Discussion Board Scoring Rubric
There is a lot of information presented here and I don't expect it will be all read through in one sitting. This information has been set up in sections for you to review as needed.
Important Note: The scoring breakdowns are only a part of the larger picture for your weekly participation grades, please also review the other folders in the Discussion Board and Participation Information section (the folders include: Discussion Board Introduction, Discussion Board: Basic Requirements and Terminology, Discussion as Academic Discourse, and Discussion Board Samples).
The below information is to complement your weekly grades and feedback I will be sending to you.
Contents:
In general I see the breakdown of your Discussion Board grade as this:
(Note: These are rough estimates to give you a general idea of the weight/importance of quality and quantity in weekly Discussion Board participation.)
65% - 75% = MOST IMPORTANT is the QUALITY of the answers (as in how well the answer is thought out, how well the answer shows knowledge from the lectures, and how well the answer uses examples to back the statements). This applies for NEW THREADS, RESPONSE POSTINGS, and REFLECTION POSTINGS.
35% - 25% = LEAST IMPORTANT is the QUANTITY of the answers (as in how many postings one does, how often).
Please see the examples of past student posts that I consider of excellent quality available under the 'Course Information' section in the 'Discussion Board Samples' folder.
NOTE: This does not necessarily reflect what your final participation/discussion grade will equate to, sometimes there will participation points assigned in non-Discussion Board categories (such as your Home Page and posting other assignments).
(click on each score's link to jump to detailed information about that score's breakdown)
Generalized Breakdowns of Grades:
Again these are rough outlines of what I am looking for in each week’s Discussion Board. Each scoring area describes the minimum requirements I look for during each week's participation. REMEMBER that each section is seen as a whole and not individual items to be checked off and that quality always outweighs quantity.
10 points:
1) Student will begin their weekly participation by posting answers to the Initial Questions posed each week by the instructor, and/or post New Threads, and/or post Response Postings on the Discussion Board NO LATER than WEDNESDAY by midnight. Again, this does not mean that one has to complete all of the requirements outlined below, but I need to see evidence that you have read the lectures and are now beginning to actively take part in the Discussion Board (looking for two to four posts to start out with).
2) Student posts FREQUENTLY throughout the week in response to other student and instructor postings and with additional NEW thoughts about the lecture materials and/or initial Discussion Board questions.
This means that a student will post AT LEAST THREE separate days of the week (ex: postings on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday)
3) Student will post in-depth answers to the INITIAL QUESTIONS and/or CREATE NEW THREADS. This includes:
- Posting AT LEAST ONE Initial Question or New Thread post (if one does not post at least one original/new thread the highest score one can receive is 7 points).
- Direct references to the lecture materials that relate to the question posed.
- Length of ONE to TWO PARAGRAPHS (five to ten sentences long).
- Students include their own thoughts and analysis, DO NOT REPEAT ONLY lecture materials, think for oneself. I am not only looking for knowledge of the lecture materials, but also ORIGINAL thoughts about the topics.
- MULTIPLE EXAMPLES are given that are OUTSIDE THE LECTURE MATERIALS. These can be appropriate Web sites, news articles, images, and/or your own commentary focusing on an example you have come across in another class or in the past. Remember to describe the outside source in detail so we understand what it is about and why it connects to the weekly topics.
- AT LEAST ONE question should be posed at the end of the answer so that others in the class can answer and continue the thread.
- All answers go beyond simplified statements such as “Visual Literacy is the way we see the arts.”
- SUBJECT TITLES are creative and do an excellent job at describing the subject matter of the posting.
- Note: The amount of student responses to one's original/new thread DOES NOT COUNT for or against one's score. As such, the scoring takes into account the quality of how well a student meets the requirements outlined above and will never take into account if only few or no any other student responses have been posted in answer to one's thread. Just as a thread with a large number of response postings will never be marked higher because of the amount of student answers.
4) Student will ADDRESS MULTIPLE student postings in detail. Response Postings number BETWEEN (at the least) TWO TO THREE throughout the entire week and include:
- Postings DO go beyond simple "I agree with Jane Doe's statement about Visual Literacy."
- Postings are ACTIVELY engaged with the materials presented in the post you are responding to, and are posed in a collegial and scholarly manner (remember that this is not an online debate board, but is a graded discussion as part of your coursework).
