clarification on a forum rule

Since asking for homework help isn't allowed, what's the rule on answering homework help? Obviously we shouldn't give them the answer, but is pointing the person in the right direction also considered "illegal"? Should we just automatically report homework help questions to a moderator?

Nothing should be wrong with it. It's not our job to find out which are h/w questions and which are not. The moderators should make that judgement in case of any doubt if it is brought to their notice.

I would say that vaguely giving them a clue, and mentioning that asking for homework help is frowned upon would be the way to go.

titanium_geek

I was mostly just curious, because I've seen a few, and tend to steer away, because I'm not sure how to respond.

If in doubt on any thread or post, just report it and move on, the moderators will handle it accordingly.

That's funny. I had read rules, but didn't realize that when it said, "Do not expect LQ members to do your homework - you will learn much more by doing it yourself." It meant literal school homework. I thought it meant it in a a more esoteric, grand scheme of life kind of way.

I try not to be a tattle-tale, if a moderator doesn't like it they will find it all in time. I wouldn't answer homework questions myself, though. Ideas, like suggestions on essay topics? Sure. But questions like "solve equation y=3x+9"? No. It just shows irresponsibility on the part of the student.

I agree, I was just curious. @Patrokov, I think it means both. There are obviously threads asking for help on school homework, however, I can see how it would apply to both situations.

Originally Posted by peter_89 I try not to be a tattle-tale, if a moderator doesn't like it they will find it all in time.

You really think so? With the vast number (and growing) of threads on LQ, mods cannot possibly read all of them. If you see one, report it. If it's ok, we'll take no action. No one thinks any less of people who report posts.

My view is that pointing someone at a hint or page which will help them to ge the answer is fine. Don't do the homework for them - that's lazy for them and a good number of us left full time education a long time ago and have no wish to help someone cheat their way through their own.

Or I post that "if the poster doesn't understand the problem or just can't do it, it's far more constructive for them to speak to their teacher. If we do the work for them, they will learn nothing."

It's not tattle taleing- report report report- with in reason of course. The mods will let you know if you are doing it too much. It's not public, so the problem-maker/rule breaker can't track you down or anything.

It's like crimestoppers- it helps the community.

titanium_geek

Hmm, I see what you mean...

I have always been of the opinion that it's best to clarify the rule for the poster -- but also provide a pointer to information that can help them. Something along the lines of... have you tried googling for "foobar looping around a frobnitz structure" and looked at the results carefully?

Unless the question is blatantly lazy... in which case I ignore it. But if they're stuck... I have no problem pointing them to references which could help them get unstuck. That's just my own personal feeling on the subject.

I don't mind doing as you just described, but when a poster says "hey, I'm having problems with the following..." and then types out the whole list of problems as set by their teacher, that tells me that either a) the person is flat out lazy or b) they don't understand the work.

Either way, the thread is closed and they get no help.

Now, if they post "I am learning C at school and I don't understand how to do the following statement, could someone point me at a resource that may explain it clearly?" then that person gets both sympathy and help because they are at least trying.

so it seems to me that the rule is really dependant on the situation, and there's no real right answer. So I should just exercise judgement on reporting?

Originally Posted by XavierP Either way, the thread is closed and they get no help.

Some of don't have that luxury Xavier

Originally Posted by microsoft/linux so it seems to me that the rule is really dependant on the situation, and there's no real right answer. So I should just exercise judgement on reporting?

Pretty much, I'm afraid. OTOH, if in doubt - report it. There's no penalty for reporting something that's ok, and if it's not it's better that we know.

Originally Posted by microsoft/linux Some of don't have that luxury Xavier

Bwahahahaha