To support your work, use your course and text readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.

Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates' initial postings. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or indicating a relationship between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion. Cite sources in your responses to your classmates. Complete your participation for this assignment by the end of the week.

Tasks:

Review the following resources:

• Doing Discussion Questions Right
• Grading Rubric

TOPIC FOR WEEK ONE:

From the assigned readings for week one, select one chapter or reading for which you will lead the discussion in the forum this week. During the first day or two of the week, post a response in the forum to reserve your selection (reservation post). Readings will be selected on a first-come first-serve basis using the timestamp in the classroom. Make sure your response does not duplicate your classmates' responses unless all of the chapters have already been selected.

For your initial or main post, respond to your own reservation post. Synthesize the reading you selected. What are the key points from your reading regarding selecting a good research topic and finding credible resources that will inform your teaching and scholarly career and that of your classmates?

As the beginning of a scholarly conversation, your initial post should be:

• Succinct—no more than 500 words.
• Provocative—use concepts and combinations of concepts from the readings to propose relationships, causes, and/or consequences that inspire others to engage (inquire, learn). In other words, take a scholarly stand.
• Supported—scholarly conversations are more than opinions. Ideas, statements, and conclusions are supported by clear research and citations from course materials as well as other credible, peer-reviewed resources.

Engage in discussion with at least two classmates by Monday, March 28th at 11:59 PM.  (Follow up Posts) and respond to questions from your instructor.

For grading:

• The reservation post and initial post are assessed in the rubric line item "Quality of initial posting."
• Neither the reservation post nor the initial post counts toward days of participation.
• Follow-up posts made throughout the week to your colleagues and professor will apply to participation points in the rubric.

All posts will be assessed for writing mechanics and information literacy. Be sure to review the expanded rubric for more details on grading criteria.