Weekly Requirements

Post engaging, thoughtful content 

Share content that both reflects your understanding of the course material and makes appropriate applications beyond the assigned reading (insights, real-life examples).  Be sure to think of the posts as part of a larger conversation; ask/answer questions within the posts. Questions left unanswered may impact your score for that discussion.

Compose your responses in a word processing program 

Consider using programs such as Word first; save this file to your computer or USB flash drive. Attach the file or copy and paste the text into the message area of the Discussion Board. Should there be an interruption in your Internet connection, you will not lose any work.

Content requirements

Faculty may consider alternating between written and video responses to discussion prompts each week to provide students the opportunity to engage with the course and each other using more than traditional text-based discussions.  See How-To Post in a Forum for instructions.

Written word count requirements

• • • Initial posts must be greater than 250 words

    • Replies must be at least 75 words

Video length requirements (Students are encouraged to prepare a script or outline to follow when creating their recorded videos.   

• Initial posts must be greater than 2.5 minutes in length

• Replies must be greater than 1.5 minutes in length

No Fluff Zone

• • Please carefully review What is a Discussion Board  to thoroughly understand the definition of both an Initial Post and Reply.

  • Remember to write succinctly, i.e., in a brief and clearly expressed manner paying attention to fully respond to all questions.  

  • Please note:  where you are welcome to include the original question in your initial post or reply, these are not included in the word count.

Carefully adhere to posting timelines

• • Initial posts are due on Day 4 with a minimum of 2 replies to either peers or faculty by Day 7 of the week. This pacing allows peers to read/respond to classmates’ ideas.   

  • Logging in and posting multiple posts on one day alone will not suffice.  Students should be actively engaged throughout the week to be eligible for full weekly credit.

  • Discussion Forums close weekly on Day 7. The ability to participate in/receive credit for a week’s discussion ends after that Day 7 mark.

  • Unfortunately, there is no way to grant extensions fairly for forums, no different than missing a class of a face to face course, participation is no longer possible after Day 4 for an initial post and Day 7 for peer replies.

Discussion Forum Grades

Students will be held accountable for and graded using the Discussion Board Rubric for both initial posts and replies.  Please refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric  for the criteria and grading standards used in all IU online discussion forum posts.  

• • Initial posts are worth a total of 10 points

  • The two required peer responses are each worth 5 points

  • Therefore, the maximum achievable final grade for each forum is 20 points