How Should New Members Format Homework Questions and Avoid Textspeak?

[D H]

1) Some new members are posting homework questions without following the suggested problem statement/relevant equations/work format. Is there a sticky thread I can point them to to tell them how to formulate a question?

2) Cud u please ad popup chkbox for new mbrs no TXTspeak?

 

[robphy]

2) Cud u please ad popup chkbox for new mbrs no TXTspeak?

Have you seen...
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/11/1356212&from=rss?

 

[Doc Al]

Have you seen...
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/11/1356212&from=rss?

That's just wrong.

 

[D H]

Have you seen ...
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/11/11-28-06tdc/11-28-06dops-letter-03.asp

 

[mgb_phys]

Annoying as it is - especially if you are trying to get someone else to help you - I suppose it's no different from writing 'wrt' etc.

 

[robphy]

Annoying as it is - especially if you are trying to get someone else to help you - I suppose it's no different from writing 'wrt' etc.

... for a few words, on occasion... ok.
But not when a spellchecker will mark almost every word as misspelled.

Have you seen the post that probably prompted this thread?

 

[Kurdt]

I think they've allowed it in English exams here in England. I'm not a huge fan of text speak. I don't mind language evolving but I think text speak is a huge regression.

 

[G01]

I don't think there is any good reason to use text speak when you have a full QWERTY keyboard in front of you. With a whole keyboard, how hard is it to type full sentences and words?--See I just did it...

 

[Astronuc]

One would never write a formal letter or document in shorthand.

One does not write formally in textspeak. It's bad enough to have to read English (or other language) that is poorly written.

 

[Moonbear]

1) Some new members are posting homework questions without following the suggested problem statement/relevant equations/work format. Is there a sticky thread I can point them to to tell them how to formulate a question?

2) Cud u please ad popup chkbox for new mbrs no TXTspeak?

The template was supposed to help with problem #1. I suspect those compelled to write as in #2 are unlikely to read the instructions anyway. One may feel completely free to ignore homework help requests that 1) do not follow the requested format, especially if they are leaving out showing their work, or 2) require too much effort to interpret whatever the student is attempting to say in txt speak. That's about the best advice I can offer.

 

[Chris Hillman]

I too have noticed the recent spate of questions about homework problems (in fact I just spotted another one).

In the past, I have argued that the PF rules for behavior https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=5374 should be much easier to find. The response was "difficult due to technical limitations", but I'll raise the issue again in hopes that this time Greg or chroot will find some way to do this (e.g. a link at the top or bottom of every PF page to the behavioral rules, which should be page, not a thread). In the spirit of reciprocity, similar remarks hold for privacy policy, BTW, i.e. the behavioral rules that the maintainers of PF have promised to follow!

Another idea: a button like the report button which does this: posts a "canned" reply stating that the post violates a rule and saying where to find these rules.

I'd like to see both, but to deal with the people who don't read rules the second would be very handy.

Perhaps the rule about homework should be added? So that all the rules are in one place?

 

[Moonbear]

I too have noticed the recent spate of questions about homework problems (in fact I just spotted another one).

It's that time of year when students are either taking their first set of exams in college, or just getting back the results of those exams, and realizing they actually need to do homework well if they're going to pass their classes. It's typical to get a burst in the number of homework questions this time of year.

In the past, I have argued that the PF rules for behavior https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=5374 should be much easier to find. The response was "difficult due to technical limitations", but I'll raise the issue again in hopes that this time Greg or chroot will find some way to do this (e.g. a link at the top or bottom of every PF page to the behavioral rules, which should be page, not a thread). In the spirit of reciprocity, similar remarks hold for privacy policy, BTW, i.e. the behavioral rules that the maintainers of PF have promised to follow!

I'd love it to be more easily found too. For some reason, the last upgrade disabled the system we had that required everyone registering to view the rules and check a box agreeing to them before letting them post. It did the same for the forum-specific guidelines. I know it would save time for us mentors too if the rules were in a prominent location and everyone had them shoved in their face before making the first post, because we otherwise have to assume they probably didn't find them yet and do a lot more thread moving.

