Discussion Forum Participation Rubric

Discussions are an important part of learning. The goal is to have a dynamic discussion on the weekly topic(s) that lasts throughout the entire week. The discussion board is the heart and soul of the online course community and is the primary place where faculty talks to students and students talk to other students. This is the place where students and faculty get to know one another. This tool helps a widely dispersed group of students and faculty becomes a learning community. Some characteristics considered to be part of excellent discussion contributions are outlined below. Your professor will consider these characteristics when assessing the quality and level of your participation. The course syllabus will state timing for initial response, the number of required responses for each topic each week and how you participation in the discussion counts towards your grade. Components of a Discussion Forum The dialogue builds as learners post and respond to others in the class. Each weeks discussion instructions will be provided by your instructor Submit your initial post(s) early in the week Submit responses to the posts of other students at timely intervals throughout the week. What makes a good Post or Response To be substantive, your message should: Be respectful toward others opinions and perspectives. Address the question(s) as presented for discussion. Help further the discussion around course content. Connect to the course readings or apply to the lessons from the course. When relevant, enrich and extend the discussion by including: o o o Prior knowledge and work experiences References, Web sites, sources and resources, etc. (giving credit when appropriate). Include additional ideas, insights or questions about classmates comments

A substantive post is NOT: Short comments, such as "Good idea" or "I agree, unless you explain why you agree or disagree, and give some examples to support your belief or add an additional insight or question. Comments that are unrelated to the topics at hand (for example, I saw that movie, too!). If you want to connect with another student please do that outside class. Verbose prose that rambles on, but does not get to a point that relates to the topic. Number of words for each post 100 words minimum and 250 maximum to encourages substantive posts that are also 1

concise and to the point. Code of Conduct: Be respectful toward others opinions and perspectives. Personal attacks are not tolerated. Remember to be professional. Your answers are archived and are seen by instructors and classmates. Use regular English, not shorthand or text short cuts. Use complete sentences. Off topic chatter can be distracting. o Students are encouraged to post nonclass related questions or event announcements to a class chat area. Doing this creates a feeling of community and makes it easier to grade forums, for others to follow and reply to discussions, and helps keep the commentary on-time and on-task. o Email may be preferred than separate an online discussion Quality Expectation This is a written part of your assignment. Your contributions to the discussions (posts and responses) should be complete thoughts, complete sentences, free of grammatical or structural errors. This rubric will be used to assess your participation in each discussion forum.

Weekly Discussion Forum Participation Rubric Criteria Timeliness and quantity (3pts) Submit at least one post early in the week and at least two responses to other learners at various times during the week. Submits the required number of words for each post. Evidence of Learning (4pts) Post(s) and responses show evidence of knowledge and understanding of course content and applicability to professional practice. Elicits deeper Posts(s) and responses do not meet criteria. Post(s) and responses meet criteria Post(s) and responses exceed criteria by also including connections to course text and other resources that extend the learning of the community. Unsatisfact ory Does not submit all required posts and responses Satisfactor Exemplary y Submits required posts and responses Submits one or more thoughtful posts early in the week and more than two responses to other learners at various times during the week.

Posts(s) and

Post(s) and

Post(s) and responses

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discussion (3pts) Posts attempt to elicit responses and reflections from other learners and responses build upon the ideas of other learners to take the discussion deeper.

responses do not meet criteria.

responses meet criteria

meet criteria and responses build upon and integrate multiple views from other learners and the course text to take the discussion deeper.