Hi please see the attached.

Goal : We will use the online discussion board s to demonstrate your understanding of the topics , and

to interact by sha ring your ideas , learning , and diverse perspectives with each other . Please read the

instructions, expectations , and grading rubrics below so that you know what to do , and how to do it.

Original Thread P osts : You will answer an online discussion question posted in a discussion

forum labeled by week (Discussion week 1, 2 etc .). Discussions for the week will open on Sunday. Cl ick

to open the discussion and then create your own thread to post your response to the question by

Wednesday . You will not see other s thread responses before posting your own . You may only create

ONE thre ad per question . Be sure to read each question carefully and post your thread response

(answer) to the question by the due date on the syllabus. Your answer must be no less than

300 and not more than 5 00 words . You must use support in each post that prove s that

you are reading and viewing all of the weekly material s. This means that you clearly

document where your information c ame from to answer the question based on the use of several

specific weekly reading s, lecture s, and video s. Support is required consistently through the post

using the format of in -text author attribution in parenthesis . For example (Lecture , week 2),

(Author name , article abbreviated name ), (War on Drugs video , week 4 ). DO NOT USE QUOTES ! I

will deduct points for this. Instead, paraphrase in your own words , provide the reference

source per my examples above, and state an educated understanding and not unsupported opinion .

Thread posts are graded on a 1 -10 scale per the rubric below. G rammar, spelling, clarity and

thoroughness of posts all count so proof your work before posting . I suggest that you ty pe your

response in a word processing program , save, edit, spell check and then copy and paste it into the post

using the Ctrl C and Ctrl V function s. Once submitted, your post can not be edited, and it is

now viewable by all member s of the class who have already posted. Y ou can now see others post s to

respond to. Pl ease, don’t just re ply to a peer on the day you post , wait until a majority of

replies are in to pick one that is most salient to you.

Peer re ply posts are a direct reply to one of your classmate’s thread s and are due by Friday . Read

through the threads, select the one you’d like to respond to , and click reply to their thread . Try to

find someone who has yet to receive a response for equity . Start with t he peer’s name, ‘Hi John ’, and

then reflect , react, and show an understanding of their ideas . You can ask critical question s and add to

their knowledge by us ing required support from readings, lectures , videos , and your own

experiences . Remember to reply with respect, to invite more dialogue then sign your name at the

end . After Friday all discussions close! Peer replies should be at minimum 5 sentences in

length , not to exceed 300 words. Replies are graded on a 0 -5 scale and spelling, grammar, clarity

and editing apply per the rubric below.

Exampl e of poor post s-“Great job, I agree, keep on keeping on! ”. “I never use Tic Toc so I have no idea what stuff

is posted there ”. “We saw in one lecture (I forget which) how this happens for sure! ”

Example of a good reply post - You raise good points John . As we learned from our lecture and reading s this

week, we have to consider why people feel the need to use Hate Speech and how fast it spreads online ? What do

you think? It’s clear that bias plays a larger factor online since it allows for anonymity , most post things they

would never say face to face (J. Smith, Internet hate speech ). Add to this that the US Sup reme Court has a

problem with restricting hate speech as free speech . (Lecture, week 2) and yet I think it should be restricted

much more strongly that it is. People should be ‘free ’ from encountering such offensive statements online .

Discussion and Pe er Re ply Grading Rubric

Remember to use support of reading and viewing of videos and lecture in you r answers . You

can save your posts as a draft to review before submission. Grading is based on a combination

of requirements below. Each original post is 10 points and each peer response is 5 points .

Discussion Grading Rubric - Original Thread Post /Answer to Questions

Points Requirement combinations

10 Answer was relevant to the question posed . The answer was clear and offered excellent

critical thought or novel insights into the topics . The answer contained strong support

from all of the course materials (100%) . The answer generated interest and discussion.

Post was clear, concise, and appropriate with no grammatical errors. The post was

300 -500 words in length and on time .

8-9 The answer was relevant to the question posed . The answer was clear and showed a

good understanding of the topics . The answer contained good support from all of the

course materials (80 -100 %) and good critical thought. The answer generated thought

and discussion. Post was clear, concise and appropriate with no grammatical errors.

The post was 300 -500 words in length and on time .

6-7 The answer was relevant to the question but may have been difficult to understand in

areas. The answer showed a moderate understanding of topics and moderate support

from the assigned material (60 -80%) with moderate critical thought. Writing was

unclear or contained some grammatical errors. The post was 300 -500 words in length

and no later than one day late .

4-5 The answer did not clearly address the questio n, or it did not demonstrate a n

understanding of the topic . The answer contained minimal support of the assigned

materials (40% -60%) and/ or minimal critical thought about the topi c, contained

multiple errors or was less than 300 words or was two days late .

2-3 The answer did not address the question, or it did not demonst rate an understanding of

the topic. There little support of course materials (less than 40%) and/ or no critical

thought. There were many grammatical errors. The post was less than 300 words or

two days late .

0-1 There was no post.

Peer Re ply Grading Rubric

Points Requirement combination

4-5 The peer reply was clear, concise and appropriate. The reply clearly addressed the peer

by name and pointed out content in the peer’s post to discuss. The reply showed

understanding of their peer’s written ideas , engaged the directed peer in the discussion

and provided new insights into the topic. The reply was 5 or more sentences in length

and did not exceed 3 00 words . Post was signed.

2-3 The peer reply was clear and appropriate. The re ply clearly addressed the peer by name

and showed understanding of their peer’s written ideas but did not point to specific

content in the post and /or did not provide new insights , or/or did not engage the peer .

The re ply was too brief or exceeded 300 words . Post was not signed

0-1 There was no reply , or t he reply was unclear, inappropriate or contained errors. It was

too brief or exceeded 300 words. The reply did not generate further thought or

understanding of the peers’ writings . No names were used.