Participation in Discussion Forums for Students

Your instructor may provide a discussion forum to students inside their Scholar course, in order to give you and other students a place to discuss course-related topics with each other. Depending on the course, participation in this discussion forum may be required as part of your course grade. If the instructor has utilized this feature, a link to the Discussion Forum will be provided in the course’s sidebar.

The Discussion board will consist of one or more forums created by the instructor. These forums should be given clear names and descriptions, in order to show the purpose of each forum in the course; this is done by your instructor, in order to organize discussions by topic. To enter into a forum, click on the forum’s title.

A forum may contain one or more threads, depending on the structure of the forum. In the below example, a forum made to contain weekly book discussions contains separate threads for each book being discussed. Depending on the instructor, the student may also have the ability to create threads of their own. If this ability has been provided, you can click the Create Thread button in the top left to start creating a new thread.

You will need to provide a thread title in the Subject box. You will also be given the option to begin discussion in the thread’s initial post using the Message box, and to attach any relevant files in the Attachments section. Fill in all relevant fields to the thread, then click Submit to create the thread.

Clicking on a thread will bring you inside the thread, allowing you to read it and any responses created by students and instructors. If you wish to contribute to the existing thread’s discussion, click “Reply”.

Add your reply in the given Message box. You can also attach files at this point, before clicking Submit to add your reply to the thread. Other users will also be able to reply to your posts in the thread. Overing over a reply in a thread will, in turn, generate a button that allows a user to reply to posts other than the initial one in the thread. Click the new Reply button in order to reply directly. 

If your participation in discussions is graded by your instructor, you will be able to see your overall grade for participation in discussion forums in the My Grades section of your course. Clicking on the grade for your forum participation will bring you to a more detailed look at the grade, as well as feedback on your posts given by your instructor.