Online Class

Joint Issues/Emerging Concepts TDQ

Objective: The objectives of this assignment are for you to identify areas of interest to the joint arena – supporting elements of jointness, the integration of those elements in the form of joint operations or emerging concepts/factors that influence the joint arena – and present them for the class to explore. This will be accomplished in two parts – article selection/presentation and threaded discussion facilitation/participation.

Deliverables: The following are required to successfully complete this assignment.

1. Due Wed of Week 1 (2200 CST). Select and submit an article of your choosing to the Instructor via the Blackboard Message system for approval. The article:

· must come from reputable sources

· should be between 6 and 12 pages long.

· must enable robust exploration of a specific topic of interest to the joint arena.

2. Due Thu of Week 2 (2200 CST). Draft and submit a one page Assignment Synopsis (detailed below) of your selected article to the Instructor via the Safe Assign system. Hyperlinks below provide additional information pertaining to the different aspects of this assignment. This Assignment Synopsis:

· must include appropriate bibliographic citation – see the bibliography section of the AU Style Guide.

· must include what you believe to be the author’s thesis.

· must include a proposed Threaded Discussion Question.

· must include bullet statements explaining how this question explores joint issues or emerging concepts – 3 – 5 bullet statements.

· must include bullet statements explaining likely directions the actual discussion might take – 3 – 5 bullet statements.

To assist, a sample Assignment Synopsis is located here.

3. Due Mon-Sat of Week 3. Facilitate – if your article/TDQ was selected – or participate – if your article/TDQ was not selected – in the Week 3 TDQ. Requirements for each group are as follows.

· Facilitation. If your article/threaded discussion question is one of the three selected for presentation to the class, you – and the instructor – will facilitate the threaded discussion. You will not be required to participate in the discussion of the other two groups, but will have to do the following throughout the week.

· Interact with your group routinely.

· Focus the discussion on meaningful aspects of the selected topic.

· Actively manage the discussion.

· Stimulate interaction among your group.

· Encourage critical thinking.

· Pose questions to the group appropriate to the discussion – leading, probing, open ended.

· Participation – If your article/threaded discussion question was not selected for presentation to the class, you will participate according to the following requirements

· Initial post – within your assigned group of 300-400 words

· Follow on posts – two comprehensive posts within your assigned group and one comprehensive post each in the two remaining groups

Assessment. This assignment will be assessed in two parts and one grade will be assigned via this rubric.

1. The Assignment Synopsis accounts for 25% of the grade.

2. The TDQ facilitation/participation accounts for 75% of the grade.

Thesis Statement Guidelines Return to Assignment Overview

Thesis Statements constitute a summary of an argument, in the case of this assignment in direct answer to the question, “What is the author’s thesis in the article you selected?” After studying the article you should be able to answer this question by crafting a thesis statement for what you believe the author’s thesis to be. Its purpose is to:

· Inform the reader of the significance of the article you selected.

· Inform the reader of the primary argument/position taken in the article.

· Identify claims the author made that might be disputable.

The thesis statement for this assignment must be two sentences or less. It is not a simple statement of fact or opinion, and it should conform to the following guidelines:

· It must be specific and clear.

· It must contain only one main idea.

· It must justify further discussion.

Supporting Information

Thesis Statement Examples:

· Smith contends that RPAs will revolutionize military operations because of their technological advancement, effect on command and control, and autonomous capabilities.

· Smith argues that pending defense cuts will most greatly undermine the military in future operations because of weapons system shortfalls versus manpower and training deficits. In support, he presents evidence to the effect that weapons systems are the more effective element in warfare.

Thesis Statement Categories: Identifying Thesis Statements is easier if the category of article is understood.

· Expository: Facts surrounding new topic (beyond opinion) supported by evidence – introduces new topics, details, descriptions

· Example – Smith provides a new Research and Development approach that he contends will shorten the time and reduce the cost of fielding new weapons systems in the Army.

· Analytical: Analysis of existing/new concept – clarifies the subject of, and approach to, analysis

· Example – Smith analyzes the new Air Force force presentation schema and evaluates it against the existing Marine Corps’ schema.

· Persuasive: Takes a position (opinion) and lays the groundwork to convince

· Example – Smith believes recent changes in the law enabling homosexual military members to serve will enhance force readiness in three ways. He offers improved morale, moral consistency across the force and improved readiness in support.

