<p>Student participation in online discussion assignments facilitates learning and critical thinking. The instructor needs to develop policies and inform students of them before an assignment is completed so each student is aware of the assignment objectives and what areas they will be assessed. Rubrics are an assessment tool that can provide students with these specific requirements and when used correctly be an instrcutor can provide the student with feedback on the areas they are doing well and areas where improvement is needed and how they can make those improvementson future assignments.</p>