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Two points should be made.
The first is the most important: virtually any contribution is allowed. These are free forums; they allow for free speech in its purest form. The only case in which instructors might intervene is when a participant actively seeks to keep others from contributing to the discussion.
Think of the discussion site, http://gec.tamucc.edu, as a global community commons where we all gather to deliberate on ethical issues. There are no police at our commons. Of course, someone screaming at the top of their lungs would make it hard for others to be heard, so some of us might gently remind that person that they share the commons with others.
To be sure, saying anything means that others might not like what you say. Vigorous debates might break out. People might even become angry with one another. That's okay, so long as we are civil to each other. Bear in mind that we are all after the same thing: the truth. It is often good for others to hear what they don't like to hear.
To underscore the point: you may contribute whatever you like to a discussion as often as you like, provided you do not interfere with the ability of others to contribute to the discussion.
The second point is that, even though you can say anything you like, the community may value some things that are said more than others. After all, in any discussion whatsoever, some comments tend to advance the discussion while others don't. In chatting away on the commons, we may find that good comments are met with applause, while poor comments are met with boos and hisses.
On the discussion site, applause or boos are represented by moderation points--i.e., the 'score' under your comment. The more highly the community values what you say, the better your score.
What kinds of contributions will our community applaud? In general, any contribution that advances the discussion at hand. Specifically, good contributions
- Stay on topic.
- Are well-written.
- Make some point or draw some conclusion.
- Provide clearly-stated and well-justified reasons for the point or conclusion.
- Employ arguments, theories, and principles from lecture.
The community may also applaud contributions that simply seek to provide additional, relevant information or offer some unique perspective.
Note that in order to receive credit for your contributions, you must have an account and you must be logged-in with that account.
Also, be sure that you log-out if you use a public computer! (The library or the labs count as public.) If not, anyone who goes to the site after you will be automatically logged-in as you. This can have embarrassing consequences.
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