· Argumentative: Takes a clear stand on a controversial topic – opinions supported by evidence

· Example – Smith defends the notion of unrestricted drone strikes on foreign soil, even against American citizens, as a way of protecting American military interests.

Threaded Discussion Question Guidelines Return to Assignment Overview

Writing TDQs requires adherence to several fundamental principles as well as particulars for the Joint Issues/Emerging Concepts assignment. The guidelines below target these areas.

Writing a TDQ. In order to be effective, your discussion question must conform to the following guidelines:

· It must be open-ended and require in-depth responses.

· Accomplish this through “What” or “How” questions with follow-ups asking “Why.”

· It must allow for multiple possible answers.

· Accomplish this through effective topic selection and question wording.

· It must encourage higher levels of thinking.

· Accomplish this by forcing application, analysis, synthesis or evaluation in the question.

· It must be interesting and/or controversial.

· Accomplish this through topic selection and question refinement.

Relationship to the Joint Issue/Emerging Concepts assignment. The fundamental purpose of proposing your TDQ is to lead the class into a topic area of interest to you that explores some aspect of a Joint Issue/Emerging Concept important to the joint community. Accordingly, your discussion question must conform to the following guidelines:

· It must require a detailed review of the selected article.

· It must clearly link to a Joint Issue/Emerging Concept of interest to the joint community.

· It must force higher level thinking through appropriate questioning techniques – see Supporting Information below.

Supporting Information

Types of questions. The following Socratic questioning methods provide a framework for enabling critical thinking.

· Clarification – ask for deeper exploration of a subject.

· Probe Assumptions – ask for validation of underlying assumptions and beliefs.

· Probe Reasons and Evidence – ask for validation of proposed reasoning and arguments.

· Question Perspectives – ask for justification for point-of-view, raise the issue of other equally valid points-of-view.

· Probe Implications and Consequences – ask for justification of stated or implied consequences, or, ask for value judgments of those consequences .

· Probe the Question – ask for validation/exploration of the question itself (usually a follow-on question).

Assignment Synopsis Sample Return to Assignment Overview

Assignment Synopsis

Maj Jon Doe

1 Feb 2013

Bibliography: Wilson, Ward. “Military Wisdom and Nuclear Weapons.” Joint Forces Quarterly, no. 68 (1st Quarter 2013): 18–24. http://www.ndu.edu/press/lib/pdf/jfq-68/JFQ-68.pdf NDUPress.edu (accessed 15 February 2013).

Thesis: Wilson, using historical examples in support, contends that the dramatic nature of nuclear weapons has created a lasting over-estimation of their effectiveness, both as a deterrent measure and as a practical weapon of war. Further, he offers the “military perspective” as a way to properly assess the utility of nuclear weapons.

Proposed Threaded Discussion Question: Wilson, in his article “Military Wisdom and Nuclear Weapons,” provides numerous historical examples that he believes illustrate the lack of efficacy of nuclear weapons. Select one of his examples – describe it and explain why it is valid – or not. If you agree with Wilson’s contentions, overlay the explanations on current events and formulate a broad “way ahead” for US nuclear weapons. If you do not agree with Wilson’s contentions, explain why Wilson’s supporting rationale is not applicable to current events. In all cases fully support your answer.

This question relates to joint issues or emerging concepts in the following ways:

· The Joint Forces course introduced STRATCOM which has the nuclear mission.

· The USAF, due to recent “missteps” is focused on the nuclear enterprise.

· The nuclear enterprise, perhaps more so than other aspects of the military is very expensive and pending/ongoing budget cuts may force a change to perceptions about nuclear weapons efficacy.

· Nuclear deterrence is losing authority as rogue, irrational, non-state actors enter the equation.

A discussion based upon the proposed question would likely explore the following sub-topics.

· Discussion of budget aspects of the nuclear mission.

· Discussions of deterrence or dissuasion theory.

· Disagreement with Wilson’s contentions.

· Discussions of current “nuclear problems” – North Korea, Iran, nuclear terrorism, etc.

· Discussions of civil-military relations – more specifically, how to integrate “military realism” into thinking of senior policy makers.

Joint Issues/Emerging Concepts – Rubric Return to Assignment Overview