discussion_rubric

ED 5001 – Social and Ethical Issues in Distance Education Discussion, Posting, and Participation Rubric A course is the sum of the contributions of its content, its instructor/designer, and its students. Think of participation as your contribution to the course and its members. Active engagement in course topics, ideas, and activities is expected of each student. These activities include active and engaged participation in, and contribution to, asynchronous and synchronous discussions, postings, commenting, and collaborating. This participation accounts for 25% of the course grade. Participation is evaluated according to the following criteria: Criterion Expectation Participation Participation and engagement in these generally weekly activities is required, not optional or an afterthought. Academic engagement Participation should practice and demonstrate your growing awareness and understanding of academic content, including theory, research, and skills. Timeliness Each unit begins on Saturday and ends the following Friday. Activities that require replies should be completed by midnight Wednesday to permit two days for replies, which should be posted by unit’s end at midnight Friday. Discussion posting Text, audio, or video discussion posts should demonstrate both academic involvement and integration or synthesis with personal expertise and experience. Your posting documents the degree to which you can relate and apply course content to real world issues. Personal or hypothetical examples, counter-examples, and resources are appropriate to include. Academic references are expected even if formal APA-style academic citations may not be required. Comments and replies You are expected to contribute to the discussions begun by posts through thoughtful comments and replies of one or two paragraphs in length. These comments are expected to extend or challenge the ideas in the original post in an academic manner. Examples, counter-examples, and resources may be included in comments and replies. Simple statements like “I agree …” or “Good job!” are not sufficient. You would normally comment on two or more discussion posts (all should receive comments). Venues Participation and engagement may be demonstrated in asynchronous text-based forum posts, audio or video posts, and/or synchronous conference environments as specified by the instructor and each unit. Summary The instructor subjectively synthesizes your demonstrated level of participation and engagement according to the above criteria. Grade The instructor may grade small assignments and postings, may provide a summary grade, or may combine those approaches. The instructor may comment on some or all of your posts, but commenting and replying to posts is regarded as primarily a student-to-student activity.