this rubric:

Starting with Module 2, this will be the discussion forum grading rubric: