GC Graded Course Components: Discussions
Discussions Overview
Every week there will be one or more discussions. Discussions will help you sharpen your thinking and hone your analysis skills by providing an opportunity to practice evaluating the learning materials and synthesizing new understandings on a regular basis.
Discussions are a way to allow folks in the class to hear what you have to say and to provide the opportunity of exchanging opinions on various topics. They also are an opportunity to practice your sense making and writing skills in preparation for the course exams and projects.
Discussions: What does it take to get total points?
GC Grading for Discussions and other 18 Point Assignments
GC Discussion Guidelines and Discussion Samples with Scores
- Content and/or opinion over and above what would normally be expected of a 1000-level course
- Organization:
- Answer responds to the question(s), and includes specific information from, or references to, the materials in the question prompt and/or relevant class materials
- Answer has a beginning, a middle, and an end
- As a rule of thumb, if there are two parts to the question there should be two parts (paragraphs) minimum for the answer. If a question has three parts, then most often the answer should also have three parts (paragraphs).
- Answer proofread
- Answer properly displayed
- Answer receives full five points for organization . . ., and for Grammar, spelling, and punctuation
Keep in mind that which side of an issue you take is not relevant to grades. Most important is the quality with which you present your opinion(s).
Rubric
Be sure to refer to the Canvas Discussions Rubric associated with every Discussion.
You can find the Rubric at the top of the Canvas Discussion from the option Icon (which appears as 3 vertical dots) Links to an external site. [a "kebab menu"].
Additional Discussion Tips
For additional discussion tips, review these optional resources on Online Discussions:
- Online Discussions: Tips for Students Links to an external site.--University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
- Student Tips: Secret to Success in Online Discussions, Part 1 Links to an external site., David Wolf, SUNY, Schenectady Community College (04 April 2019)
- Student Tips: Secret to Success in Online Discussions, Part 2 Links to an external site., David Wolf, SUNY, Schenectady Community College (15 April 2019)
Late Discussions Not Accepted
The discussions are intended to allow folks in the class to hear what you have to say and to provide the opportunity of exchanging opinions on various topics. Virtually no one returns to a previous week to see if anyone posted their discussion after the week in which it is assigned. From my perspective doing a discussion after the class has essentially moved on is nothing but busy work. And that's not a good thing (in my opinion).