The Blue Planet

The Blue Planet

Individual Assignment: Discussion Forum Lead (DFL) (25% of final grade)
Assignment Objective: To broadly extend the group’s thinking about water issues and to help direct
learning about the environment through discussion and critical thinking.
Associated Course Learning Outcomes: • Critically analyze course material and connect it to self and society • Debate importance of water as an essential resource. • Debate the increasing importance of water as a political and economic commodity • Develop an enhanced sense of social and environmental responsibility.

Methodology Overview: Each student will publish on Blackboard an infographic pertaining to a
water issue. Each student will publish ONLY ONCE in the semester under one of the four major
themes in the course. The topic of the infographic will be given to the student by the professor along
with a specific deadline. The student will use the infographic to establish a discussion thread on
Blackboard’s discussion forums and will manage the thread discussion for the week.

Detailed Methodology: This course covers four main themes: (1) Aquatic and Human Ecology,
(2) Auditing Water: Scarcity and Abundance, (3) Water for Sale: The Water Economy, and (4) Water
Futures: Conservation and Innovation

When one theme comes to a close in the course syllabus (see course schedule), a group of discussion
threads will appear to help us conclude our thoughts about the theme. Discussion threads help
extend our thinking on the topics that were presented in the course during the theme period, and
give us a chance to engage directly with the research.

Discussion Forums (DF) are places to gather and interact online in a Blackboard environment that
present opportunities for student engagement with research and with each other in the course.
A Discussion Forum Lead (DFL) is a student who creates and leads a discussion forum for a designated
week.

Each theme in the course calls for approximately 14 students in the class to represent its topics in the
DFL discussions. Once a student has been assigned to a theme, they are only responsible for that one
theme in this DFL assignment, and not the other three themes. Each student will be assigned to: (1) a
specific date by which they have to publish their DFLs, and (2) a specific topic they have to cover that
helps support the theme (topics are given by the professor). Please see the document called “DFL
Schedule” on Blackboard found under All About the Course – Assignments to see which date, theme
and topic you have been assigned to.

As a DFL, each student will be responsible for: 1) Researching the topic that is given to them by the professor. Topics will be directly related to
one of the four themes presented in the course. 2) Relaying pertinent information about the topic through a synopsis (or short summary) of the
issue to allow proper context for the discussion (e.g. so students know how to talk about the
issue). 3) Designing the forum in an engaging way that includes good use of information, data and
visuals. The forum will be made up of an infographic (please see details on this below). 4) Citing the research to ensure proper identification and credit of resources is done and to
uphold Academic Integrity. Please see important message below regarding Academic Integrity
in the DFLs. 5) Posting the forum on the Discussion Boards before Monday at 9:00 am on the week they are
scheduled. Students should read the late assignment policy posted below to familiarize
themselves with the penalties associated with late submissions. 6) Managing the forum during the week the forums are active. DFLs will read classmate replies
to their forums and will respond appropriately to engage the group. A response may be to
agree with comments made and explain why, to challenge comments and provide an alternate
point of view, or to add to a good point with further research. The job of the DFL is to create
an engaging and interesting conversation. DFLs are expect to manage their forums from the
time of publishing (Monday at 9:00 am) until the time the forums close for the theme (Friday
at 9:00 am).

Please note: This 25% DFL assignment also evaluates students on their engagement as a reader and
contributor to other themes in the course outside their own. 5% of the DFL grade will be released at
the end of the course which will represent the student’s continued engagement in the forum
discussions throughout the course.

Important – Course Policy on Late DFLs
This course incorporates student work as part of its interactive and experiential learning design. As a
result, DFL assignments must be delivered on time and according to schedule to allow other students
in class the opportunity to respond to postings. DFL assignments that are late are penalized at a
reduction of one full letter grade per business day with a three day maximum for submission (nothing
will be accepted past Wednesday at midnight of the scheduled week).

Please note that any DFL submission past the 9:00 am deadline will be considered late regardless of
how much time has past (e.g., a submission of 10:00 am is still subject to one full letter grade
reduction). The computer date and time stamps all submissions. If a student misses their scheduled
DFL deadline altogether, the assignment CANNOT be made up at a later date due to numbers and the
assignment will receive an automatic 0 grade.

