Actively engaging with the course content is an important part of the learning process. That means immersing yourself in the readings, but also sharing your questions, comments, insights with the community. This is why your active participation in the forums counts toward your participation grade. The purpose of the participation grade is for students to contribute meaningfully to course discussion while the course is ongoing, not to make all the posts at the end just to earn credit. Please ensure that you meaningfully participate in the discussion forums throughout your courses.
How and where to earn participation points?
You are required to post course relevant, high quality messages of 200 or more characters in any of the available course forums. Posts must be written into the text field, the paste function is disabled. (Please refrain from using the Course Overview for this purpose as that is where administrators and instructors post important information. Instead please use the individual Modules).
Discussion forums are designed for you to engage with your peers and instructors, develop your own thinking, and deepen your knowledge of the course material in the process. To earn participation credit, posts must be meaningful, relevant, and written by you.
It is critical that posts are not generated or influenced by AI.
If a post does not meet the guidelines for meaningful, relevant participation that enriches the course, and/or appears to have been generated using AI rather than written by you, it will result in a 15-point penalty applied to your participation grade and your post will be deleted.
How to earn the maximum participation grade?
Publishing 5 posts (200+ characters each and meeting the above criteria) throughout the entire course session.
Best Practices in Posting:
Choose meaningful topics relevant to the course and your peers.
Your professors suggest:Discussing theory, examples, code, and additional readings you find relevant to share
Connect current events to your learning in the course
Ask questions or for clarification on something you found difficult within the course (but do not ask for answers to any course assignments, quizzes etc.) Remember to tag "Question to Instructor' checkbox ONLY in this case.
Post in your own words and connect why you are sharing, or what questions you'd like to engage in with your peers or instructors. Be clear and concise.
Be professional and respectful, following all WQU policies.
Post directly in the module forums and choose topics related to the lessons. Avoid posting in the Course Overview Forum.
Check to ensure your question hasn't already been asked or answered by others.
Downvote posts that violate any of our forum or University policies.
Respond to your peers if you know the answer to their question.
Use the checkmark icon on the left side of the reply to indicate when your question has been sufficiently answered.
To Avoid Penalties and Misusing the Forum:
Do not use AI. We want to hear your ideas, questions and reflections.
Avoid summarizing any course content learned, or rephrasing your understanding of another individual's post
Do not provide answers to assignments or quizzes (Email questions to instructors instead)
Be sure to properly cite any content that is not yours
Do not use the forum to report technical or administrative issues (Submit a ticket to the Help Center instead)
Do not post, share or participate in discussions that violate the academic integrity policy, code of conduct or other University policies
Do not tag "Instructor Question" unless you need specific support and feedback from an instructor.
What is the deadline for Participation points?
The deadline to earn participation points is listed in your course syllabus. This deadline is the last day of the course (typically Day 54). Any posts made after the last day of class do not count towards participation. This is a system automated process.
How long does it take for my forum post to show up in my grade book?
Participation points do not appear immediately after the post. They will be recorded in the grade book after several hours or up to 24 hours.
Where can I find my grade for Participation in Discussion Forums in the grade book?
Navigate to the top of the learning platform, click "Grades", then select the dropdown for the program. You will see the top row includes your Participation Grade.
Need additional help with Discussion Forum settings? Check out this help center article.