Original source material when instructors are creating discussion board activities for online courses, at least two questions must be answered. first, what is the objective of the discussions? different objectives might be to create a "social presence" among students so that they do not feel isolated, to ask questions regarding assignments or topics, or to determine if students understand a topic by having them analyze and evaluate contextual situations. based on the response to this question, different rules might be implemented to focus on the quality of the interaction more so than the quantity. the second question is, how important is online discussions in comparison to the other activities that students will perform? this question alludes to the amount of participation that instructors expect from students in online discussions along with the other required activities for the course. if a small percentage of student effort is designated for class participation, our results show that it can affect the quality and quantity of interactions. references: moore, j. l., & marra, r. m. (2005) a comparative analysis of online discussion participation protocols. journal of research on technology in education, 38(2), 191-212.student version; according to moore and marra's (2005) case study, which observed two online courses, students in the first course implemented a constructive argumentation approach while students in second course had less structure for their postings. as they stated, when instructors create online discussion board activities, they must answer at least two questions. these questions are: "what is the objective of the discussions? " and "how important are online discussions in comparison to the other activities that students will perform? " according to their findings, the discussion activities that were designed based on the answers to these questions can influence the quality and quantity of interactions (moore & marra, 2005).references: moore, j. l., & marra, r. m. (2005) a comparative analysis of online discussion participation protocols. journal of research on technology in education, 38(2), 191-212.is it word for word plagiarismparaphrasing plagiarism not plagiarism