Open Forum

Prepare: Take a few minutes to think about the material that we’ve covered in this course so far.

Reflect: Reflect on what you found interesting, surprising, or confusing in this past week. What did you learn that caused you to understand an issue differently? What habits, tips, or resources did you discover that helped you to complete your coursework more effectively or efficiently? Cite clear examples and details to support your post.

Write: This discussion forum is an opportunity for you to explore topics that interest you, share critical insights and questions that you are working with, share your struggles and triumphs, and discuss difficulties that may have arisen this week, hopefully finding solutions. Your posts should describe your experiences in the course this past week, prompting further discussion. You should address at least one of the following questions:

What struck you in particular as you explored the course materials this week?
How might you apply this information to your life in the future?
What insights have you had?
What have you been struggling with?
What questions have come up for you at this point?
What helpful tips have you picked up in this course or in a past course?
What questions do you have about the assignment that your classmates might be able to help with? (If you have a question for the instructor, be sure to contact your instructor through email or Canvas messaging).

You are required to post at least 100 total words in this forum this week. You can post one time or ten times; the only requirements are you post at least 100 words total and you engage in conversation related to course. Ask questions, answer questions, provide extra resources you found that are interesting, or engage in a debate about something you learned this week.

Provide a full explanation of the issues you discuss in your posts. For example, if you write that you had difficulty finding sources for your annotated bibliography, explain where in the process you had difficulty. Was it thinking of search terms? Did your search locate too many sources that were not relevant to your topic? Did your search return too few results? Did you have difficulty finding credible sources?

Similarly, when responding to your classmates, be sure to elaborate. For example, if you write that you also found a specific topic interesting, explain what about that topic you found interesting and why. Is it the same aspects of the topic that your classmate found interesting? Were you unaware that events associated with the topic took place? Did the information that you learned change your understanding of those events?

Students who post early in the week, using this forum to engage their classmates on a regular basis, tend to do well and learn more from the course.