Because the submission portal for the assignment will be open for several days prior to the
assignment deadline, Blackboard technical issues are not considered a valid reason for not meeting a
deadline and late penalties will apply. Students are expected to seek assistance from the Seneca IT
Help Desk for any technical issues they experience in a timely fashion.

Of greatest importance: All DFLs need (1) in-text citations (that cite a published work within the
writing itself), and (2) a full reference list that is to be located at the end of the information. Both
need to be present and visible on the infographic in their appropriate places and in APA format.
Please note that images/ photos need to also have a citation where they sit in the infographic. Please
see the APA guidelines on how to cite an image from a source for Academic purposes.

The most common violation of Academic Integrity guidelines is when a student takes information
word-for-word from a source and places it in the infographic without quotations marks to show it is a
direct quote (this includes lists). When this happens, the student is essentially saying “I wrote this”,
but in reality they did not. Students are asked to paraphrase (re-write the content in their own way
and words) and then to cite the resource as the source of information through in-text citations.
Students who use direct quotes throughout the forum and place quotation marks on everything to
counter integrity issues will fail this assignment because none of the content is considered to be
analyzed in any way by the student themselves.

A student who publishes a DFL without a proper attempt at both types of citations will be notified by
the professor that the DFL has been taken down and submitted to the Academic Integrity Committee
for external review. Once this action is initiated it cannot be undone so students need to review their
work carefully and ask any questions they have of the professor BEFORE they publish their work.

Do not be afraid to cite regularly, at this stage in our academic journey no one is expecting you to
come up with original content. Rather, you are practicing the skill of analysis and synthesis using
information. All DFLs must have the Statement of Integrity placed at top of their infographic when
published (please see below). If you are confused about how to cite sources, please visit the Academic
Integrity section on our course Blackboard site or contact the Learning Centre for support.

What is an Infographic?
Information gathered about your assigned topic will need to be presented in the form of an
infographic: “a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data.”
(www.dictionary.com). Below, is an example of an infographic on the topic of Creative Commons
licensing that helps guide us in understanding copyright restrictions on the materials we find on the
internet and what licenses they carry:

License: CC-BY-SA, Author Attribution: Martin Missfeltd, Bildersuche.org, found at www.bildersuche.org/en/creative-common-infographic

More examples of infographics can be seen by visiting this site called 40 brilliant and complex topics
explained perfectly by infographics: https://www.canva.com/learn/best-infographics/

How Do I Create An Infographic?
There are a few ways to create infographics. There are some online tools that are free such as Canva
found at https://www.canva.com/create/infographics/. If you decide to use please review their Terms
and Privacy before signing up (as you should with all online applications).

Others may prefer to create their own from scratch. If so, this tutorial might be of use that helps
explain how to do fast and easy infographics using Word:

Here is a good summary from Design Shack of the 5 suggested elements that should be included in
any infographic: https://designshack.net/articles/graphics/5-key-infographic-elements/

What Is Required on the Infographic?
The infographic should present information directly related to your assigned topic that helps the
reader understand the issue. Each assigned topic in the course is accompanied by a few prompting
questions form the professor to help guide the student to areas that should be considered. You
should consider answering these prompts in your infographic. In addition to important information
(like data and statistics), the infographic should also include visuals such as graphics, charts, tables or
other design elements that enhance the readability and understanding of the information (see link
above for 5 suggested elements for any infographic).

Infographics also need to ask two (2) probing questions to the class based on the information
provided. This creates the foundation of our discussion forums. The student should ask the class to
respond to one of the questions being asked in the forum. Do not make the mistake of asking readers
to reiterate what you have already written above (e.g., name three reasons why this issue is
occurring). This information is likely already there in the infographic and is a repeating of work.
Rather, ask probing questions to students to help extend their thinking on the topic. Good questions
ask for further thinking into the causes of issues, possible solutions to issues, or perhaps larger
philosophical questions of the topic area. This question section is the “call to action” section of your
infographic. All infographics should end with this call to action piece.

