GEN 103 Discussion 1 & 2

Prepare:

• Read Module 1 in your course textbook and At Sea in a Deluge of Data from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Complete the TATIL Exam (Links to an external site.) and view your report.
  

Accessibility Statement: If you have a disability that impacts your ability to successfully participate in this or any other course activity, please provide your instructor with your authorized Accommodation Request form from the Office of Student Access and Wellness so that he/she can discuss and arrange an alternative plan with you.

• Complete the APA Skill Check – In-Text Citation (Links to an external site.) and APA Skill Check – Creating References (Links to an external site.).

Reflect:

• Make a list of the different components of information literacy covered in your textbook.
• Consider how each of these components affect your daily life and your chosen career. Pay particular attention to the information literacy skills that employers expect from their employees.
• Review your TATIL exam report and consider how the information provided there relates to the information you read in Module 1 of your textbook. Think about how you can implement your personal recommendations from the report.

Write:

• Explain your understanding of information literacy. Choose three example concepts or skills from Module 1 of your course textbook and explain how these concepts illustrate your understanding. Be sure to cite your course textbook.
• Explain how these concepts apply to you as a college student. Why do students need to learn information literacy?
• Explain why these concepts apply to your personal or professional life and how you will apply them.

Your initial post must be at least 350 words and address all of the prompt’s elements.

You must cite and reference any sources that you use in your posts, including your textbook or any other sources of information that you use. Please refer to the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) and Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) for help with citing and referencing your sources.

• Review several of your peers’ posts and respond to at least three of them. You are required to post in the board on at least three days during the learning week.
• Your responses to your classmates must be substantive. Share ideas, explore differences, and think critically about your classmates’ posts. Bring in information from your textbook, classroom resources or other credible sources that you find to contribute to the discussion. You are invited to share relevant audio, video, or images in your responses. You must cite and reference any sources you use, even in your responses to your classmates.

• What struck you in particular as you explored the course materials this week?
• How might you apply this information to your life in the future?
• What insights have you had?
• What have you been struggling with?
• What questions have come up for you at this point?
• What helpful tips have you picked up in this course or in a past course?
• What questions do you have about the assignment that your classmates might be able to help with? (If you have a question for the instructor, be sure to contact your instructor through email or Canvas messaging).

You are required to post at least 100 total words in this forum this week. You can post one time or ten times; the only requirements are you post at least 100 words total and you engage in conversation related to course. Ask questions, answer questions, provide extra resources you found that are interesting, or engage in a debate about something you learned this week.

Provide a full explanation of the issues you discuss in your posts. For example, if you write that you had difficulty finding sources for your annotated bibliography, explain where in the process you had difficulty. Was it thinking of search terms? Did your search locate too many sources that were not relevant to your topic? Did your search return too few results? Did you have difficulty finding credible sources?

Similarly, when responding to your classmates, be sure to elaborate. For example, if you write that you also found a specific topic interesting, explain what about that topic you found interesting and why. Is it the same aspects of the topic that your classmate found interesting? Were you unaware that events associated with the topic took place? Did the information that you learned change your understanding of those events?

Students who post early in the week, using this forum to engage their classmates on a regular basis, tend to do well and learn more from the course.

Respond to Peers: When responding to your classmates, be sure to elaborate. For example, if you write that you also found a specific topic interesting, explain what about that topic you found interesting and why. Is it the same aspects of the topic that your classmate found interesting?

If you notice a classmate is struggling with something that you can help with, use your responses as a way to support them. Helping out your classmates will not only benefit them, but it will also help to solidify your own knowledge.

Note: If you have a question, you should contact your instructor through email or Canvas messaging. This open forum is a place for you to collaborate and connect with your classmates as well as support one another. Your instructor will monitor this board and may post, but he/she is not expected to answer all questions.

Open Forum Discussion Board Requirements

• Write 100 words total.
• Relate all posts to the course content.
• Submit posts by Day 7 of the learning week.
• Use Canvas messaging or email for questions specifically for your instructor.