Regarding "Homework Help and Advice"

[i_love_burritos]

Forum.Tip.It does not currently have one of these boards - Homework H/A. I was wondering why ?

 

I've looked in the suggestion blacklist and it's not there. I was asking, because I remember something about it not being allowed ? Am I wrong ? If I'm not, what is the reason behind it not being allowed ?

 

Thanks.

[obfuscator]

I don't think it was ever not allowed, dunno though.

 

I don't see why we want to encourage people too lazy to do their own homework though.

[i_love_burritos]

Yea, that's what I was thinking too, but on some other specific "science" forums [such as physicsforums] they DO have homework help and adive boards BUT, you will not recieve any help or an "answer" if you do not provide a legitimate attempt at a solution, [also providing a flat out answer is against their rules].

 

So... mods/admins/otherpeoplewhohavecontroloverthesite, whaddya' say ?

[tripsis]

If a thread is very clearly "do this homework for me" then it is not allowed. But typically if some discussion can be made from a homework-related thread then the moderators don't seem to mind leaving it open. I don't think we need a whole forum for it though, Off-Topic works just fine.. Especially considering that so few threads are even allowed.

[i_love_burritos]

Here are the rules that the "other" site provides :

 

 

Homework Help:

On posting questions: Any and all high school and undergraduate homework assignments or textbook style exercises for which you are seeking assistance are to be posted in the appropriate forum in our Homework & Coursework Questions area--not in blogs, visitor messages, PMs, or the main technical forums. This should be done whether the problem is part of one's assigned coursework or just independent study. The reason for this is that the scientific and mathematical sections of Physics Forums are to be reserved for discussions and not academic assistance. Since graduate level assignments are meant to be more thought provoking (and hence more worthy of discussion), graduate level questions will be allowed in the relevant part of the main section of PF, provided that the graduate student attempts the problem and shows his work. NOTE: You MUST show that you have attempted to answer your question in order to receive help. You MUST make use of the homework template, which automatically appears when a new topic is created in the homework help forums.

 

We do not support cheating in any form: Do not ask for solution manuals, answers to exams, or instructor's manuals. Every school and instructor has their own policies or honor codes on what constitutes cheating, and it is up to the individual student to adhere to those policies when seeking help here. If you are in doubt as to whether you are permitted to seek help, consider erring on the side of caution and not asking for help.

 

On helping with questions: Any and all assistance given to homework assignments or textbook style exercises should be given only after the questioner has shown some effort in solving the problem. If no attempt is made then the questioner should be asked to provide one before any assistance is given. Under no circumstances should complete solutions be provided to a questioner, whether or not an attempt has been made.

 

[Youmu]

I don't really see how this is necessary...

 

But it sounds like a nice addition anyways so it doesn't matter to me either way.

[dsavi]

A whole new board is overkill, and I think that we should avoid dividing the discussions up any further. If we were to implement anything like this, it would probably have to be a whole off-topic help & advice forum, not just homework help. Personally, though, I'm against both.

[i_love_burritos]

So ... are you against the idea of having a Homework H/A completely ? Or just the idea of having a subforum ?

 

Because ... how will the users know about it ? Unless it's a announcement ? [Which then make the OT board full of those types of threads ...] Unless it was done in the Real Life H/A thread ?

[dsavi]

I'm against creating a subforum specifically for homework help & advice even more than I am against creating a help and advice subforum, which would be the logical solution was this a real problem. But I'm against both ideas.

[i_love_burritos]

Ah, ok.

 

Well, the mods and admins have to approve of it first ...

[Kaphias]

It makes no sense to me. I've never had any trouble answering any of my homework questions with a quick Google search or calling/IMing a friend.

[i_love_burritos]

It makes no sense to me. I've never had any trouble answering any of my homework questions with a quick Google search or calling/IMing a friend.

 

Yes, of course, google can solve nearly everything [and so can Wolfram Alpha].

 

But I'm saying it would be good for users to have the ability to post questions they are having difficulty with. And often google searches yield answers with little explanation or poor explanation.

[Shazarabbit]

I was always under the assumption that you were allowed to post this in Off-Topic. I know it came up a few times as a discussion.

 

There shouldn't be a need for it though. The person posting can get the exact same information by using Google, or another search program.

[i_love_burritos]

Right, I get it ...

 

So its, unnecessary but allowed. That's what the majority of you are saying.

 

I'm saying, great. Users - [even though this is a RUNESCAPE fansite], users would if they posted what they're having trouble with here, get a better understanding over what google provides. Especially for the maths and hard sciences ...

 

So, I'm asking for a "verdict", what's the outcome of this ?

 

Will this thread just be buried, will one of the mods/admins just say "yep" and lock it ? Will an announcement be put out ? Etcetera ...

[obfuscator]

If there's no board within a month, I'd say its not happening. You could always pm an admin after a while to see if anything's being done.

[das]

A verdict so soon? This hasn't even been open for 24 hours.

 

Personally, i'm agaisnt the idea of a homework subforum - because I fear it will encourage academic dishonesty. It seems like awful ambigous idea to require a user to put forth a "good faith effort" before posting the problem, some people are more apt than others and will be able to show more work, and people stumped who may need a tutor - may get flamed for not knowing the work or look like they might be trying to "Cheat".

 

That being said - if you need help that bad - you probably won't want to come to a forum of gamers for homework assignments on the whole, I myself would much rather go to an educational forum and seek such guidance.

[Rainy_Day]

If people need homework help, there are a variety of search engines/websites which undoubtably can provide answers. As Das said, it seems dishonest to post your problems here and have others give you the answers. Afterall, homework is meant for you to do your own research and work out your own answers. I'm personally against such a forum.

[stevepole]

I'm against it, like Das mentioned, I also fear it will encourage academic dishonesty. We don't really have much of a problem to begin with users seeking help with their homework, maybe once every month or two someone will post asking for help. If you really need help with homework ask someone in your class or try your teacher, they'd be more then willing to help. The only times I feel it is appropriate to ask for help is when your doing research and you find something puzzling or are stump, then I feel it is ok for someone to make a thread, generally in off-topic, where you provide enough information that you can start a good discussion.