Question

Asking good questions:

A tutorial on asking well so that you can get good help.

Answer 1

You may have heard the phrase that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Well, that comes from the idea that being inquisitive is good. However, questions can be poorly formed. This applies even more when you are online than in person because there are many context queues that are lost.

So, how can you ask better questions?

First, make sure to give people all the basic information they need. If there is some diagram or statement like "For the next three questions..." be sure to include it. While this seems obvious, there have been many times where I have been lost while answering someone when suddenly they said, "Oh, and it says they are parallel lines." or some such fact that is needed to properly answer things.

Second, make sure to explain what you have done, tried had problems with, understood, etc. If I am going to walk someone through a several step problem, it really helps if I know I can skip steps 1 through 5 because you did not have trouble with those. If something uses technical terms, it is good to know if I need to explain them or not. This information is all about helping people know where you have had trouble so that they can help properly. The more they know, the better they can help.

Third, be positive about things. Learning can be very frustrating. If you express that, well, it does not help the process. On the other hand, if you are polite about wanting help, show a willingness to learn, and thank people for their help, it causes the entire experience to be less painful and more productive.

Fourth, try to use proper formatting. Languages use punctuation for very good reasons. The phrases "Let's go eat grandma." and "Let's go eat, grandma." are cannibalism and an invitation with the only difference being a comma! a2+2ab+b2 looks sort of like 2a+2ab+2b, but perhaps you mean a^2+2ab+b^2 or with the math formatting system \(a^2+2ab+b^2\). And code quoting systems can really help computer science questions (``` above and below a question, http://dpaste.com , or http://pastebin.com .)

Here are some short examples.

The bad way:
What is the derivative of x^2-9?

See, that is just asking for the answer, which is not really going to help. This is especially true if it does not answer what you really need answered.

Here would be something better:

I am studying the limit definition of the derivative and I get the whole approaching 0 part, but how do I put \(x^2-9\) into the f(x) and f(x-h) formula to find its derivative?

This is more clear. It talks about what you are specifically studying, what you know, and where the particular problem is. You are also asking for help with the process, not the end result.


Now for another example.

Bad:

I have Python 2.5 and I am supposed to do a hello world function, but it is not working. What am I doing wrong?

OK, you said what programming language and even the version. You also asked for hat is going wrong, not for the answer. However, what you have tried is missing!

I have Python 2.5 and I am supposed to do a hello world function, but it is not working. Here is my code:

http://pastebin.com/J9Bdb358

What am I doing wrong?

(Or you could have used the inline code quote with ``` [the one with the ~ on the key] above and below the code block)

```
def greeting():
message = "Hello World!"
print(message)

greeting()
```

See how this is almost the same question but also shows what has been tried?

I am sure you can see how you could apply similar ideas to say an English question on the classics where you explain what it is you do not understand, be it the language, etc. or to a chemistry question where you can explain what you have tried for balancing an equation so that someone could help you fix your mistakes, or any other subject.

The better your questions, the easier it is for people to give good answers. This makes it really worth it to take a little more time when asking.

Answer 2

I think this is awesome! Well done! :D

Answer 3

Fifth: Post your question so that way people can get the gist of your question without having to click on it and see what it is about. Also do not just post `Medal and fan` so that way you can get more people to click on it and see if they can help you. Or also hitting a few enters before pasting your question so that you have to click it to see the rest of the question.

Basically what I am saying:
\(\Huge . \)Do not open a question saying `Medal and Fan`
\(\Huge . \)Make sure that everyone can read most of your question without clicking it.
\(\Huge . \)And everything Eric said above :)

Answer 4

Well, that is more like an extention to first. Hehe. Or an example of a bad one people do.

Answer 5

You can also adapt this to asking online in general. If you ask a teacher in an online class a question, they will want to know the same things. They will want to see what you have done and where you are stuck. If you send an email to a co-worker or boss about an issue, they will want to hear about why it is a problem and what solutions have been tried so far. You may not need to map out every little detail, but you do need to give enough information that people don't have to ask a bunch of questions before they can answer yours.

Answer 6

hat :O what** hot**

Answer 7

nice!!! and i guess u should post this at math section too
bec there are sooo many users never came to "OPEN STUDY FEEDBACK" section

Answer 8

thanks @e.mccormick this is very helpful :)

Answer 9

Oh @e.mccormick you just reminded me of my first days on OpenStudy! But as I've went this far on OpenStudy, I have learned many things! Thanks for the information!

Answer 10

Informative... thanks for this..!! @e.mccormick

Answer 11

Welcome one and all.

\(\huge\ddot{\Large\dot\smile}\)

Answer 12

I learned a few things. I like the first one.

Answer 13

When there is ambiguity in a question I often ask the student to take a screenshot of the original question
In addition it helps if the student uploads a screenshot of the work done so far, if its not easy to type out in the textbox

Answer 14

@e.mccormick and @TheSmartOn so nice....

Answer 15

@ziqbal103
You mean @TheSmartOne

Answer 16

I'm going to print this out and give it to my students. Awesome!

Answer 17

@e.mccormick Thanks for making this post!

Answer 18

Nice post!

Answer 19

46 medals in one post.... dam...

Answer 20

@SamsungFanBoy then visit this post if you think this one has a lot of medals. http://openstudy.com/study#/updates/4f8e1d22e4b000310fac92ff

Answer 21

Hehe. I have a few posts with high medal counts. It comes with the teritory for making good tutorials.

Answer 22

This tutorial helped me so much. Great job. @e.mccormick