Another idea: a button like the report button which does this: posts a "canned" reply stating that the post violates a rule and saying where to find these rules.

Something like that is likely to be abused, but rest assured that when the mentors have to do something about a new member's post (i.e., move a homework post, delete inappropriate content, etc.), we do send a pointer to the guidelines.

I'd like to see both, but to deal with the people who don't read rules the second would be very handy.

Actually, most of the mentors already have a few canned responses saved as text files for just such occassions, and use them.

Perhaps the rule about homework should be added? So that all the rules are in one place?

The forum guidelines DO cover the homework rules too. The last revision of those guidelines was done with that in mind, to get more of the guidelines consolidated in one place. (We also closed a few "loopholes.")

There used to be a way for the admins to post an announcement that appeared as the first thread in every forum (when we had special "guests" for chat events, for example, these were announced across the whole site), so if that feature still exists, it might be a good way to broadly post the guidelines, or at least to announce that they've been revised so people know to take a gander at them and refresh their memory or check if the changes apply to them.

 

[D H]

In the past, I have argued that the PF rules for behavior https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=5374 should be much easier to find.

I'd love it to be more easily found too.

Even that set of guidelines does not contain the template.
1. Homework Statement
2. Homework Equations
3. The Attempt at a Solution
Where is this template? I can't find it, so how can I tell the "do my homework pleasezz" crowd how to formulate their request?

For some reason, the last upgrade disabled the system we had that required everyone registering to view the rules and check a box agreeing to them before letting them post.

What happened to the system that made us periodically view the rules and click those checkboxes? That was a bit over the top, but at least it was there. Do people just sign up now without agreeing to anything??

One problem with those rules are they are too long and look like legaleze. We collectively are so used to software warranties along the lines of "You will not hold FlyByNight Software responsible when our software erases your entire disk, steals your identity, and sets your house on fire. Do you agree to these terms?" We click yes, because no sends us back to square one.

Making individual popups of a very select few of the rules might tell the prospective member that we take these items very seriously.

 

[Kurdt]

The template appears when you post a new thread in the homework forums. A sticky about that might be prudent, but there's still the problem of people adamant about not reading things.

 

[Evo]

Can we do a pop up for new threads in HW that supplies the template and basic rules?

 

[Moonbear]

The template automatically appears when someone starts a new thread in the HW Help forum. There is nothing we can do to stop them from deleting the template or ignoring it, but we can't get much more blunt than having it pre-filled into their post for them. They have to actually physically delete that template for it to not appear in their post if they start a thread in the HW forum, so as I suggested above, feel free to ignore their request for help if they are willfully ignoring our request to provide enough information to help them by deleting the template.

However, the template does NOT appear if the post is moved from another forum. When we move a post, though, they are sent a warning about where to post along with reminders to show their work, etc., so if they do not follow-up with additional information after the thread is moved, again, I suggest patiently waiting for those details, or at most, posting a comment to please show their work before you can help.

If you want to point them to an example, pick any other HW thread above or below theirs that uses the template. There's an entire forum of good examples to choose from.

The biggest problem really are those who post their first HW question in the main forums rather than HW Help, because there isn't anything to nudge them where they need to be, so the mentors provide the nudge instead.

 

[D H]

Thanks. I didn't know the template came up automatically. Nice. Well now I know that if some member of the "do my homework pleasezz" crowd posted their thread in the homework section they did see the template. What annoys me most are the ones who post their entire homework assignment in separate threads, expecting us to do it for them for free. What are these freeloaders going to do when they hit the real world?

 

[Moonbear]

What are these freeloaders going to do when they hit the real world?

They'll do what they do best, continue freeloading!

 

[D H]

But my taxes are too high already, and I already have three freeloaders oops three college-aged young adults who drain my wallet dry. Amazingly, the one on a full ride at a private college costs more than the other two combined.