BIOL 102

Biology for Future K-6 Teachers

Discussion Board Participation Assessment

Weekly review questions for the course are addressed through participation in an online collaborative Blackboard Discussion Board Forum. The goal is for you to participate in academic discussions with other students.  Weekly participation is required and will be scored using a rubric that was developed collaboratively by Cal State U Fullerton biology faculty, experienced science teachers, and students who are prospective science teachers. The review questions are to help you to clarify your thoughts through discussion about the content presented.  Your contributions are to be substantive and supported by reference to the textbooks, online resources, or empirical evidence (observations or measurements).  

The purpose of this form is two-fold: (1) to check the reliability of your scores for weekly participation in the discussion forum and (2) to identify problems so you can use the discussion rubric more effectively. Self-assessment should help you focus on the evidence that reflects your development of scientific discussion skills. Should you disagree with your grade, discussion score changes will be considered only for those students who self-assess within two days of the assessment period using this form.  Prepare to justify your responses to these questions.

Within two days of each of the six assessment deadlines for the discussion board,  review the list to identify questions that can be answered "yes." Work to turn "no" answers into "yes" answers. Items where it becomes difficult to answer either yes or no locate your developmental area that should be your focus. Your score will be calculated by counting "yes" responses as 2 points, "no" answers as 0 points, and difficult to answer "yes" or "no" as 1 point. Since your final Discussion score is 45 of the 400 points for the course, a score of 7-8 out of the 10 points possible for each period will earn you an "A."

Your name, last name and then first:   

Last name of student assessed:  (Write your own name for self-assessment)

Your EMAIL:

Instructor:

Assessment period:

1) Do you write substantive posts and present new ideas on a regular basis at least three different times each week?
2) Do you read others’ ideas and use their comments so that the majority of your postings build on the postings of others? (Interact with a variety of participants.)
3) Do you offer critical analysis of  interpretations posted using evidence from textbooks and other printed resources (with page numbers or URLs) to identify naïve ideas so you can relinquish or refine them after considering evidence?
4) Do you present your own ideas as you consider alternatives and justify the ideas you support in light of the evidence?
5) Is your writing clear and free of mechanical errors (complete sentences, well organized, grammatically correct, and free of spelling errors)?

COMMENTS:

 

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Address comments about this form to  Dr. Nancy Pelaez

For information about making your own rubrics, refer to

Scoring Rubrics: What, When and How?

or

The Rubric Bank

California State University, Fullerton
Copyright © 2004.  All rights reserved.
Revised: March 29, 2007.