- Postings include specific lecture and outside researched examples.
- And all postings will be AT LEAST THREE to FOUR sentences long.
5) Student will CREATE A NEW THREAD during the week that goes beyond the Initial Questions posed by the instructor and stimulates excellent new class discussion. For these NEW THREADS follow the same guidelines listed above for answering the INITIAL QUESTIONS.
6) Student CREATES THOUGHTFUL POSTINGS BEYOND WHAT IS OUTLINED ABOVE (ex: (but not limited to) posts that include outside resources such as web links or images, make suggestions for further research, etc.).
7) SHOWS ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE LECTURES each week by referencing the lectures in the Discussion Board and/or visiting the lectures frequently throughout the week.
8) Student will show a HIGH LEVEL of knowledge of the lectures and outside examples, in even topics of possible low interest to the student. Thus, the student shows an ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT in attempting to learn something new about the materials presented.
9) POST an end of the week (Friday or Saturday) REFLECTION POSTING, which includes a HIGH LEVEL of personal critical analysis of that week's overall discussion forum. This analysis will include a detailed summary of the themes, arguments, and thoughts presented in other student postings; as well as include a commentary about what you have learned new throughout the week from the forum that you would not have learned solely from the lecture presentations.
10) Student WRITES CLEARLY without many typos. ALL sentences are easy to read even when dealing with complex topics. As instructor I SHOULD be able to read through ONCE to understand your main argument/point and why you think that way. I SHOULD NOT spend a great deal of time trying to figure out the writer means because I am wading through many typos and sentences that do not connect to others and/or are fragments (Note: The Discussion Board forum is a more informal writing venue so a small amount of typos are acceptable.).
9 Points:
1) Student will begin their weekly participation by posting answers to the Initial Questions posed each week by the instructor, and/or post New Threads, and/or post Response Postings on the Discussion Board NO LATER than WEDNESDAY by midnight. Again, this does not mean that one has to complete all of the requirements outlined below, but I need to see evidence that you have read the lectures and are now beginning to actively take part in the Discussion Board (looking for two to four posts to start out with).
2) Student posts FREQUENTLY throughout the week in response to other student and instructor postings and with additional NEW thoughts about the lecture materials and/or initial Discussion Board questions.
This means that a student will post AT LEAST THREE separate days of the week (ex: postings on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday)
3) Student will post in-depth answers to the INITIAL QUESTIONS and/or CREATE NEW THREADS. This includes:
- Posting AT LEAST ONE Initial Question or New Thread post (if one does not post at least one original/new thread the highest score one can receive is 7 points).
- Direct references to the lecture materials that relate to the question posed.
- Length of ONE to TWO PARAGRAPHS (three to seven sentences long).
- Students include their own thoughts and analysis, DO NOT REPEAT ONLY lecture materials, think for oneself. I am not only looking for knowledge of the lecture materials, but also ORIGINAL thoughts about the topics.
- MULTIPLE EXAMPLES are given that are OUTSIDE THE LECTURE MATERIALS. These can be appropriate Web sites, news articles, images, and/or your own commentary focusing on an example you have come across in another class or in the past. Remember to describe the outside source in detail so we understand what it is about and why it connects to the weekly topics.
- AT LEAST ONE question should be posed at the end of the answer so that others in the class can answer and continue the thread.
- All answers go beyond simplified statements such as “Visual Literacy is the way we see the arts.”
- Note: The amount of student responses to one's original/new thread DOES NOT COUNT for or against one's score. As such, the scoring takes into account the quality of how well a student meets the requirements outlined above and will never take into account if only few or no any other student responses have been posted in answer to one's thread. Just as a thread with a large number of response postings will never be marked higher because of the amount of student answers.
4) Student will ADDRESS MULTIPLE student postings in detail. Response Postings number BETWEEN (at the least) TWO to THREE throughout the entire week and include:
- Postings DO go beyond simple "I agree with Jane Doe's statement about Visual Literacy."
- Postings are ACTIVELY engaged with the materials presented in the post you are responding to, and are posed in a collegial and scholarly manner (remember that this is not an online debate board, but is a graded discussion as part of your coursework).
- Postings include specific lecture and outside researched examples.
- And all postings will be AT LEAST THREE to FOUR sentences long.
