Question

The whole
"Give Help, Not Answers
I will encourage and guide those needing help, and not just give them an answer"


In my opinion is un-needed... I mean I have been in a situation where I am doing my physics and glance up at the screen and see a problem I can solve quickly, So i do it quickly on my scratch paper. I can not explain it fully because I am busy doing my physics and There are not many people on because it is in the middle of the day and there are many questions that are unanswered . At that point I can do two things, I can post the answer (no explanation) or i can--------

Answer 1

let it go unanswered... So in a situation such as that you should be able to post the answer and no solution, and by no means am I saying that if there are allot of people, or you have the time you should not explain fully to them, (as I usually do when I have the time)... And that is why I oppose that rule and wish that you would think about removing it.

Answer 2

Hi @DoomDude - so, the issue here is the person asking the question. We are here to help them learn - not just provide them the answer. As you probably are aware, most people, once they have the answer, simply tune out anything else, as they've received what they were looking for.

I understand your position - and honestly, I value this type of conversation. I am sure you are not the only one who feels like this, and it's very helpful to bring this conversation to the forefront. Thank you Doom, and thank you for being a helpful member of OpenStudy (by bringing this up and not simply 'hating' us and not telling us). Cheers!

Answer 3

thanks for at least reading and thinking about it.

Answer 4

Totally, I'm here to listen Doom - everyone's opinion matters to me, I can assure you.

Answer 5

I totally agree with cshavlvey's views here - the focus on this site should be on helping the asker learn about the subject.

Answer 6

*cshalvey

Answer 7

agreed, but under the circumstances... it should be able to be waved

Answer 8

what would the question asker "gain" here?

Answer 9

imagine if you went to a school where the teachers were so busy that they just decided to give everyone the answers to all the problems instead of explaining it to them

Answer 10

@DoomDude
"I can not explain it fully because I am busy doing my physics "
If you are busy and can't take the time to actually help, it would be really cool if you could wait and come back another time and give an explanation. Thats what helps students. Students learn and grow to teach other students. If this cycle is not repeated, a generation of dunce is produced. WTF will people do when the internet is no more? I cannot fathom the carnage....

Answer 11

That is an option, to wait, but usually people do not wait over 4 hours to get an answer... and I am sure that lets say, the person REALLY needed to get that question right for his finals, He could learn it afterwards, and still gotten that question right, as opposed to your method where he would have gotten that problem wrong, and then learned it. both way involve him learning it, but my method enables him to pass his finals...

Answer 12

What forces him to have interest in learning it after he passes the final?

Answer 13

All I am getting at is, if you could change that rule to be a little more forgiving on people that (under certain circumstances) post answer only... Essentially make it so you should FULLY explain it when ever you can, and ONLY on special circumstances let them answer without explanation.

Answer 14

him/her*

Answer 15

I would like to learn it if it was me, because I know that there are only going to be more problems like that in the future.

Answer 16

yes him/her

Answer 17

I honestly don't want to pass people who don't know the material. I want to make sure they know it before I say hey this person can pass.

Answer 18

Yes, but just think, if YOU were in that situation, what would you want!?

Answer 19

wouldn't you want someone to help you?

Answer 20

hmmm...I never been in the situation where I waited last minute to get help.

Answer 21

can you not use your imagination?

Answer 22

lol. I'm saying you shouldn't wait last minute to get help.

Answer 23

And it really shouldn't be called help. It is called cheating.

Answer 24

of course... but if it came to it, as one person that was on here JUST today, he was all caps panicking in chat...

Answer 25

Call it what you will, but what would you want if you were in that situation (please use your imagination)

Answer 26

amistre64 is better at using his imagination.

Answer 27

You will see.

Answer 28

ok then, amistre

Answer 29

why would a person be using this site as a free answering service under the guise of needing help? if they want to pass their tests they should have taken the time to study before the test right?

Answer 30

You know that there are always excuses (and SOME have legitimacy)...

Answer 31

you are avoiding the question though...

Answer 32

i read this as: you dont have the time help them, so why would you bother handing out an answer? is it just for street cred?

Answer 33

name a legitimacy to your hypothetical

Answer 34

You were very sick, parents were in the hospital

Answer 35

you can keep going

Answer 36

and .... what makes any of this legitimate?

Answer 37

because they are true...

Answer 38

and .....

Answer 39

ya know what...

Answer 40

just forget it...

Answer 41

its tru that i spent all my time watching ncis; and ......

Answer 42

Sometimes if things like that can be proved in some schools, the teacher might allow a incomplete. It doesn't mean the person still shouldn't know the material and also pass.

Answer 43

you people aren't getting what i am saying... and if you are obviously you do not care..

Answer 44

you are playing one side, we are playing the other ....

Answer 45

prove your position

Answer 46

@doomdude I care about your opinion(s). I'm just stating mine like you are stating yours.

Answer 47

never the less, this debate is going nowhere, we might as well end it.

Answer 48

... i just kicked myin, i wonder if it worked :)

Answer 49

@DoomDude The wait....I guess I didn't consider the number of folks who will post a question, and then hover over it until the answer is arrived at. I'm used to less.......active forums. Then again, this is no ordinary p2p site, now is it? But the inswer is a horrible thing, and when one person is seen doing it, I'm positive it spawns a false awareness of "Hey, look, the moderators must not care that much! That guy just inswered like 3 q's" And then you can see the abuse of leniency begin to evolve into full disregard.

Where it would be acceptable, is only after a certain time. A certain amount of time should elapse before the answer is just given away before the student understands the process.

Another solution for this problem would be to create age-segregation in the entire system. Categorize users by what grade they are in. For example, three subdivisions of user functionality and inswer forgiveness. Sometimes it IS necessary to use the answer to help a student understand. So one subdivision for collegiates and above, another for high school, another for GED.

Answer 50

All I ask, is to let the users that have proven that they only mean the best, to just let them use their better judgment on what problems to give the answer on and what ones not to, (granted that the vast majority will be fully explaining it).... So essentially, if someone with a little bit of seniority answers (with no explanation) a question once and a while.