Seminar in Natural Science (online)

Discussion Leadership
on an Illinois Ecosystem

During Weeks 7-8, our discussion will proceed a bit differently in terms of rhythm and required participation.  Over those three weeks, we'll have five discussion forums running concurrently, one for each of our Illinois ecosystems.  Our dialogue in each of the five forums thus will evolve over a longer period of time, and you should find that the discussion will be deeper and more nuanced than it would were we limited to a mere week per ecosystem.

Each of you will play a leadership role in your assigned ecosystem forum for weeks 8-10.  (This Leadership Discussion work is worth 10 points, which is separate from the 2nd-half participation grade.)  Each group member is required to:

1. Post one open-ended discussion question about one of the assigned readings to that forum (which one is your choice)
2. Post one additional thread that cites one of the readings you found for your annotated bibliography, and asks a question (or questions) about that reading for class discussion
3. Participate actively in the ensuing discussion within that forum.  (This Leadership Discussion work is worth 10 points, which is separate from the 2nd-half participation grade.)

Note:  You should use past questions posted to the DB as a model for asking questions that help stimulate discussion and show evidence of critical thinking.  Good questions will be those that (1) are previewed with a brief comment that puts the question in context for the reader, and (2) are phrased clearly and thoughtfully.

While I may probably post an additional question or two of my own to help move things along, I'd like the group members to really drive the forum's direction. 

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Last updated 02/05/10