5) Student will CREATE A NEW THREAD during the week that goes beyond the Initial Questions posed by the instructor and stimulates excellent new class discussion. For these NEW THREADS follow the same guidelines listed above for answering the INITIAL QUESTIONS.
6) Student CREATES THOUGHTFUL POSTINGS BEYOND WHAT IS OUTLINED ABOVE (ex: (but not limited to) posts that include outside resources such as web links or images, make suggestions for further research, etc.).
7) SHOWS active participation in the lectures each week by referencing the lectures in the Discussion Board and/or visiting the lectures frequently throughout the week.
8) Student will show a HIGH LEVEL of knowledge of the lectures and outside examples, in even topics of possible low interest to the student. Thus, the student shows an ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT in attempting to learn something new about the materials presented.
9) POST an end of the week (Friday or Saturday) REFLECTION POSTING, which includes a HIGH LEVEL of personal critical analysis of that week's overall discussion forum. This analysis will include a detailed summary of the themes, arguments, and thoughts presented in other student postings; as well as include a commentary about what you have learned new throughout the week from the forum that you would not have learned solely from the lecture presentations.
10) Student WRITES CLEARLY without many typos. ALL sentences are easy to read even when dealing with complex topics. As instructor I SHOULD be able to read through ONCE to understand your main argument/point and why you think that way. I SHOULD NOT spend a great deal of time trying to figure out the writer means because I am wading through many typos and sentences that do not connect to others and/or are fragments (Note: The Discussion Board forum is a more informal writing venue so a small amount of typos are acceptable.).
8 Points:
1) Student will post to the Initial Questions posed each week by the instructor as on the Discussion Board NO LATER than FRIDAY by midnight.
2) Student posts FREQUENTLY throughout the week in response to other student and instructor postings and with additional NEW thoughts about the lecture materials and/or initial Discussion Board questions.
3) Student will post standard answers to the INITIAL QUESTIONS and/or CREATE NEW THREADS. This includes:
- Posting AT LEAST ONE Initial Question or New Thread post (if one does not post at least one original/new thread the highest score one can receive is 7 points).
- AT LEAST ONE direct reference to the lecture materials that relate to the question posed.
- Length of AT LEAST ONE PARAGRAPH (three to five sentences long).
- Students include their own thoughts and analysis, DO NOT REPEAT ONLY lecture materials, think for oneself. I am not only looking for knowledge of the lecture materials, but also ORIGINAL thoughts about the topics.
- AT LEAST ONE example is given OUTSIDE THE LECTURE MATERIALS. These can be appropriate Web sites, news articles, images, and/or your own commentary focusing on an example you have come across in another class or in the past. Remember to describe the outside source in detail so we understand what it is about and why it connects to the weekly topics.
- AT LEAST ONE question should be posed at the end of the answer so that others in the class can answer and continue the thread.
- All answers go beyond simplified statements such as “Visual Literacy is the way we see the arts.”
- Note: The amount of student responses to one's original/new thread DOES NOT COUNT for or against one's score. As such, the scoring takes into account the quality of how well a student meets the requirements outlined above and will never take into account if only few or no any other student responses have been posted in answer to one's thread. Just as a thread with a large number of response postings will never be marked higher because of the amount of student answers.
4) Student will ADDRESS MULTIPLE student postings in detail. Response Postings will number BETWEEN (at the least) TWO to THREE throughout the week and include:
- Postings DO go beyond simple "I agree with Jane Doe's statement about Visual Literacy."
- Postings are ACTIVELY engaged with the materials presented in the post you are responding to, and are posed in a collegial and scholarly manner (remember that this is not an online debate board, but is a graded discussion as part of your coursework).
- Postings include specific lecture and outside researched examples.
- And all postings will be AT LEAST THREE to FOUR sentences long.
5) Student will CREATE A NEW THREAD during the week that goes beyond the Initial Questions posed by the instructor and stimulates excellent new class discussion. For these NEW THREADS follow the same guidelines listed above for answering the INITIAL QUESTIONS.
6) Student CREATES THOUGHTFUL POSTINGS BEYOND WHAT IS OUTLINED ABOVE (ex: (but not limited to) posts that include outside resources such as web links or images, make suggestions for further research, etc.).
7) SHOWS active participation in the lectures each week by referencing the lectures in the Discussion Board and/or visiting the lectures frequently throughout the week.
