ECT425 Newsgroup Participation

Newsgroup Expectations

1. Healthy newsgroup postings are required . ECT425 is primarily a reading, lecture, and discussion class. Because half our colleagues participate strictly online, the very important discussion component will take place online.
2. Expectations are five "meaty" postings a week / fifty "meaty" postings for the quarter.
3. You should set aside at least an hour a week for newsgroup discussion; more for newsgroup reading.
4. The full corpus of your newsgroup postings, and your study log, will comprise the equivalent of a master's-level project for the quarter.
5. Keep a plain ASCII file of all your newsgroup postings, and list of moderated groups. I will require you to submit this from time to time.
6. You must submit your mini biography during the first week of class.

Newsgroup Considerations:

1. A significant portion of your direct grade will be assessed based on your newsgroup postings.
2. Indirectly, for most students, it is unlikely that you will pass the exams without newsgroup, or study group, discussion.
3. You paid for this class, you should ask questions to get your money's worth, if you have questions.
4. When someone answers a question, even a simple question, they will ususally go through many of the following stages: (a) I know that (b) Begin to answer (c) Is that right? I thought I knew that (d) I'll just look up that one part to be sure (e) Am I current after all? did this change? (f) How can I say this clearly? (g) I didn't realize until I wrote this out how it relates to [fill in the blank] (h) Hey, when I answer this, there may be someone else that knows more than I do so I would like to get this right (i) Hey, someone else commented on MY posting - I see they are right about that part I did not know. (j) Etc.. So, answering questions to help others turn brittle knowledge into solid, flexible, integrated knowledge.
5. Good ideas merit sharing with others, and discussion of your ideas through threaded discussions can be fun.
6. It is absoulutely guaranteed that when you participate in newsgroup discussions you will learn more, learn more about how to learn, learn more easily, get new perspectives, and remember the material longer. Humans are social creatures. We always have been.
7. You will have to read the chapters and programs to participate in the discussions. If you keep to a discussion schedule, this will also prompt you to keep to a reading schedule.
8. Timely postings count much more than dumping text to discussion threads right before the deadline, because timely postings are intergrated with the dicsussion.
9. Moderators get more credit for a discussion thread. Claim your moderator spot early if you are interested.
10. It is a very effective learning tool for you to attempt to answer questions of others, even if you are not sure. You will learn a great deal. Be brave!
11. Discussions are for the joy of participating in the community of scholars, and ease of learning the material; do not feel that you are competing with others to "look" good.

Moderators

1. If you wish, you may claim a moderatorship for one of the newsgroups.
2. Moderators are also participants, just like everyone else
3. The moderator's job is to keep the discussion going, and to notice structure in the discussion that might help others to get access to the content.
4. Moderators should read the chapter/program ahead of time, or as soon as possible.
5. Moderators should monitor the newsgroup postings regularly.
6. Moderators should consider asking important general questions to get discussion going.
7. Moderators should consider pointing to external (e.g., online) references that complement, or help explain, parts of the text.
8. It is acceptable to have more than one moderator, if they are each active.
9. Declare your moderatorship (moderatorness?) as a newsgroup thread.

Style

1. USE YOUR OWN WORDS when posting to newsgroups. Posting of straight definitions MUST be only in the context of discussion, and do not count for much. In all cases TYPE IN the definitions yourself.
2. In general, newsgroup postings are informal, however...
3. Because we are scientists, focus on being accurate, and if you are not sure, just say so.
4. Cite sources as well as possible whenever possible, but do not let this keep you from posting.
5. Including URLS in the text is always appreciated
6. We will use this convention (p32 r6) means "page 32 paragraph 6" where incomplete paragraphs that started on the previous page are counted as r1.

Suggested Postings

1. You can, of course, make postings about anything relevant to the chapter/program but keep a lid on straight definitions.
2. IDEAS of your own that the chapter has inspired
3. Summary of the structure of the chapter, or parts of the chapter (e.g., an intro to the discussion)
4. High-levcel summary of the content of the chapter
5. Supplemental discussion of a part of the chapter that believe you fully understand
6. Clear description of a part you do not understand, also stating what you think the author(s) might be saying, and what is confusing.
7. Critique of the writing style of the chapter, and what they might have said to make their point clearer.
8. General postings of the form "I think what they book is saying is..."

Grading

1. Grading will be by purly subjective assessment of the professor and grader. So, make your case (online, at the newsgroup!).
2. Keep an file with all of your newsgroup postings pasted into it (note: you can click on your name in the newsgroup to see all your postings). I WIL REQUIRE that you submit this file, with all your postings, to COL for credit
3. Timely postings are worth more, all your postings have time stamps
4. Keep a separate list of the newsgroups you have moderated.
5. Active moderation of a newsgroup is worth more