Human Development - Discussion

Instructions for this discussion board:

Oh, the teenage years.  Love them or hate them, no one can deny that they have become a popular focus of media and entertainment.  But, given what you know now about adoelscent development, how accurate are the portrayals of the teenage years in film?  This discussion board will provide you an opportunity to explore and share the presentation of adolescence in a fictional movie of your choosing.  

Before you participate in this discussion board, please complete the following tasks:

1. Read and watch the content above on development in adolescence.

2. Choose and watch a fictional movie that depicts adolescence.  Adolescence should be a major theme of the movie!  If you choose a movie that simply has a teen as a minor character, you will not have enough to describe and discuss in your post.  The movie can come from any genre (comedy, sci fi, action, etc) but must be fictional.  Ideas include (but are not limited to) The Breakfast Club, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Juno, Almost Famous, Mean Girls, Twilight (yes, don't laugh, this would work!), Footloose, and many more.  

3. As you are watching the movie, take notes about how adolescence is portrayed and links that you notice to course material.

In your initial post (DUE Thursday, 6/11 by 11:59PM):

1. Locate the discussion forum, "Week 4 Discussion: Teen Movie"(see instructions for finding your group discussion board below).  Create a thread and describe the movie that you watched.  Specifically, your post should include a VERY brief synopsis of the movie (just the punch line - what do your group members need to know in order to understand your post).  The majority of the post should discuss whether the movie accurately presented adolescence.  What kinds of ideas that we have covered in this course were depicted in the movie?  What themes were inconsistent with material in the course?  What message is this movie trying to send to viewers about the nature of teens and adolescence?   Be sure to link your responses back to the course material!

You must also provice at least two thoughtful, respectful responses to your peers (DUE Sunday, 6/14 by 11:59PM).  This is your opportunity to discuss, so there are not strict guidelines for what you must include in your response.  However, responses must ADD TO THE DISCUSSION.  "I agree!" or "Cool idea!" or "That's dumb!" will not earn you points.  Things that may prompt discussion are comments that include ideas like the reasons for similarities/differences between posts, the potential real-world application of your classmates' ideas, and links to other course content (including lectures and videos).  

Please remember that late posts will not earn any credit, so be sure to be mindful of the course deadlines and to make sure that your post showed up in the discussion.  This is your responsibility.

Here is some general information about discussion board requirements:

GRADING

Your discussion participation is graded using the rubric below. This rubric also shows on your Group discussion board page. Don't forget to use it to maximize your contribution!

Component	Unacceptable 0 Points	Emerging 4 - 6 Points	Good 7 - 8 Points	Excellent 9 - 10 Points
Original Post 10 points possible (Due Thursday)	No post within the allotted timeframe	Post is less than 100 words; argumentation is weak with scant or no course references; multiple typos and/or poor sentence structure	Post is between 100 and 149 words; argument is moderately articulated but course references are not strong; writing is not well constructed; some typos or awkward sentence structure (doesn’t look proof-read)	Post is at least 150 words; it reflects a thoughtful/ creative/ insightful argument; includes direct course reference; writing is coherent and organized with good grammatical structure
Component	Unacceptable 0 Points	Emerging 1 point per post	Good 2 points per post	Excellent 3 points per post
2 Peer Responses  3 points possible per response  (Due Sunday)	No responses posted; post is rude or inappropriate	Post is less than 30 words; post is either merely supportive or merely antagonistic without support for agreement or disagreement	Post is between 30 - 49 words; response is not well constructed, i.e., “totally, I agree” without supporting reasons; repeats original post instead of building upon it	YOU MUST ADD SOMETHING TO THE DISCUSSION (not repeat); Post is at least 50 words; it is respectful and thoughtful; it builds on the original post; does NOT say the same thing the posts right above it say; it’s well written