8) Student will show a MEDIUM LEVEL of knowledge of the lectures and outside examples, in even topics of possible low interest to the student. Thus, the student shows an ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT in attempting to learn something new about the materials presented.
9) POST an end of the week (Friday or Saturday) REFLECTION POSTING, which includes a MEDIUM LEVEL of personal critical analysis of that week's overall discussion forum. This analysis will include, BUT MAY BE MISSING, a detailed summary of the themes, arguments, and thoughts presented in other student postings; as well as include a commentary about what you have learned new throughout the week from the forum that you would not have learned solely from the lecture presentations.
10) Student DOES WRITE CLEARLY without many typos. ALL sentences are easy to read when even dealing with complex topics. As instructor I SHOULD be able to read through ONCE to understand your main argument/point and why you think that way. I SHOULD NOT spend a great deal of time trying to figure out the writer means because I am wading through many typos and sentences that do not connect to others and/or are fragments (Note: The Discussion Board forum is a more informal writing venue so a small amount of typos are acceptable.).
7 Points:
1) Student will post to the Initial Questions posed each week by the instructor as on the Discussion Board NO LATER than SATURDAY by midnight.
2) Student posts INFREQUENTLY throughout the week in response to other student and instructor postings and with additional NEW (but short) or UNORIGINAL thoughts about the lecture materials and/or initial Discussion Board questions.
3) Student will post below-standard answers to the INITIAL QUESTIONS, and/or below-standard NEW THREADS, or is MISSING AN ORGINIAL/NEW THREAD. This includes:
- AT LEAST ONE direct reference to the lecture materials that relate to the question posed, AND/OR references are POORLY WRITTEN and ARGUED.
- Length of AT LEAST ONE PARAGRAPH (two to four sentences long).
- Students include their own thoughts and analysis, DO NOT REPEAT ONLY lecture materials, think for oneself. I am not only looking for knowledge of the lecture materials, but also ORIGINAL thoughts about the topics.
- AT LEAST ONE example is given OUTSIDE THE LECTURE MATERIALS, AND/OR examples are POORLY DESCRIBED, WRITTEN, and ARGUED. These can be appropriate Web sites, news articles, images, and/or your own commentary focusing on an example you have come across in another class or in the past.
- All answers go beyond simplified statements such as “Visual Literacy is the way we see the arts”, but are POORLY WRITTEN and ARGUED.
- Note: The amount of student responses to one's original/new thread DOES NOT COUNT for or against one's score. As such, the scoring takes into account the quality of how well a student meets the requirements outlined above and will never take into account if only few or no any other student responses have been posted in answer to one's thread. Just as a thread with a large number of response postings will never be marked higher because of the amount of student answers.
4) Student will ADDRESS MULTIPLE (or JUST ONE) student postings. Response Postings will number BETWEEN (at the least) ONE to THREE throughout the week and include:
- Postings DO go beyond simple "I agree with Jane Doe's statement about Visual Literacy."
- Postings are ACTIVELY engaged with the materials presented in the post you are responding to, and are posed in a collegial and scholarly manner (remember that this is not an online debate board, but is a graded discussion as part of your coursework).
- Postings include specific lecture and outside researched examples.
- And will be AT LEAST TWO to THREE sentences long.
5) Student continues to CREATE NEW THREADS throughout the week bring up generalized thoughts, but overall does not stimulate new class discussion or go beyond the Initial Questions posed by the instructor. For these NEW THREADS follow the same guidelines listed above for answering the INITIAL QUESTIONS.
6) Student CREATES SOME (FEW) ADDITIONAL THOUGHTFUL POSTINGS BEYOND WHAT IS OUTLINED ABOVE (ex: (but not limited to) posts that bring in outside resources such as web links or images, make suggestions for further research, etc.).
7) SHOWS active participation in the lectures each week by referencing the lectures in the Discussion Board and/or visiting the lectures frequently throughout the week.
8) Student will show a MEDIUM to LOW LEVEL of knowledge of the lectures and outside examples, in even topics of possible low interest to the student. Thus, the student shows a MODERATE LEVEL of ENGAGEMENT in attempting to learn something new about the materials presented.
