AE 868
Commercial Solar Electric Systems

Lesson Discussion

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In this class, we will have several discussions throughout the semester, so you will have the opportunity to share your ideas and opinions with your peers. It has been shown that students who contribute to class conversations early on in the semester are much more likely to continue contributing to class discussions throughout the semester than those students who remain quiet during the initial few weeks of the term. Therefore, it is imperative to participate and respond to others' opinions to create a sense of community from day one. The discussions are tailored to suit each topic so that you can maximize the benefits of the class material and additional reading material.

You are encouraged to put yourself in the scenarios and try to respond to the discussions as you would in real-world situations. You will experience various discussion questions that look similar in the rooted concept of various PV market sectors, such as residential and utility scale solar systems; however, each discussion will shine a light on different objectives and topics related to each lesson.

Requirements and Guidelines

  • Discussions are meant to be the common ground between you and the instructor to agree or disagree on different topics.
  • Each original response to the question must be at least 200 words long (and not exceed 300 words).
  • Cite work when needed. You can reference contents from class material for the week as well.
  • Peer responses must be within the range of (150-200) words long and follow these guidelines:
    • agreement with elaboration
    • an alternative perspective with rationale, or a respectful challenge with counter argument.

Submission Instructions

To submit your discussion response, please follow the procedure below:


  1. Go to the appropriate Lesson Discussion Forum in Canvas.
  2. Select Reply from the instructor's original post.
  3. Copy/paste your response into the Canvas text box from a saved document (to prevent losing your work if the page refreshes, etc.).
  4. Select Post Reply. Your response is now visible to your classmates and your instructors. Check in to the discussion forum often throughout the week to post and respond to comments and questions.
  5. Respond to two different opinions of others' posts.

Note: Please do not procrastinate with your responses and comments. The discussion will be much richer if everyone participates from the beginning and continues throughout the week.

Grading Rubric

Use the rubric below to guide your participation in our discussions and maximize your opportunity to earn full credit.

There are 5 lesson discussions throughout this course. These discussions are each worth 3%, for a total of 15% of your final grade.

Discussion Activity Rubric
Criteria (Standards) Total Possible Points (3)

Original entry

Contributes a thoughtful, well-written, original post that ties together lesson material, readings, and prompt questions.

2

Commenting on Classmate Posts and Replying to Comments on Your Initial Post

Responds to classmates posts with thoughtful, substantive responses, offering suggestions and counterpoints in a professional and well-documented manner. Answers questions and comments posted to his/her own entry in the same manner.

1