Online Discussions 1

Online Discussions 1

Introduction

You will be required to participate in four online discussions in the course, one at the end of each unit. Your contributions will be worth 12% of your final mark. As there may not be another student at the same place in the course at the same time as you, please return to the discussions later to see what others have added.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate your contributions to the online discussions:

Criteria	Weighting
Quality of posting: Postings provide a comprehensive response to the discussion topic and demonstrates appropriate preparation (such as reading the course material).	/3
Communication skills: Postings demonstrate an ability to communicate ideas in writing and to organize responses clearly, thoroughly, concisely, and free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.	/3
Critical thinking and self-reflection: Well-supported, thoughtful, insightful comments are made on others’ and own postings.	/3
Participation: Postings respond to the discussion topic and to a minimum of one post by another student in each of the lessons.	/2
Adherence to online protocol: Online protocols are followed in postings. Any disagreement is expressed in a respectful manner, and there is an effort to be positive when critiquing the ideas of others.	/1

Unit 1 Discussion Topic

This discussion has two parts.

Part A:

From the mainstream media find a recent environmental issue that is thematically connected to unit one. Provide two web links to articles on the subject. The article may not be older than one month. In two to three sentences, please briefly outline the environmental issue and post this in the “Unit 1” Discussions area.

Part B:

Review the web links from another student and explain how the issues are either a continuity or discontinuity from the themes discussed in unit one. One hundred to two-hundred words.

Online Discussions 2

Introduction

You will be required to participate in four online discussions in the course, one at the end of each unit. Your contributions will be worth 12% of your final mark. As there may not be another student at the same place in the course at the same time as you, please return to the discussions later to see what others have added.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate your contributions to the online discussions:

Criteria	Weighting
Quality of posting: Postings provide a comprehensive response to the discussion topic and demonstrates appropriate preparation (such as reading the course material).	/3
Communication skills: Postings demonstrate an ability to communicate ideas in writing and to organize responses clearly, thoroughly, concisely, and free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.	/3
Critical thinking and self-reflection: Well-supported, thoughtful, insightful comments are made on others’ and own postings.	/3
Participation: Postings respond to the discussion topic and to a minimum of one post by another student in each of the lessons.	/2
Adherence to online protocol: Online protocols are followed in postings. Any disagreement is expressed in a respectful manner, and there is an effort to be positive when critiquing the ideas of others.	/1

Unit 2 Discussion Topic

This discussion has two parts.

Part A:

From the mainstream media find a recent environmental issue that is thematically connected to unit 2. Provide two web links to articles on the subject. The article may not be older than one month. In two to three sentences, please briefly outline the environmental issue and post this in the “Unit 2” Discussions area.

Part B:

Review the web links from another student and explain how the issues are either a continuity or discontinuity from the themes discussed in Unit 2. One hundred to two-hundred words.

Online Discussions 3

Introduction

You will be required to participate in four online discussions in the course, one at the end of each unit. Your contributions will be worth 12% of your final mark. As there may not be another student at the same place in the course at the same time as you, please return to the discussions later to see what others have added.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate your contributions to the online discussions:

Criteria	Weighting
Quality of posting: Postings provide a comprehensive response to the discussion topic and demonstrates appropriate preparation (such as reading the course material).	/3
Communication skills: Postings demonstrate an ability to communicate ideas in writing and to organize responses clearly, thoroughly, concisely, and free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.	/3
Critical thinking and self-reflection: Well-supported, thoughtful, insightful comments are made on others’ and own postings.	/3
Participation: Postings respond to the discussion topic and to a minimum of one post by another student in each of the lessons.	/2
Adherence to online protocol: Online protocols are followed in postings. Any disagreement is expressed in a respectful manner, and there is an effort to be positive when critiquing the ideas of others.	/1

Unit 3 Discussion Topic

This discussion has two parts.

Part A:

From the mainstream media find a recent environmental issue that is thematically connected to Unit 3. Provide two web links to articles on the subject. The article may not be older than one month. In two to three sentences, please briefly outline the environmental issue and post this in the “Unit 3” Discussions area.

Part B:

Review the web links from another student and explain how the issues are either a continuity or discontinuity from the themes discussed in unit three. One hundred to two-hundred words.

 

Online Discussions – 4

Introduction

You will be required to participate in four online discussions in the course, one at the end of each unit. Your contributions will be worth 12% of your final mark. As there may not be another student at the same place in the course at the same time as you, please return to the discussions later to see what others have added.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate your contributions to the online discussions:

Criteria	Weighting
Quality of posting: Postings provide a comprehensive response to the discussion topic and demonstrates appropriate preparation (such as reading the course material).	/3
Communication skills: Postings demonstrate an ability to communicate ideas in writing and to organize responses clearly, thoroughly, concisely, and free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.	/3
Critical thinking and self-reflection: Well-supported, thoughtful, insightful comments are made on others’ and own postings.	/3
Participation: Postings respond to the discussion topic and to a minimum of one post by another student in each of the lessons.	/2
Adherence to online protocol: Online protocols are followed in postings. Any disagreement is expressed in a respectful manner, and there is an effort to be positive when critiquing the ideas of others.	/1

Unit 4 Discussion Topic

This discussion has two parts.

Part A:

From the mainstream media find a recent environmental issue that is thematically connected to unit four. Provide two web links to articles on the subject. The article may not be older than one month. In two to three sentences, please briefly outline the environmental issue and post this in the “Unit 4” Discussions area.

Part B:

Review the web links from another student and explain how the issues are either a continuity or discontinuity from the themes discussed in unit four. One hundred to two-hundred words.