Expectations for Threaded Discussions
(based on a
professional development course for teachers)
You
will be using the threaded discussion feature of this course to talk to each
other about the labs that you are performing and how they relate to the reading
and problem sets. This is like the time before and after (and during!) class
when students meet informally in small groups to talk about labs and homework.
In
this case the instructor will get things started by posing a question, or by
starting a new threaded discussion topic. You can reply to any message by
clicking on "reply" when you have the discussion message open in
front of you. You may also start a new thread if you have something to say that
is not a reply to another's message.
Threaded
discussions are the primary means of communication among students and
instructors in an online course. It is important to add some new information to
the discussion, or to ask thoughtful questions of your classmates. It isn't
really helpful to post a comment like "I agree" or "Me
too". To make your posts useful, be sure to reply thoughtfully.