A typical discussion text begins with a declaration describing the issue and is followed by a series of paragraphs that provide facts, opinions, or arguments for and against the topic. Each paragraph should contain between 150 and 250 words. The discussion text is used by discussion board moderators to create a forum where students can share their views on the issue at hand. They usually do this by allowing each student to write one paragraph discussing either for or against the issue. These paragraphs are called threads. The moderator then chooses several threads which they think will produce a fruitful conversation. They start these conversations by posting the issue statement along with the introduction paragraph written by the moderator. Students read this material and respond in the comments section. A new thread is then started for each response so there is never more than one discussion per issue. As you can see, the standard discussion text allows students to have an opinion on the issue at hand while also providing information about their case. This creates a fertile environment for learning where both sides get something out of the conversation. There are many different forms that can be used instead. You can find examples of them in the curriculum guide that comes with your course package.