Discussion: answering people's academic Qs if they haven't attempted first

[heids]

We've noticed that, especially in question threads, users are often like "solve this q for me pls".  No attempt, no clarification of what the issue is, no learning involved, just "do my work for me in detailed steps kthxbai".  It's not helpful for either the helpers or the helpees.  Learning happens through trying it out yourself, rather than through getting someone else to do it for you.

In my early days of answering questions, I remember always jumping in and giving a full answer straight away, whether the person had tried or not - it was actually vox nihili on the Bio thread who encouraged me to start asking for the user's input.

So this is a call for all you wonderful helpers and answerers to start asking people who've just given you the question something like this: "I'm happy to help, but could you give me your attempted answer/ideas/working so far so I can see what specifically is your issue? "

Every time you jump straight in and help the whole way, it's absolutely awesome, and we LOVE it, but you could be even more helpful by refusing to answer without asking them to do some more work!  If everyone does this, then it'll cease to look like "you're just not being helpful" by doing this, and it'll become the norm.

What're your thoughts?

[Aaron]

Bump. I think this is a really important point to consider, especially all the users who are such great helpers around the boards.

I personally think it is important that if a user asks for help - or the answer to a question... you query them first if they haven't provided any of their own working out. Get their understanding. We must understand that simply giving solutions may help them with their SACs/homework/etc... but it may do very little to actually get them to understand how to figure it out with different questions. In the end, students need to be able to figure things out for themselves (for tests, exams and so on).

As a now qualified teacher, one of the biggest issues in schools is the dependence on the teacher and the "just give me the answer" attitude, rather than actually understanding how and why (conceptual thinking). By asking the questioner for their understanding, we can not only give them the answer, but correct misconceptions when they arise.

My thoughts I hope as many people as possible contribute to the discussion... it's one worth having.

[S200]

Learning happens through trying it out yourself, rather than through getting someone else to do it for you.

Hey!!
I never really thought of that!
Will keep this in mind...