Since our sections are asynchronous each week I will post a few discussion questions for you to respond to. You will substantively respond (about 50-100 words for each main response and 30-50 words for each colleague comment; or 1-2 sentences) to the prompts provided here and then post two thoughtful and engaging colleague comments to build the conversation.  

Historians use citations to show their work. This means citing materials that are directly quoted or paraphrased from elsewhere. Because of this, we will be practicing citations this quarter in our discussions. Citations allow others to go look at the page/section that you’ve analyzed and help others to more fully engage with your analytical process. Here is a helpful guide for how to create Chicago-style parenthetical citations (Links to an external site.), although if you are familiar with another style that is fine too! 

Week 1 Discussion Prompts (Please Respond to all three questions): 

1. Discuss the benefits of online learning. What are some useful techniques for fostering community and engagement with course materials that you liked in previous Zoom classes? 

2. Discuss the challenges to online learning. What techniques have worked for you when navigating these challenges? 

3. As you look through the course syllabus and schedule are there any topics or sources that you are looking forward to engaging? 

Instructions

• You should complete the reading and lecture before answering the prompts.  
• Please answer both prompts.
• Each individual response should be substantive (thoughtfully answer all parts of the prompt and incorporate course materials where necessary): 50-100 words, due no later than 11:59 pm on Wednesday 1/5.
  • Because this is a quick turn around week, you have a grace period until Thursday 1/6 at 11:59pm for a no-penalty submission this week. All other weekly discussions going forward will be due on Wednesdays at 11:59pm. 
• Please include parenthetical citations in your responses to show where ideas are coming from the lecture versus an assigned source or the syllabus.
• You will not be able to see your classmates’ posts until after you have posted. 
• You will need to substantively respond to two classmates; this means I want to see you comment about the content, not the form of what your peers’ wrote. Ex: I like the way you framed x because of y; While I think you made these great points about b, I read the document differently and thought these things instead; I missed this particular point you were making, but now that I look back at the material with your comments in mind I see xyz. You do not have to agree with your classmates. Civil and respectful debate is encouraged 🙂 
• Reply posts should be approximately two sentences (30-50 or so words for each) and are due no later than 11:59 pm on Wednesday 1/5.