Discussion Kindler Badge - revealed!



Well, it seems one more week has passed by in INSDSG619, and one more badge had been earned by some learners, and therefore revealed to everyone! Last week the Discussion Initiator was revealed, and this week, the Discussion Kinder has come out!


Discussion Kindler
Description:
This badge is awarded to students who have made an effort to keep the discussion going by responding to peers and helping to tease out nuances in the discussion.

Criteria: 
For at least six weeks (half the semester), a student needs to post at least 5 responses to peer contributed posts per week. These replies to peers' posts need to meet the full rubric criteria for responses

Rationale:
Over the past few years, both teaching and observing online posting behaviors of students, I've noticed that there are some students that go the extra mile and post more than the minimum of required replies to their peers.  Thus, they keep the discussion going, they ask expository questions, they guide the discussion, and they offer help to their peers.  For 619, I have not specifically stated how many responses to peers students need to have each week.  The number is, in reality, arbitrary, so if a student wants to only reply once per week, and they meet the requirements for the rubric, their part is, technically done.  Of course, we don't learn as well by following the minimum path. So, to award those that go beyond the minimum number of postings, I've created this badge.  Why 5 postings per week?  In most classes I've seen, the required number of responses to peers is 2-3.  Thus, I thought that 5 would be a good "break from the pack" indicator.


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