With the proliferation and acceptance of online and hybrid learning, the once-common face-to-face interactions have been significantly transformed. Today, discussion board posts and responses are a common means of interaction within class spaces.
In this model, a professor gives a discussion post question or prompt. The students, on their part, are required to each write an original discussion post. The discussion post is written in a short essay prose format, utmost 2-3 paragraphs or 200-300 words. The student then reads and responds to at least 2 peer discussion posts. The responses can agree with a peer’s perspective or against it altogether.
Students advance their interactions in an online class through discussion posts and responses. They can learn through exchanging ideas and advancing academic discussions. Discussion posts and response format helps shy students research and share their ideas. Students who are slow learners can also catch up and learn more.
As an integral component of online classes, a student must understand how to write strong discussion posts and responses. And that is what this blog post exactly does; teach you the best practices to ensure you score highly in your discussion posts and responses going forward.
Discussion forums help students to explore their personal development and understanding of a topic or project. It allows you to, in the process, engage your peers to share knowledge and exchange information/ideas. Here are the steps to follow if you want to write a strong discussion post that elicits responses from most of your peers.
We assume that by now, you understand that discussion board posts or discussion forums allow students and professors to discuss a subject matter or topic (course lessons and ideas) on a virtual platform in a threaded or conversational format that includes initial posts and responses.
Before handling your discussion post assignment, begin by doing your homework well. In most cases, your instructor or professor will give you assigned readings you must complete before attempting the discussion post. These could be book chapters, lecture notes, journal articles, website blog posts, etc. Spend time familiarizing yourself with the content and reading critically as you take notes.
Don’t read to cram. Instead, read and understand the concepts well. Make connections between the text and real-life scenarios, including your personal and academic life, if possible.
Immersing yourself in the assigned readings helps you to contextualize issues and to articulate your points well when you settle to write the original post and even when responding to the posts made by your peers. When well prepared, you objectively respond to your peers without exposing your weaknesses.
You should also check the notes you took in class and feedback from your assignments to ensure that you follow the instructions to the T.
Now that you have the assigned reading out of the way, you are now ready to handle the assignment. But there is one thing you MUST do; read the prompt carefully.
Most students with average and poor grades rush immediately to write a discussion post. However, understanding the assignment instructions is part of what professors assess and award grades. When reading the prompt, take note of the:
Now that you know what is expected, you must revisit your readings and develop ideas. Think about what you want to share with your classmates and your professor. Contextualize your ideas and thoughts to the current course readings and relevant scholarly research.
You should limit yourself to the topic to maintain relevance. For your posting and responses to get an A+ grade, you should make connections between theories, ideas, and real-life scenarios.
You can take notes as you brainstorm and align your thoughts so that nothing escapes your attention once you settle down to research.
Even when limited to the assigned readings, you must read relevant resources explaining some theories and concepts you learned in class. Ensure you understand the concepts well to surprise your peers and professor with your perspectives, thought process, and approach. As you research, you are expected to settle on a thesis statement, which is the main argument you want to discuss as you respond to the prompt in your initial post.
You earn respect and attract peer and instructor attention when you front good arguments or perspectives. Every strong point, however, requires supporting ideas such as paraphrased thoughts and ideas, examples, explanations, and illustrations.
Conduct in-depth research within the assigned readings and external sources to develop stronger points. As you research, organize the sources using online citation management tools. You want to cite everything you borrow from other sources to avoid plagiarism. Although it is a discussion posting, giving credit where it is due is a preserved writing convention in any academic activity. Furthermore, when you cite ideas and include a reference list, you help your fellow classmates to get a list of resources from which they can advance their knowledge. The members will also see your train of thought as you respond to a prompt, which is what a scholarly discussion is about. Only use peer-reviewed scholarly references.
A super powerful discussion post has a clear, specific, concise, debatable, and confident thesis that challenges the readers with a claim that can be debated and supported by evidence.
Since your sources are organized and your perspective aligned, begin writing the first draft. As you write the actual post, ensure that you present the claim or thesis statement, follow it with enough evidence, and give an explanation of how the evidence proves the claim. When explaining connections between ideas, ensure that you give your personal and professional experiences (as applicable). Also, integrate textual evidence.
You should offer real-world applications of concepts and ideas to add value to the conversation as you spark new conversations among your peers. You can include a question in your original discussion post so that your peers get challenged to research and respond. When writing the topic sentences, focus on the ideas building on the thesis. Your perspective should be clear, and expect it to be challenged by your peers.
The conclusion of your initial post should draw on the body of the discussion. You should restate the thesis, summarize the main ideas, and leave a question or call to action to your peers.
Soon as you are done writing the original post, polish it so it makes sense from every direction. Review the post to ensure that:
This step is to ensure that everything falls into its place.
After polishing and reviewing the original post, ensure you post it online on time. The deadline for the original posts and responses differs. The deadline for the initial post will be sooner, and the responses can come later.
After posting the original post, you are expected to write a follow-up post where you respond to your peers. Your discussion responses should add something to the discussion rather than simply agreeing or disagreeing with the thoughts and ideas fronted by your classmate. When you agree, explain why, and when you disagree, do the same. You should give a rationale or supporting points and evidence whenever you respond so that you can further the discussion. Like the initial post, ensure that your response contains:
Ensure that, where necessary, you use bullet points and lists to clarify your points. Your response should add value to the discussion. Ask open-ended questions to allow your peers to respond and clarify issues interactively.
Instead of just saying, “I agree with …”, you can say, “I share the same thoughts as <classmates name> because based on <citation>, it is indeed …”
When you disagree with the perspectives or views of a peer, ensure that you do it politely a give your rationale (evidence and explanation) to advance a mature discussion.
You should take time to read the original discussion post of your peer(s) before engaging with a response. Consider your perspective and how your answer adds value to the debate. The response should be well-articulated, relevant, and clear. It should be precise and in a formal tone. Take some time to review, edit, and format the discussion post response before posting it. And after posting, review the format and make necessary changes.
Related Readings:
A discussion forum is a place for scholarly dialogue on a topic. Initial posts spark discussions that advance arguments for or against concepts presented by the classmates, making it easy to learn many things from just one thread. There are specific tips to use to succeed in writing discussion posts and responses that attract the attention of other classmates:
Discussion posts are essential elements in your course. They contribute significantly to your grades. Using these tips and the steps outlined above, you can confidently write a post and respond to your peer’s initial post with confidence and guarantee a good grade.
You can consider our professional writers if you are running short of time and need someone to assist you. We have experience writing well-researched, clear, and concise discussion posts at an affordable fee. No discussion post template will work best other than your professor's format in the instructional and course materials. When you provide the details, our research essay writers can write the discussion post for you in record time. It does not matter whether you need the paper done within a few hours to midnight or days; our fast essay writers got you!
Check out our academic writing services. We guarantee original, well-researched, and untraceable papers.
We wish you all the best as you undertake this noble role of advancing your thoughts, ideas, and knowledge.
Disclaimer: As a custom research paper, essay, and assignment writing service, the model papers or products are meant for reference. Unless with proper referencing, clients cannot reproduce or copy the complete papers (term paper, essay, research paper, coursework, thesis, proposal, or dissertation). Check out our Terms and Conditions and Other legal pages for more details. Check laws governing writing services in your country.
