Discussions in Canvas

Why Would My Professor Add Discussions to my Canvas Course?

Your professor may include discussion questions to

• Help you start thinking about an upcoming Assignment or class discussion.
• Follow-up on a conversation or questions that began in a face-to-face classroom.
• Test your comprehension of important points made in class.
• Debate contradictory ideas.
• Brainstorm different approaches to a class problem.

Discussions may be graded or ungraded. Read your syllabus carefully to review whether your instructor has included discussion questions as part of the required coursework.

How To View Discussions

You can view discussions as a student by clicking on the Discussions link on the navigation bar on the left of the screen. Your instructor may also include a link in the course module to the discussion.

Typically you will be asked to write a reply to the discussion question and then reply to one or more of your classmates' posts (replies). Your professor may require you to post your first response before you can read your classmates' replies.

How To Reply to a Discussion

Best practice: Write and save your replies to discussion questions in a separate document. This way you can proofread and check for grammar and spelling errors.  AND, most importantly, you have a copy of your work. Infrequently but occasionally you may lose your work if you are replying directly to the discussion question; for example you may delete your work accidentally or the internet connection may drop out.

Discussion responses should be clearly written and include references supporting the points you make. You can include images and links to web resources (e.g., articles, sites) in your reply. Once you have posted your reply, you will see it appear in the replies to the discussion question. If it does not appear, you have not successfully submitted your reply. Read more  on posting replies to discussions.