Discussion Board

The Discussion Board assignments consist of 3 parts. All 3 parts must be completed by the due dates to earn credit. If only 2 parts are completed, no credit will be earned for the Discussion Board.

Part 1

As you read the chapters assigned to each module/week, no doubt you will find some concepts more interesting and applicable to your personal or work situation than others. Review the key terms listed in the assigned chapters. After reviewing the terms, submit a preliminary Discussion Board Forum post indicating the key term that you wish to reserve as your Discussion Board Forum thread for that module/week.

Be sure to check the Discussion Board area prior to posting your reservation to ensure no one else has reserved that key term. In the event the key term you wish to explore is already reserved by someone else, simply move on to another key term in your readings. Duplicate postings will not earn credit under any circumstance (this includes posting work submitted in a previous course). Do not ask the instructor to accept a duplicate posting as this is not fair to those who followed these explicit directions.

Please be sure to include the exact key term you selected in the Discussion Board subject line.

Part 2

After you have successfully reserved the key term that interests you the most, research at least 5 recent scholarly articles that relate to the concept on which you wish to focus your research. Articles may be found in reputable professional and scholarly journals that deal with the content of the course. Popular general reading magazines and online sources such as Wikipedia are not permissible.

After reading the articles, select the 1 article that you wish to discuss. Submit Part 2 by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday of the same modules/weeks.

Your thread must be placed in the Discussion Board Forum text box and adhere precisely to the following headings and format:

KEY TERM and WHY YOU ARE INTERESTED IN IT

After reading the textbook, specifically state why you are interested in conducting further research on this key term (i.e., academic curiosity, application to a current issue related to employment, or any other professional rationale). Be sure to include a substantive reason, not simply a phrase.

EXPLANATION OF THE KEY TERM

This is a clear and concise overview of the essentials relevant to understanding this key concept.

MAJOR ARTICLE SUMMARY

Using your own words, provide a clear and concise summary of the article, including the major points and conclusions.

DISCUSSION

In your own words, discuss each of the following points:

1. How the cited work relates to your above explanation AND how it relates specifically to the content of this module/week. This part of the Discussion Board Forum provides evidence that you have extended your understanding of this key term beyond the textbook readings.

2. How the cited work relates to the other 4 works you researched. This part of the Discussion Board Forum provides evidence that you have refined the researched key term into a coherent and specialized aspect of the key term rather than a random selection of works on the key term. The idea here is to prove that you have focused your research and that all works cited are related in some manner to each other rather than them simply being a collection of the first 5 results from your Internet search.

REFERENCES

A minimum of 5 scholarly business references (not textbooks, Wikipedia, nor other popular reading magazines) in current APA format is required, and the references must contain persistent links so others may have instant access. In the event formatting is lost or corrupted when posting the thread to the Discussion Board Forum, be sure to attach the Word document to your posting as evidence that your work was completed in the proper format. Access the following Liberty University Library link for instructions on creating persistent links: Create a Persistent Link

Part 3

Additionally, you will be required to post a written reply to at least 2 other students' Discussion Board Forum threads. Thus, you will post 1 written thread concerning your key term, and you will then post substantive written replies to at least 2 other students' threads. Exceeding the threshold requirement (minimum required substantive postings) will result in a higher score while posting the minimum number of required substantive postings will result in a minimal passing score. This means that, if you post 2 good substantive replies, you can expect a grade of "B-" and, if you post 3 or more quality substantive replies, you can earn an "A-."