9) Student will POST, OR IS MISSING, an end of the week (Friday or Saturday) REFLECTION POSTING, which includes a LOW to MEDIUM LEVEL of personal critical analysis of that week's overall discussion forum. This analysis MAY BE MISSING OR ONLY INCLUDE A BRIEF summary of the themes, arguments, and thoughts presented in other student postings; commentary about what you have learned new throughout the week from the forum that you would not have learned solely from the lecture presentations.
10) Student DOES write clearly without many typos. MOST sentences are easy to read when even dealing with complex topics. As instructor I SHOULD be able to read through TWICE to understand your main argument/point and why you think that way. I MAY HAVE to spend some time trying to figure out the writer means because I am wading through typos and sentences that do not connect to others and/or are fragments (Note: The Discussion Board forum is a more informal writing venue so a small amount of typos are acceptable.).
6 Points:
1) Student will post to the Initial Questions posed each week by the instructor as on the Discussion Board NO LATER than SATURDAY by midnight.
2) Student posts INFREQUENTLY throughout the week in response to other student and instructor postings and with additional NEW (but short) or UNORIGINAL thoughts about the lecture materials and/or initial Discussion Board questions.
3) Student will post below-standard answers to the INITIAL QUESTIONS. This includes:
- THERE WILL BE NO direct references to the lecture materials that relate to the question posed, OR examples are POORLY WRITTEN and ARGUED.
- Length of AT LEAST ONE to TWO sentences long.
- Students DO NOT include their own thoughts and analysis, and/or REPEATS ONLY lecture materials, and DO NOT think for oneself. I am not only looking for knowledge of the lecture materials, but also ORIGINAL thoughts about the topics.
- AT LEAST ONE example is given OUTSIDE THE LECTURE MATERIALS, AND/OR examples are POORLY DESCRIBED, WRITTEN, and ARGUED. These can be appropriate Web sites, news articles, images, and/or your own commentary focusing on an example you have come across in another class or in the past.
- THERE WILL BE NO examples given outside the lecture materials, OR examples are POORLY WRITTEN and ARGUED.
- Answers DO NOT go beyond statements such as “Visual Literacy is the way we see the arts.”
- Note: The amount of student responses to one's original/new thread DOES NOT COUNT for or against one's score. As such, the scoring takes into account the quality of how well a student meets the requirements outlined above and will never take into account if only few or no any other student responses have been posted in answer to one's thread. Just as a thread with a large number of response postings will never be marked higher because of the amount of student answers.
4) Student will NOT ADDRESS MULTIPLE student postings in detail, OR postings are POORLY WRITTEN and ARGUED and include:
- Postings the DO NOT go beyond simple "I agree with Jane Doe's statement about Visual Literacy."
- Postings DO NOT ACTIVELY engaged with the materials presented in the post you are responding to, and are NOT posed in a collegial and scholarly manner.
- NO specific lecture and outside researched examples, or briefly throw in a reference with no explanation.
5) Student DOES NOT CREATE NEW THREADS that go beyond the Initial Questions posed by the instructor and do not stimulate new class discussion.
6) Student DOES NOT CREATE ADDITIONAL THOUGHTFUL POSTINGS BEYOND WHAT IS OUTLINED ABOVE.
7) DOES NOT show active participation in the lectures each week by referencing the lectures in the Discussion Board and/or visiting the lectures frequently throughout the week.
8) Student will show a LOW LEVEL of knowledge of the lectures and outside examples. Thus, the student shows a LOW LEVEL of ENGAGEMENT in attempting to learn something new about the materials presented.
9) Student will POST, OR IS MISSING, an end of the week (Friday or Saturday) REFLECTION POSTING, which includes a LOW LEVEL of personal critical analysis of that week's overall discussion forum. This analysis MAY BE MISSING OR ONLY INCLUDE A BRIEF summary of the themes, arguments, and thoughts presented in other student postings; commentary about what you have learned new throughout the week from the forum that you would not have learned solely from the lecture presentations.
10) Student DOES write clearly without many typos. FEW sentences are easy to read when even dealing with simpler topics. As instructor I WILL HAVE TO read through AT LEAST TWICE to understand your main argument/point and why you think that way. I WILL HAVE to spend A LARGE AMOUNT time trying to figure out the writer means because I am wading through typos and sentences that do not connect to others and/or are fragments (Note: The Discussion Board forum is a more informal writing venue so a small amount of typos are acceptable.).
