CSci 5106, Fall 2019
Programming Languages
Guidelines for the Use of the Discussion Forums

Piazza is an electronic medium for providing support for courses. While it offers a few different services, we will be using it only for conducting course-related discussions outside the classroom. Its usefulness in this context will depend on the enthusiastic participation of each one of us. We should note, however, that we can also inadvertently degrade its utility if we do not pay attention to how we use it. To avoid this possibility, I have put together a few suggestions that you should read before you actually start using Piazza for class discussions. These guidelines elaborate in a way specific to this course on the other information that Piazza provides you, so please do read them even if you think you already understand how to use the medium.

• Clicking on the Piazza link on the course web page will bring you to a place from where you can directly access the discussion forums. Below the header on the page, you should see displayed buttons for folders labelled "admin," "feedback," "software," "general," "social," "hw1," "hw2," etc, that have been set up at the start of the semester. Clicking on any of these buttons will show you the questions, notes, etc that have been posted to these folders.

• To post a question or note of your own, you should click the "New Post" button.

• To explain the folder choices a bit, I have tried to use them to distinguish between the following kinds of discussions:
  • those that pertain to administrative aspects of the course (admin);

  • those that provide feedback on the way the instruction is proceeding and, more, generally about course quality (feedback);

  • those that seek help with or provide advice about the software being used in the course (software);

  • those that relate to camaraderie in the class and are not directly related to course content (social);

  • those that discuss general issues related to the subject matter of this course (general);

  • those that concern problems in each of the assignments we will be seeing in the course (hw1, hw2, etc); and

  • those that discuss sample problems that will be put out for the exams and also ask questions about the exams (midterm and final).

• Pick the folder and also the category, whether a question or a note, for what you post carefully. Make sure to include an informative subject line. Paying attention to these aspects will have an impact on whether or not your posting is seen in a timely manner. It will also have 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.

• Check the other postings before you actually post your own. 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, whether as a separate thread or as an elaboration to an ongoing discussion, if you read first.

• Participate in discussions actively and enthusiastically. If you have a question, post it with confidence. Remember, questions you ask towards gaining a better understanding will never be held against you by anyone whose opinions we should take seriously. 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. 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.

• A specific aspect that you should think carefully about before you post something is whether what you post will interfere with the requirement that each student is required to do the work that counts towards a grade independently. There is some discussion about this issue in the academic honesty part of the policies section that you should look up at the start of the term.

• Although you can post anonymously to all the forums that have been set up, I recommend that you identify yourself completely with every post on any forum other than that for commenting on the course quality. This is part of the idea of being confident about yourself and also helps with the collegiality of the class.