And I think it’s still skirting the line. If all you have to do is say “this is for a homework where it’s ok to ask for help” when you ask a homework question, there might as well be no board policy against it.
Also, I think that asking how to do math problems on a forum such as this one is a losing proposition, over all. It’s far better to go and talk to your professor/TA or people in your study group or anywhere where there’s a person with a pencil and paper in front of you than solicit the advice of the teeming millions.
Also, more and more universities are transitioning to a web based homework system where all that counts is the answer you type into the box, not the work that you show. Typically the professor will say “yes, you can and should work together” in this situation, especially because everyone in the class has a slightly different assignment. (Random number generators, ftw) If someone then goes online and posts the problem and asks for help, they get a solution to the exact problem from their assignment. I don’t think that’s what our OP is doing, but it’s somthing to watch out for in the future.
Finally, I teach calculus at the college level, and I am fairly confident in saying that most of my colleagues do not include “fish for help from message boards” under the heading of “it’s ok to ask for help and work with others.” Shrug.
Well, tenebras, if we had competant aids in the math lab, I might not need help. But we don’t. For some ungodly reason, they’re almost incapable of actually doing math. They can do differential equations but you ask them an algebraic question, they’re like “Uh… maybe you can ask someone else about that…”
Come to think of it, I think Ive been posting here long enough that by definition I must be in college. High school would have thrown me out about, oh, 8 years ago.
When I taught circuit analysis at the junior college level I told students they could get help from any source available. I never heard of being assigned a job and told that I had to do it all on my own. However, I also warned them that they had better know the material because their grade depended heavily on frequent tests and final exams that they had to do all alone.
With respect, what difference does it make? At the college level, if he doesn’t learn what he needs to know about the process in the course of constructing a correct answer, he’ll simply blow the test when the time comes. And if we here manage to teach him the process, in the course of helping him achieve a “correct” answer, then all the better.
If you don’t think that’s “fair” or “legitimate,” I recommend either a change of heart or a change of profession; you would appear to consider form more important than function. :shrug:
Personally? I don’t care a whit how you get your answers or where they come from. I’m reasonably sure that most students get answers by tuning in to messages beamed from space. Your grade in my class is completely determined by your performance on exams.
As far as whether asking for help online is kosher, I was just reporting on what I think the general temper of the department is here. Moreover, it’s not that I think ask for help on a forum such as this is somehow “unfair” or “illegitimate.” I would say something more along the lines of “ill considered.” Why would you turn to an internet forum with a prohibition on homework questions instead of to the professor?
And smiling bandit, I don’t understand how someone is supposed to be able to do differential equations while simultaneously unable to do algebra.
We tend to forget a lot of algebra we learned that is no longer necessary. Even in deferential equations, the algebra needed is very basic. I can get through it with no problem. But when my little brother asks for help in his algebra class… umm… yeah, sorry dude, I don’t remember. Algebra’s a big field, and I don’t remember a lot of stuff that I haven’t used in ten years.
I don’t get it- asking a TA or the prof, or a friend, or your mum, for help is OK, but asking it here isn’t? What’s the difference as long as you learn?
Well, that’s the stickler, isn’t it? Often, the person simply is asking for a problem’s solution, rather than trying to discover the way to think about solving the problem. Since such solutions tend to be graded, providing a solution here, without making certain the questioner understands the process, is, in essence, facilitating cheating. The work that is being returned by the student is not his/her own, but the work of some one or more of us here.
A TA or Prof would know not to give out the answer without being certain the process was comprehended. Of course, it’s not possible to totally shut off obtaining answers without process, but we as a Board don’t want to facilitate that type of “learning.”
