Etiquette and Guidelines for the Use of Phorum

We will soon have a Phorum page available for electronic discussions related to class content. This is a medium we all participate in developing and using. In particular, each one of us has the capability of degrading its utility by not paying careful attention to its structure. For this reason, please study the structure carefully, read the comments below and spend a little time understanding how to use it well before you actually start doing this.

Once you have looked at the page, here are some comments concerning structure that would be useful to bear in mind as you begin to use the page:

• There are distinct forums for discussions of each of the following kinds:
  • about things of a general nature related to the topic of the course,

  • about the problems in each of the assignments to be seen in the course (we have picked 10 as an upper limit, not necessarily as the exact number of such assignments), and

  • related to feedback about the course quality.

• Pick the forum that you post to carefully: this will have an impact on whether or not your posting is seen in a timely manner. It also has an impact on how easily others can pick out the postings relevant to a particular topic and, hence, on how useful the medium turns out to be.

• Within each relevant forum, pick the point at which to place your posting carefully. If you are responding to or elaborating on the discussion pertaining to a particular problem in a given assignment, then your posting should be nested under this item/topic. This nesting feature iterates, so you should repeat the care again in deciding which subtopic to post under, etc. If the posting you want to make relates to a new topic or subtopic, then start such a topic at the toplevel or a new thread as is relevant. You should have the capability to create threads/subthreads at any level, so let us know if you encounter difficulties in doing so.

• Please check the other postings before you decide to put your own one on. You may find an answer to a question you have more quickly this way. You may also find similar thoughts and questions and hence would be able to decide the right place to raise the issue you have if you read first.

• Participate in discussions actively and enthusiastically. If you have a question, post it with confidence. Remember, nobody who matters is going to hold it against you for asking questions towards gaining a better understanding. Similarly, if you think you have an answer to a question that has been asked or can add something illuminating to an ongoing discussion, be bold and add your comments: you learn a lot simply by explaining something to or formulating your thoughts for others.

• Of course, you should think as carefully as you can about what you post before you commit it to the forum/page. You can preview posts so do this and actually look at what the preview screen shows you before pressing the "Post" button. Thinking about how best to express yourself helps you understand things better and also has an impact on how helpful others can be to you or how helpful you are to others.

• Make sure to identify yourself completely with every post on any forum other than the page on course quality. This is part of the idea of being confident about yourself and also helps with the collegiality of the class. Anonymous posts on forums other than the one giving feedback about the course may not be responded to and may also be removed if they are thought to be distracting.

• Feel free, of course, to post anonymously to the feedback forum if this makes it easier for you to express yourself more honestly. We do request, though, that you try to be constructive in your postings even here. We, the instructors, are quite keen on making the experience in this class a valuable and rewarding one while still conveying to you whatever information you need to have by the end of the semester. Your help through comments on this page can be quite useful to our achieving this objective. This also means that it is useful if you let us know through this page when you really liked something: we can also use such information in planning presentations and homeworks later this term or in organizing material for other classes with students not very different from you in background and interest.