Dear Faculty,
Teaching Online Fall 2011 – Spring 2012
Does Your Syllabus Support Your Writing Assignments?
At times, we have heard faculty complain that students do not post their work in the online discussions.
The students just don’t want to contribute, we have been told.
Creating clear standards in your syllabus for what you expect in the discussion boards may help students
decide to contribute to online discussions.
To find out more about what faculty members are telling their students about online discussions, we
visited the syllabi of some American University’s most experienced online educators.
Remember that the courses below have been designed to meet entirely online. If your course is only
meeting online for a week while you are out of town, snowed in, or while you or your students are sick
with the flu, your grading would probably not be as weighted toward discussion board assignments. But
we still find the instructions below interesting.
From a syllabus from the College Writing Program, College of Arts and Sciences (Professor Kelly
Joyner):
To reward hard work and discourage “phoning it in,” I’ll grade your Bb entries on a four-point scale (4=
exceeds expectations, 1= poor). Late entries and entries that are half-hearted, confusing, or mechanically
messy will receive no credit. All the entries together will account for 15% of your final grade.
Here’s what the point system means:
1. Poor: an entry almost devoid of original thought, perhaps full of mechanical errors and/or opaque
language
2. You can do better: the entry has some merit, but little original thought and/or much unclear or
unpolished writing
3. Meets requirements: your entry reads well and contributes usefully to the class discussion.
4. Exceeds Expectations: . . .in the quality of analysis and/or quality of writing
This is your first Blackboard Response, so let me set some ground rules.
1—When you’re ready to post your response, enter the forum by clicking on the title above. Click on
"Thread" to start a new thread and give your posting an interesting and relevant title. If you have a
response to a classmate's posting, simply click "reply" beneath his or her posting.
2-- To avoid losing text if the Network should kick you out or hiccup, you should compose your response
in MS Word or another word processor and then paste it into the text box. You may not attach a file.
3-- Aim for the word requirement (usually around 250-300 words)-- going over is allowed as long as
you're writing productively and not repeating yourself.
4-- Before posting your response, it's a good idea to read what your classmates have responded
already—I encourage cross-response conversations. If you're responding to another posting, refer to your
classmate(s) by name. If you're the first or one of the first to post a response, by all means go back later
Teaching Online Fall 2011 – Spring 2012
and post a 2nd response to classmates.
5--These Blackboard responses take the place of quizzes and traditional response papers. I'm evaluating:
your ability to read and understand a text, and the amount of effort you put into computing and
assimilating what you've read. If you dislike the reading, try to figure out why you think as you do (instead
of simply writing “I don’t like it but I’m not sure why” or “I don’t like it – it’s boring”). If a text doesn’t match
your tastes, that’s perfectly understandable. You can still analyze and push the on-line discussion
forward. I’m looking for analysis, not summary. Assume your readers have read the assignment. You'll
want to give some context clues to let us know which passage you're referring to, but don't re-tell the
reading.
6—Proofread and polish your response before posting it. Your prose need not be as polished as in the
formal papers, and ideas count more than style in these responses, but elegant and dynamic prose is
always welcome.
7—(from the syllabus): I’ll grade your Bb entries on a four-point scale (4= exceeds expectations, 1= poor).
Late entries and entries that are half-hearted, confusing, or mechanically messy will receive no credit.
(The point system is described above.)
From a syllabus from a course in the School of Public Affairs (Professor Meg Weekes):
She describes the weighting of the discussion board posting on the final grade:
Informed, analytical postings on class online discussion board, 3-5 times per week, including at least one
250-word (500 for graduate credit) posting that is an edited essay which contains at least 2 informed
references to assigned texts (4 for graduate credit)
(The postings equal 40% of final grade)
“Students are expected to participate consistently and regularly in the online class discussions,
responding to at least three of the posted discussions questions each week, building on both what their
colleagues say in the course and on what they are reading. All personal opinions should be supported by
references to texts and the online class discussions. Contributions that are routinely bunched at the end
of a week will receive a lower grade then regular, continuous comments. One posting each week must be
a 250 to 500-word response to one of my discussion questions or to a comment or question posed by a
classmate. This response must be supported by at least two informed references to readings assigned for
the class for that week.”
The core requirement of responding to at least three questions from the instructor and one from a fellow
student are repeated in the introduction to each week's work.
Week 4. (These instructions appear in the Discussion Forum for the week; the questions for the week
appear in the first thread Professor Weekes created in the Forum.) Please click on the link to access the
discussion board for this week. Please respond to at least three (3) of the questions I've posted and at
least one (1)posting from a classmate. I've posted more questions than usual this week to provide you
with a wide scope for investigating this week's topics and to encourage maximum participation in the
class discussion. Only one posting needs to be 250-500 words with citations (depending on your status
Teaching Online Fall 2011 – Spring 2012
as a graduate or undergraduate student).”
If you teach online rather than face to face for a week or two in the fall, one strategy might be evaluate
one major posting (250-500 word posting) from each student for the week, rather than trying to assess all
of a student’s postings.
If you would like to share your teaching experiences with your colleagues, please email us
at blackboard@american.edu.
This and other examples of AU faculty teaching online are compiled
at http://www.american.edu/provost/ctrl/onlineedtips.cfm
Additional Resources for the Start of the Semester:
An Insert for Your Syllabus from the Provost’s Office Regarding Emergency Preparedness
http://www.american.edu/provost/ctrl/preparation.cfm
If you need to copy content between semesters, please see instructions here:
http://www.american.edu/library/technology/blackboard/features.cfm#copy
If you would like to merge sections of your course before you add your discussion boards, see this site:
http://www.american.edu/library/technology/blackboard/features.cfm#combine
Learn How to use LinkMaker—the single most powerful feature in Blackboard:
http://www.aladin.wrlc.org/bb/au/LinkMaker_help.pdf
Clean up your Blackboard site to make your courses easier to see and differentiate.
http://www.american.edu/library/technology/blackboard/cleanup.cfm
Please call the Blackboard Support Center with your questions at 202-885-3904, email them at
blackboard@american.edu or stop by their new offices in the Library, third floor, Room 321.