Initial Discussion Posts

Initial discussion posts should include the following three components:

1. A brief summary of each reading and listening (excluding lectures) activity for the week. The summary should be written in such a way as to convey to a naive reader the empirical and/or theoretical essence of an individual reading/listening by itself or as it relates to the other readings/listening for the week. All readings/listenings should be represented in the summary. Posts will be graded on quality and there is no strict word requirement, however, we expect that an average summary addressing all readings/listenings will be between 250-500 words.
2. A short reflection on some or all of the reading/listening material. While there is no specific form the reflection should take, an unqualified assessment is NOT sufficient (e.g. “I really liked the readings this week.”) The reflection should be a demonstration of your thoughtful and serious engagement with the material. Some possible forms your reflections might take are:
   • A connection to real-life experience;
   • Asking and briefly exploring lingering questions;
   • A critique (with explanation) of a particular argument or assertion;
   • A description of how the reading/listening brought something into focus for you;
   • A musing about the thoughts you had while reading/listening to the materials.
3. A discussion prompt. End your post with a thoughtful question or two (grounded in your summary/reflection) for your classmates to respond to. Questions should be designed to prompt discussion, and not, for example, quiz type questions:
   • Quiz type question example (NOT appropriate for a discussion post):
     • “What did the author say on page 123 about topic xyz?”
   • Discussion type question examples (appropriate for a discussion post):
     • “I found what the author said on page 123 about topic xyz really interesting and also pretty difficult to understand. I think what they mean is … how did you all understand that section?”
     • “I was really fascinated by the claim on page 123 and it reminded me of … . Did you all see any connections between the claim on page 123 and your everyday life?”