SE350 Discussions

Basic Guidelines

• Treat all participants professionally and with respect. Use appropriate language.
• Think of the assignment in terms of a dialog, not a writing exercise. You want to engage yourself in a discussion relative to the assigned readings and their relationship to software engineering practices. There will not always be a "right" answer.
• Over the course of a discussion period I would expect that each group member would generate 2-3 thoughtful posts (not "Yea, I agree with what Al said." or "me too").
• Space your posts out over the discussion period to allow other members to respond. Do not submit all your posts minutes prior to the discussion deadline.
• Your instructor will monitor each discussion group and contribute as needed. In general the discussion groups are driven by student interaction.

Discussion Rubric

Each of the four aspects, Quality, Relevance, Contribution, and Global Picture, will be graded on a 5 point scale. The resulting sum will be multiplied by 3 and have 25 added to produce a numeric grade between 25 and 100 for each discussion. Discussions are generally equal to two homework assignments; any deviation from this norm will be included in the discussion assignment itself.

Quality	Relevance	Contribution	Global Picture
Appropriate comments: thoughtful, reflective, and respectful of other student's postings.	Clear reference to assignment or prior posting being discussed	Furthers the discussion with questions, or statements that encourage others to respond. Participates beyond the required number of postings.	Clearly connects the posting to text or reference points from previous readings, activities, and discussions.
4 or 5 points	4,5	4,5	4,5
Appropriate comments and responds respectfully to other student's postings,	Some reference but taken out of context, the reader would not understand.	Participates, but does not post anything that encourages others to respond to the posting. Participates with the required number of postings.	Vague or possible connection to reference points from previous readings, activities, and discussions.
3,2	3,2	3,2	3,2
Posts are rudimentary and superficial, lacking any degree of analysis or critique. Responds, but with minimum effort. (e.g. "I agree with Bob").	Posting but does not clearly reflect the assignment.	Less than required number of postings or does not post in a timely manner to facilitate discussion. Does not further any discussions	Mentions the text or previous activity without logical link to topic.
1,0	1,0	1,0	1,0