5-4 Points:
1) Student will post to the Initial Questions posed each week by the instructor as on the Discussion Board NO LATER than SATURDAY by midnight.
2) Student posts INFREQUENTLY throughout the week in response to other student and instructor postings and with additional NEW (but short) or UNORIGINAL thoughts about the lecture materials and/or initial Discussion Board questions.
3) Student will post below-standard answers to the INITIAL QUESTIONS. This includes:
- THERE WILL BE NO direct references to the lecture materials that relate to the question posed, OR examples are POORLY WRITTEN and ARGUED.
- Length of AT LEAST ONE to TWO sentences long.
- Students DO NOT include their own thoughts and analysis, and/or REPEATS ONLY lecture materials, and DO NOT think for oneself. I am not only looking for knowledge of the lecture materials, but also ORIGINAL thoughts about the topics.
- AT LEAST ONE example is given OUTSIDE THE LECTURE MATERIALS, AND/OR examples are POORLY DESCRIBED, WRITTEN, and ARGUED. These can be appropriate Web sites, news articles, images, and/or your own commentary focusing on an example you have come across in another class or in the past.
- THERE WILL BE NO examples given outside the lecture materials, OR examples are POORLY WRITTEN and ARGUED.
- Answers DO NOT go beyond statements such as “Visual Literacy is the way we see the arts.”
- Note: The amount of student responses to one's original/new thread DOES NOT COUNT for or against one's score. As such, the scoring takes into account the quality of how well a student meets the requirements outlined above and will never take into account if only few or no any other student responses have been posted in answer to one's thread. Just as a thread with a large number of response postings will never be marked higher because of the amount of student answers.
4) Student will NOT ADDRESS MULTIPLE student postings in detail, OR postings are POORLY WRITTEN and ARGUED and include:
- Postings the DO NOT go beyond simple "I agree with Jane Doe's statement about Visual Literacy."
- Postings DO NOT ACTIVELY engaged with the materials presented in the post you are responding to, and are NOT posed in a collegial and scholarly manner.
- NO specific lecture and outside researched examples, or briefly throw in a reference with no explanation.
5) Student DOES NOT CREATE NEW THREADS that go beyond the Initial Questions posed by the instructor and do not stimulate new class discussion.
6) Student DOES NOT CREATE ADDITIONAL THOUGHTFUL POSTINGS BEYOND WHAT IS OUTLINED ABOVE.
7) DOES NOT show active participation in the lectures each week by referencing the lectures in the Discussion Board and/or visiting the lectures frequently throughout the week.
8) Student will show a LOW LEVEL of knowledge of the lectures and outside examples. Thus, the student shows a LOW LEVEL of ENGAGEMENT in attempting to learn something new about the materials presented.
9) Student will POST, OR IS MISSING, an end of the week (Friday or Saturday) REFLECTION POSTING, which includes a LOW LEVEL of personal critical analysis of that week's overall discussion forum. This analysis MAY BE MISSING OR ONLY INCLUDE A BRIEF summary of the themes, arguments, and thoughts presented in other student postings; commentary about what you have learned new throughout the week from the forum that you would not have learned solely from the lecture presentations.
10) Student DOES write clearly without many typos. FEW sentences are easy to read when even dealing with simpler topics. As instructor I WILL HAVE TO read through AT LEAST TWICE to understand your main argument/point and why you think that way. I WILL HAVE to spend A LARGE AMOUNT time trying to figure out the writer means because I am wading through typos and sentences that do not connect to others and/or are fragments (Note: The Discussion Board forum is a more informal writing venue so a small amount of typos are acceptable.).
3-0 Points:
1) Student has either posted only one or twice during the week, or has not posted at all during the week (thus = 0 grade).
2) Postings are not understandable or have no relation to the lecture and course materials.
3) Student posts many times, but does not go beyond simple statements such as “I agree” “Yes, that is true”.
4) Postings are so poorly written in the case of typos and editing that they are impossible to read.
5) Student only takes the time to belittle/make-fun-of/argue-for-no-reason with other classmates. Instructor reserves the right to block inappropriate postings from the Discussion Board.
6) Or other severe problems that the instructor will address independently with the student via email. Instructor reserves the right to block inappropriate postings from the Discussion Board.