The top five reasons for poor grades on forums:
- Not posting enough; you need to post a minimum of twice per forum. Remember that doing the minimum will likely earn you the minimum grade, perhaps lower.
- Starting a new thread on the same or similar topic. This shows me you’re not reading. If you start a new thread on a topic that already has a thread, you will receive fewer points.
- Mechanical and grammatical errors. I have begun posting solutions to common errors on the Composition FAQ. Be sure to proofread.
- Not having a point. Observations are good. Close readings and explications are good. However, be sure you give a reason for doing so. That is: state explicitly what you feel your observation makes obvious. Remember the thesis statement?
- Not using MLA citation method. This is easy. Just do it. Remember, though, it’s not necessary to have a works cited entry for texts we have in common for class.
Folks, forum grades are still low. I’m about ready to give up on the forums in all classes and start assigning essays.
