Discussion Assignment Instructions
Instructions
The student will complete 4 Discussions in this course.
As you read the chapters assigned to each week, you will find some concepts more interesting and applicable to your personal or work situation than others. Review the key terms listed in the assigned chapters; then, choose a key term that you wish to write on for your thread.
Include the exact key term you selected in your thread’s subject line.
Thread (600 words minimum)
After you have successfully chosen the key term that interests you the most, research a minimum of 5 recent international business/management articles that relate to the concept on which you wish to focus your research. Articles must be found in reputable professional and/or scholarly journals and/or business/trade journals that deal with the content of the course (i.e., not blogs, Wikipedia, newspapers, etc.). After reading the articles, select the 1 article that you wish to discuss.
It is highly recommended that you use Liberty University’s Jerry Falwell Library online resources. A link is provided in the Discussion Assignment Resources. A librarian is available to assist you in all matters pertaining to conducting your research, including what constitutes a scholarly article.
Your thread must be placed in the Discussion textbox and adhere precisely to the following headings and format:
- Key Term and Why You Are Interested in It (100 words minimum)
After reading the textbook, specifically state why you are interested in conducting further research on this key term (e.g., academic curiosity, application to a current issue related to employment, or any other professional rationale). Include a substantive reason, not simply a phrase.
- Explanation of the Key Term (100 words minimum)
Provide a clear and concise overview of the essentials relevant to understanding this key term.
- Major Article Summary (200 words minimum)
Using your own words, provide a clear and concise summary of the article, including the major points and conclusions.
- Discussion
In your own words, discuss each of the following points:
- How the cited work relates to your above explanation AND how it relates specifically to the content of the assigned module. This part of your thread provides evidence that you have extended your understanding of this key term beyond the textbook readings. (100 words minimum)
- How the cited work relates to the other 4 works you researched. This part of your thread provides evidence that you have refined your research key term to a coherent and specialized aspect of the key term, rather than a random selection of works on the key term. The idea here is to prove that you have focused your research and that all works cited are related in some manner to each other rather than simply a collection of the first 5 results from your Internet search. (100 words minimum)
- References
A minimum of 3 recent articles (as described above), in current APA format, must be included and must contain persistent links so others may have instant access. In the event that formatting is lost or corrupted when submitting the thread, attach the Microsoft Word document to your thread as evidence that your work was completed in the proper format. Please see the appropriate instruction link in the Discussion Assignment Resources for more information on creating persistent links.
Replies (300 words total – 100 words minimum, per reply)
Additionally, you will reply to a minimum of 3 other classmates’ threads. Thus, you will have submitted substantive written responses to a minimum of 3 other classmates’ threads.
What is Substantive Interaction?
- The School of Business is committed to the collaborative learning model. In this course, collaborative learning requires each student to read and spend time reflecting on other’s postings, and then respond in a substantive manner to the postings of others. In composing substantive responses, you can do several things, such as:
- compare/contrast the findings of others with your research;
- compare how the findings of others relate and add to the concepts learned in the required readings; and/or
- share additional empirical knowledge regarding global business — or international experiences you may have had — relative to the postings of others.
- The collaborative learning model requires substantive interaction between students on a weekly basis. Consider the Discussion as equivalent to being in a class, thus maintain professional communication standards at all times (no “IM” shorthand or informal jargon, please).
