Posted: October 20th, 2022

OLCU 650 Discussion Board

OLCU 650 Discussion Board
Requirements and Grading Rubric
Discussion Board Requirements
The discussion prompts posted in Blackboard are weekly assignments, designed to apply and
extend the knowledge gained from the readings through thorough completion of the assigned
tasks and thoughtful online dialogue with peers. Each discussion prompt has two components:
initial post and responses to colleagues’ posts. All submissions in the discussions should
demonstrate critical and analytical thinking and should be well-written in accordance with APA
standards.
Guidelines for the Initial Post:
(1) Fully answers all the questions in the assignment in 250 – 350 words, building
convincing arguments.
(2) Uses a minimum of two sources to support the presented arguments and ideas, of
which at least one must be an academic source; the other could be a source from a
professional or practitioner-driven organization or a second academic source.
(3) Uses good sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; follows APA standards for
citing and referencing sources.
(4) Submits the initial post not later than 11:59pm, Thursday.
Guidelines for the Responses to Colleagues:
(1) Responds to a minimum of three colleagues’ posts providing substantive feedback,
such as:
(a) Extending the idea of the post by sharing personal experience or
observations that support the reached conclusions;
(b) Providing an alternative view or perspective based on your personal
experience and or studied concepts;
(c) Asking a probing question and explain your rationale;
(d) Offering additional resources or research on the ideas discussed;
(e) Summarizing the ideas in the post and make an inference;
(f) Adding an additional variable that can further contribute to the relationship
or association the post is investigating.
(2) Each response is a minimum of 50 words.
(3) Responses are submitted on at least two different days.
Discussion Board Grading Rubric
Criteria Exemplary Proficient Developing Emerging Not
Completed

Initial Post 19-17
All questions are
answered
thoroughly. The
post is a minimum
of 250 words.
Minimum two
references are
made as part of
the argumentation,
of which at least
one is academic.
16-15
One question is
not thoroughly
addressed or is
skipped.
*or
Only one
reference to an
academic or
professional
source is made
as part of the
argumentation.
14-12
One question is
skipped and
another is not
convincingly
answered.
*or
No references
to academic or
professional
sources are
made as part of
the
argumentation.
11-1
More than one
question is
skipped.
*or
All of the
questions are
briefly and not
convincingly
addressed.
0
No post is
submitted by
11:59 pm
Sunday
Responses 6 5 4.5 1-4 0
to All three One of the Two of the All of the No
Colleagues responses to
colleagues provide
substantive
feedback. Each
response is a
minimum of 50
words.
responses to
colleagues
does not offer
substantive
feedback.
*or
One of the
responses is
very short,
below 35
words. OR
Only 2
substantive
responses are
submitted
responses to
colleagues do
not offer
substantive
feedback.
*or
Two of the
responses are
very short,
below 35
words. OR Only
1 substantive
response is
submitted
responses to
colleagues do
not offer
substantive
feedback.
*or
All of the
responses are
very short,
below 35
words.
responses to
colleagues’
posts are
submitted by
11:59 pm
Sunday.
Standard deductions:
(1) Late submission: For each day’s late submission of your initial post, 10% would be
deducted from the earned grade. For example, if you submitted an exemplary post worth 19
points on Friday (1-day late submission), you will receive a 1.9 points deduction in your grade.
Or, if you submitted a proficient post worth 16 points on Saturday (2-days late submission), you
will receive a 3.2 points deduction in your grade. No work submitted after 11:59 pm Sunday will
be considered for grading.
(2) References to Academic Sources: For each initial post, you are required to make a
minimum of 2 references, of which at least one is to an academic source (either a
published book or an article from an academic journal) and the second is either to
another academic source or to a professional or practitioner-driven organization.
● If you make only one reference and it is to an academic source, you will
receive a 1-point deduction.
● If you make only one reference and it is to a professional source, you will
receive a 1.5-point deduction.
● If you make no references, you will receive a 3-point deduction in your
grade.