What Makes a Post ÒSubstantiveÓ?
Dallas Christian College
John E. Wasem, Adjunct Professor
In order to help you understand what I would consider an
acceptable substantive post in our weekly discussion forums, it is important
that you note the following guidelines describing a substantial post.
- Add value to the discussion
(e.g. provide new ideas, link what someone is saying to experience or to
readings, ask a ÒhardÓ, thought-provoking question)
- Avoid simply repeating, agreeing
with, or answering "yes" or "no" to peersÕ
comments (i.e. "me too" comments; agreeing with what
someone has just said; a simple affirmation or statement of support; or
just reiterating what someone has said does not count toward
your minimum requirement of postings per week – one in response to
the question of the week and two in response to posts of fellow students
and/or the professor).
I will do my best to always edit a post and indicate that it was READ, but
you will notice that such posts will not receive a % grade. You will note a statement such as
the following below a non-substantial post:
(READ by John Wasem - original submission Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 11:58 AM)
Such posts as described above are good courtesy and desirable because they add to
the esprit de corps of the online class. These posts contribute to the
discussion, but they are not substantive.
- Challenge comments in class,
including those of the instructor (ask a hard question, present an
alternative perspective from experience, from the readings, engage in
properly toned debate)
- Constructively disagree
- Ask insightful questions
(questions which expand the discussion, demonstrate integration of the
concepts of the class with experience, invite our thinking to new levels
of understanding)
- Answer other peopleÕs questions
(this is fairly self explanatory)
- Exemplify/illustrate the primary
point with real-life events, when possible (here is where real life comes
to play . . .sharing your experiences and learning together from these
experiences)
- Make comments that are relevant
to the course content and objectives (keeping on task with the topic of
the week and to the course objectives)
- Integrate or apply relevant
readings to the discussion (citations are appropriate when you borrow
the ideas of another or build off of these ideas; integrating and
discussing the readings is an important part of your responding.)
- Always do a spellcheck of your
forum posts and when appropriate add the reference(s) to properly cite
your post.
Notice, I have not dictated word count as a way
of judging substantial contributions. However, as a rule of thumb, plan to write a minimum of 150-200 words (not
including quotations) for your primary post each week. The other posts for a
given week should generally tend to be 100-150 words. Although class standards
usually require a minimum of three posts, you should take careful note of the
requirements in each class—some require more postings per week. If the
number of substantial posts in a given weekÕs discussion forum exceeds the
minimum expectation, then you may receive between 0.5 to 2.0 additional
percentage points on your discussion forum grade of that week.