Hi, Everyone! I have had a similar situation and this is what worked for me: (1) In Intro, I direct those students to a later chapter on Religion to read since they are so interested in this area. I ask them, for the sake of sociological discussion, to discuss details of religion such as rituals or religious symbols with focus on how these tie individuals to the denomination (here I give them a particular task to direct the rewriting and posting of discussion). (2) I have pulled postings. I contact the student immediately and explain through personal e-mail or a phone call, that the posting is not acceptable in a course (with a great deal of tact - not always easy). I do caution such a student that in the educational setting we must be sensitive to religious diversity on campus. (3) I direct them to a campus organization for their faith and suggest they work to do a student forum on campus, not as part of class. (4) I direct the student to a special discussion folder I have for student chat that has more latitude. (This is available all term - I started adding this folder after 9/11 when students needed a forum to gain some support.) They can post an announcement of the club or forum there, but that's the extent. By then, most decide to comply with an appropriate posting and save themselves all the additional work. I remove unacceptable postings which requires some monitoring on my part, but I think responding quickly, redirecting the behavior, and allowing the student to "save face" with a more scholarly posting benefits all. In addition, all postings must be in college level writing and appropriate to the topic. Good luck with your course - I don't know if the above works for you or maybe you have already taken those steps. I look forward to the discussion on this.
Susan St. John, Assoc. Professor of Sociology Corning Community College 1 Academic Drive Corning, NY 14830 (607) 962-9526 or secretary 962-9239 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen S. Boyd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Friday, September 23, 2005 2:11 am Subject: TEACHSOC: Online Discussion Group Advice Please > > Hi all. I don't post very often but am very appreciative of all > the discussions > occur on this listserve and am learning alot. I am in my 2nd year > of adjunct > teaching at Indiana University-South Bend and am loving it, but > have an issue > that has recently become an issue. IUSB has a great online black- > board type > application that I have been using successfully. One feature that > my students > seem to like is the discussion boards. I currently have an active > discussionboard on Culture, and have asked the students to talk > about the culture they > were exposed to growing up. Because I have a wonderfully diverse > group of > students, I was hopeful that they might share some interesting > tidbits about > their lives. One common thread that has emerged has been > discussion about > religious background. That in itself is expected, but one thread > on the board > has become an outlet for proselytyzing and a plug for a certain > mega church > here. They get extra credit for posting, but I want to be able > to keep them > on task. How would you handle this? Does it need "handling?" > Thanks for any > advice. > -- > Karen Boyd, M.A. > University of Notre Dame > Department of Sociology > 940 Flanner Hall > Notre Dame, IN 46635 > (574) 271-7083 (home) > (574)631-7213 (office) > (574)850-8062 (cellular) > > > > > > > >
