At the beginning of the term, you will be assigned to a group of approximately 6 students for the on-line discussion. Each week, usually Monday morning, I will post a series of questions for each group to discuss, based on that week's lectures and readings. You should plan on responding initially during the first few days of the week (which is why it is very important that you keep up in the assigned reading!) and then discuss, as appropriate, with other group members in response to their postings.
In posting your response to the initial question, or in reply to a fellow group members' response, you should “reply” rather “compose” a new message. That will ensure that all responses appear as a “thread” beneath the original question; this will help everyone follow the discussions.
There is no fixed number of postings required, although you should post at a minimum once per discussion topic. The discussion grade will be based on a combination of factors: most importantly, thoroughness (ie, participating in all discussion threads); thoughtfulness (ie, demonstrating you have done the reading, viewed the lecture, and thought about the question), detail (use of detail from the lecture and reading to support and illustrate your response), and timeliness (responding during the week that the topic is under discussion).
If you cannot participate or miss a discussion topic, you should certainly go back and make it up; you will lose some credit for timeliness, but this is much preferable to receiving no credit at all for that week's discussion. The discussion grade is assessed over the entire term, so that improvement will be rewarded. The discussion component of the course will account for 25% of the semester grade.
The discussion area is a good place for you to pose questions to and learn from one another. You should feel free to pose any questions that occur to you about the lectures, readings, or anything pertaining to the course; as the instructor, I will try to help answer these questions and will intervene from time to time in the conversation to help you interpret the primary and secondary sources. If you have any questions of a general nature, about administrative aspects of the course or comments that you wish to share with the entire class, you should post those to the “Main” area. (If you have questions or comments that you do not wish to share with your group, you should email those to me through the webct email.)
The first topic for discussion will be posted on the second week of the term; for the first week, I would like you simply to introduce yourself to the class in the “Introductions” section of the discussion area – and to the other members of your group in your group area. (Your group # should appear beneath the heading “Topics” when you go to the “Discussions” area of the course website.)
|