Lastly, a full reference section is required to appear at the bottom of the infographic which lists in full
the references you used in APA formatting. These full reference should have an in-text citation
“partner” in the written copy of the infographic. Often, references appear at the bottom but are not
mentioned anywhere in the copy itself and so these references are considered invalid. If, for example,
my final reference says Smith, B. (2015). How to design an effective infographic. New York, NY:
Harper-Collins. Somewhere in the written copy of the infographic I should find (Smith, 2015).

Required to Post: Statement of Integrity – All infographics must have the following statement located
at the top of their design next to their name and title (no exceptions), but the statement can be in any
font size that supports their overall design. Designs that do not have this statement will be removed
from the DF site immediately and penalized. Here is the statement to be included in the design:
“I confirm this infographic to be my original creation free of copied material that violates Academic Integrity guidelines.”

Once I Have Created My Infographic, What Do I Do?
Once your infographic is complete, save it as a picture in a jpeg format. You can do this by resaving
the file and choosing a jpeg file extension or by right-clicking the infographic and choosing “save as
picture”. Once it is an image you can embed it directly in the Blackboard Discussion Forum.

Click on the link found under Course Curriculum that states your theme number (e.g., Discussion
Forum Leads (DFLs) Theme 1). The individual discussion themes will only be visible during that
theme’s specific time in the schedule (e.g., you will not be able to see Theme 4 DFL portal in Theme 2
time period).

Click the top left button on the site called” Create Forum”. When the new page opens, provide your
forum with the name you were given in the DFL list. Then insert your infographic picture by doing the
following: • Place your cursor in the comment section of the forum. • Click on the icon image that looks like a picture (third row, and third button from the left). • Click “browse my computer” and find where on your hard drive you have saved your image. • Very important – give the computer time to upload your image (can take a few seconds).
When uploaded, you will see the image has been assigned a URL and a small version of the
image appears in the box.
• Provide a short description of the image in the “Image Description” box and give the image the
same title you gave the forum. • Hit “Submit” and the DFL will become published.

Please note the following:
After the due date/time, the forums will be closed to further editing and so you will not be
able to make changes once this time has passed.
It is the student’s responsibility to monitor their discussion forum for the week and to respond
to any posts received on their discussion thread (up until Friday at 9:00 am when the forums
will close to comments).
The theme thread will remain visible but not active up until Sunday evening of the publishing
week to give students a chance to read any posts they may have missed in the week. After this
time the forum will no longer be visible.

Professionalism: All forums are to adhere to the highest level of professionalism when dealing with
topics (as some can be controversial) to reflect the collective respect we hold for each other in our
diverse classroom. The professor reserves the right to remove any forum or posting content they feel
steps outside this level of consideration and conduct.

What do I do if I am not in the group scheduled to publish for the theme?
Students who are not scheduled to publish a forum in the respective theme week are expected to
read the DFLs posted for that week and to think on them critically. Students are asked to respond to
two (2) different DFLs in the theme week. These efforts directly relate to the 5% portion of the DFL
grade set aside for critical engagement.

Students are asked to not post to forums that have already received 6 responses in order to ensure
that all DFLs get adequate attention.

Responses need to be well thought out posts that extend the class’s thinking on the topic. A good
response is more than an agreement about the content. Rather, a good post will bring to light new
information about the topic through research that directly answers the forum’s probing questions.
Students may present a new idea and then post a link to an article or video that supports that idea. Be
sure to not deviate off the questions the forum creator has posted – they are guiding the forum and
posts that do not support their direction will score lower or not at all.

All students are expected to include citations for any research they mention in response posts. All
links to resources must be made active in the post so students can click on the link to refer to the
source.

To make a web link active in a post – copy the link from the website you are using and paste the link
directly in the comment section of the post using “control v”. Once the link is pasted, highlight it again
and then click on the “chain links” icon on the toll bar found in the middle row, eighth button from
the right. If the icon is not lit up it is because you have not highlighted the link in the post. A window
will pop up that asks for a link path – here you will paste again the URL, and choose from the drop
down menu “open in new window”. Hit “submit” and this will make the link active.

Frequent Question: If I am a student publishing in my scheduled week do I also need to post 2
responses to other students in my grouping during that week? No. While you are absolutely
encouraged to read all DFL forums, during your week of managing your own forum you are not
expected to post in others unless you wish.