Leadership: Establishing Relationships and Influencing Change

Purpose:
The purpose of required threaded discussions is an interactive dialogue among instructors and students to assist the student in organizing, integrating, applying and critically appraising one’s knowledge regarding the nursing profession and selected area of practice. Scholarly information obtained from current sources as well as professional communication is required. Application of information to professional experiences promotes the analysis and use of principles, knowledge and information learned and related to real-life professional situations. Interactive dialogue among instructors and peers foster the development of a learning community as ideas, perspectives and knowledge is shared.

Total Points Possible: Varies with course, please see specific course syllabus. These guidelines are for a required threaded discussion worth 50 points. Please note that week 8 will be worth only 25 points.
Requirements:
Description of the Assignment
1. Initial posting: This is defined to be the initial post in which the student responds to the
required threaded discussion topic. The first posting by a student within the required
discussion area is considered to be the initial posting and will be evaluated using the rubric
criteria. Scholarship in communication is expected. Required scholarly source(s) provide
specific information that thoroughly address the required topic. For the initial posting,
one scholarly source must be presented. The scholarly source must be an outside
source. The student may use the required course textbook (s), assigned readings and lesson
information in the initial post; however, these are not considered outside scholarly sources.
2
This response does not require a scholarly reference unless information is paraphrased and/or direct quotes are used, then APA guidelines apply. Peer responses must be a minimum of 150 words. References do not apply toward word count.

Criteria for Content
Scholarliness: In this category, the student will conduct a search of the current databases and locate valid, relevant, and reliable information for the required topic. Each reference must be scholarly.
Application of Course Knowledge: In this category, the student demonstrates the ability to analyze and apply principles, knowledge, and information learned in the course lesson and outside readings. This information is then applied to a real-life professional situation as an example.
Grammar, Syntax, APA: Proper grammar, APA, and syntax is required for all posts. Students should follow the APA Manual 6th Edition. Additional APA information is available in Course Resources.
Participation Requirement: One initial posting, one peer response and one instructor response (for a total of 3 posts for the week) are required on 3 separate days.
Participation Deadline: The student must provide a substantive response to the graded threaded discussion topic. This must be posted by Wednesday, 11:59 pm MT of each week. Peer and instructor responses must be posted by Sunday, 11:59 pm MT.
Criteria for Format and Special Instructions
Instructor reserves the right to submit any threaded discussion posting to TurnItIn in order to verify the originality.
When journals are used as the outside source of information, it is preferred that the journal be peer reviewed. The Chamberlain online librarian is very helpful in assisting you to find an article related to your topic. If you have questions concerning scholarly sources, please refer to the handout entitled “What is a scholarly source” located under “Course Resources” tab.
Web sites vary in quality and scholarship. It is the responsibility of the student to determine the scholarly nature of the web site. If the instructor determines that the site failed to demonstrate scholarship, points maybe deducted. Students are cautioned to use care regarding .com sites. Some .com sites are excellent such as American Heart Association, but others are built by individuals and scholarliness is lacking. It is recommended that you check with your instructor before using a .com website as a reference.
Only one small quote (15 words or less) within the entire initial posting is acceptable. It is expected that the student will paraphrase the information when presenting information from a scholarly source. The scholarly source(s) for the paraphrased information must be cited using APA format. Do not include a number of small quotes even if they are just a few words as your instructor considers a quote to be a quote no matter its limited size.

Category Points for
Weeks 1 – 7 Points for
Week 8 ONLY % Description
Scholarliness 16 8 32 Demonstrates achievement of scholarly inquiry for professional and academic topics.
Application of Course Knowledge 16 8 32 Demonstrate the ability to analyze and apply principles, knowledge and information learned in the course lesson and outside readings and relate them to real-life professional situations.
Interactive Dialogue 10 5 20 Initial post should be a minimum of 300 words
The peer and instructor responses should be a minimum of 150 words each.
Responses are substantive and relate to the graded threaded discussion topic.
Week 8 only:
Initial posts should be a minimum of 200 words.
The peer or instructor response should be a minimum of 100 words.
Grammar, Syntax, and APA 8 4 16 Students are expected to demonstrate proper grammar, syntax, and APA style of writing. Correct APA format is expected within the text of the assignment as well as the reference page(s).
Participation Requirements 5 points deducted if not demonstrated Initial, peer, and faculty postings were made on 3 separate days.
Week 8 only: Initial, and peer or faculty posts were made on 2 separate days.
Participation Deadline 5 points deducted if not demonstrated The initial posting to the graded threaded discussion topic is posted within the course no later than Wednesday, 11:59 pm MT.

The peer and instructor responses are to be posted within the course no later than Sunday, 11:59 pm MT

Week 8 only:
Both initial posting and peer or instructor responses are to be posted no later than Saturday, 11:59 pm MT.
TOTAL 50 points 25 points 100

Grading Rubric Guidelines Week 1-7

Performance Category 100% or highest level of performance
100%

16 points Very good or high level of performance
88%

14 points Acceptable level of performance
81%

13 points Inadequate demonstration of expectations
68%

11 points
Deficient level of performance
56%

9 points
Failing level
of performance

55% or less

0 points
16 Points 14 Points 13 Points 11 Points 9 Points 0 Points
Scholarliness
Demonstrates achievement of scholarly inquiry for professional and academic topics.
Presentation of information was exceptional and included all of the following elements:

Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s).

Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts.

Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.*

Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information. Presentation of information was good, but was superficial in places and included all of the following elements:
Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s).

Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts.

Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.*

Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information. Presentation of information was minimally demonstrated in all of the following elements:
Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s).

Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts.

Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.*

Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information. Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in one of the following elements:

Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s).

Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts.

Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.*

Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts.

Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.*

Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s).

Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts.
Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.*

Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information.
16 Points 14 Points 13 Points 11 Points 9 Points 0 Points
Application of Course Knowledge
Demonstrate the ability to analyze and apply principles, knowledge and information learned in the outside readings and relate them to real-life professional situations

Presentation of information was exceptional and included all of the following elements:

Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic.

Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from scholarly resources to a professional experience.

Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.

Presentation of information was good, but was superficial in places and included all of the following elements:
Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic.

Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from scholarly resources to a professional experience.

Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic. Presentation of information was minimally demonstrated in the all of the following elements:
Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic.

Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from scholarly resources to a professional experience.

Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.
Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in one of the following elements:
Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic.

Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from and scholarly resources to a professional experience.

Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.
Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in two of the following elements:
Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic.

Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from scholarly resources to a professional experience.

Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.
Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in three of the following elements

Applies principles, knowledge and information and scholarly resources to the required topic.

Applies facts, principles or concepts learned scholarly resources to a professional experience.

Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.
10 Points 9 Points 6 Points 0 Points
Interactive Dialogue

Initial post should be a minimum of 300 words (references do not count toward word count)
The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each (references do not count toward word count)
Responses are substantive and relate to the topic. Demonstrated all of the following:

Initial post must be a minimum of 300 words.

The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each.

Responses are
substantive.

Responses are related to the topic of discussion.
Demonstrated 3 of the following:
Initial post must be a minimum of 300 words.

The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each.

Responses are substantive.

Responses are related to the topic of discussion. Demonstrated 2 of the following:
Initial post must be a minimum of 300 words.

The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each.

Responses are
substantive.

Responses are related to the topic of discussion.
Demonstrated 1 or less of the following:
Initial post must be a minimum of 300 words.

The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each.

Responses are
substantive.

Responses are related to the topic of discussion.
8 Points 7 Points 6 Points 5 Points 4 Points 0 Points
Grammar, Syntax, APA
Points deducted for improper grammar, syntax and APA style of writing.
The source of information is the APA Manual 6th Edition

Error is defined to be a unique APA error. Same type of error is only counted as one error. The following was present:

0-3 errors in APA format

AND

Responses have
0-3 grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors.

AND

Writing style is generally clear, focused on topic,
and facilitates communication.

The following was present:

4-6 errors in APA format.

AND/OR

Responses have
4-5 grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors.

AND/OR

Writing style is somewhat
focused on topic. The following was present:

7-9 errors in APA format.

AND/OR

Responses have
6-7 grammatical, spelling or
punctuation
errors.

AND/OR

Writing style is
slightly focused
on topic making discussion difficult to understand. The following was
present:

10- 12 errors in APA format

AND/OR

Responses have 8-9 grammatical, spelling and punctuation
errors.

AND/OR

Writing style is not focused on topic, making discussion difficult to understand.

The following was
present:

13 – 15 errors in
APA format

AND/OR

Responses have
8-10 grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors.

AND/OR

Writing style is not focused on topic, making discussion difficult to understand.

AND/OR

The student
continues to make repeated mistakes
in any of the above areas after written correction by the instructor.
The following was present:

16 to greater errors in APA format.

AND/OR

Responses have more than 10 grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.

AND/OR

Writing style does not facilitate communication

0 Points Lost 5 Points Lost
Participation Requirements

Demonstrated the following:

Initial, peer, and faculty postings were made on 3 separate days
Failed to demonstrate the following:

Initial, peer, and faculty postings were made on 3 separate days
0 Points Lost 5 Points Lost
Due Date Requirements

Demonstrated all of the following:

The initial posting to the graded threaded discussion topic is posted within the course no later than Wednesday, 11:59 pm MT.

A minimum of one peer and one instructor responses are to be posted within the course no later than Sunday, 11:59 pm MT. Demonstrates one or less of the following.
The initial posting to the graded threaded discussion topic is posted within the course no later than Wednesday, 11:59 pm MT.

A minimum of one peer and one instructor responses are to be posted within the course no later than Sunday, 11:59 pm MT.

Grading Rubric Guidelines Week 8 ONLY

Performance Category 100% or highest level of performance
100% Very good or high level of performance
88% Acceptable level of performance
81% Inadequate demonstration of expectations
68% Deficient level of performance
56% Failing level
of performance
55% or less
8 Points 7 Points 6 Points 5 Points 4 Points 0 Points
Scholarliness
Demonstrates achievement of scholarly inquiry for professional and academic topics.
Presentation of information was exceptional and included all of the following elements: