In addition to in-class exercises you can accumulate points towards the participation portion of your final grade by making contributions to posted class discussion forums using Canvas (let me know if you have any trouble finding it). There are two types of contributions:

You can contribute a question in the form of a discussion topic. You must submit the question to me first (email will work). If I choose to post this question for others in the class to respond to you will get one point. Considerations as to which questions will be choosen are:

• pertinence/relevance to the course and audience: e.g. questions that focus on local geoscience would have greater relevance for us, while a question on why we have tornadoes would not be pertinent to this particular geology course.
• originality: its needs to be different from questions previously posted or those found in your study guide materials.
• appropriate scope: e.g. why do we have climate change is to big of a question to handle in the forum.
• clarity: what is being asked needs to be clear.
• engagingment: it needs to engage the reader, be potentially interesting to a fair number of people. This of course is a judgement call.

You can answer/respond to a forum question and receive a point. These will be posted on the Canvas site as forums that will typically be open for discussion for a week or two at a time. You will need to respond within that time. Considerations in awarding points are:

• novelty: the response needs to be dissimilar to those already posted in the forum, contributing new information or thought to the forum. This means it pays to get your thoughts in early.
• pertinence: you need to address the question and not tangential or unrelated aspects (although the latter could lead to contributing a question).
• background research: your contribution should show evidence of some investigation into relevant literature. You need to cite your sources. The web is an easy source of other information, but remember the variable nature of the quality of information on the web.
• clarity of expression: as it says.
• bonus points will be given for true, constructive, originality.

If you have any questions or want any feedback about this don't hesitate to contact me.