Why Does This Happen On Ab?

[ClaryS]

Not a criticism or wind up but....I've been looking at a few recent questions on AB and it seems some questions are dismissed as 'coursework'. Does it matter if its Coursework? some questions are reasonable and often lead to sensible discussion on who would be to blame or the best course of action, so why do people feel the need to dismiss these as irrelevant or the work of 'Trolls'? Surely any question is a good one, it is a Q&A site after all.

[vulcan42]

When I was at school, admittedly a long time ago, I was told if I didn't understand something ask for help. Isn't this the twenty-first century equivalent?

[poorclare]

I agree with Joggerjayne

[Svejk]

Should one, I meant. Of course one could.

[vulcan42]

I agree with JJ as well, the Brighton seagal is flying high today.

[sherrardk]

If its coursework then the poster should state that it is. Any answers could then be based on fact and not 'with it's'. Also, a text book will have been accredited by someone along the line, people on here could post incorrect information (which they believe to be true) and the poster will be no better off.

[Prudie]

That's worth a lot Jordy :-) I was talking about school homework, I don't think that's actually what Clary means.

[EcclesCake]

There are a variety of different posts of this type.

There are the overt 'what's the answer?' question, usually from younger posters. Factor Fiction is particularly good at getting them to show what their level of understanding is and how they would approach the problem. This approach is much more beneficial in the longterm to aid learning.

Then there are A level/college type questions that are about reasoning and they are often recognised as course work by some. But others find themselves getting caught up unwittingly and are answering a question that they feel once the reveal is made have been misled.

Then there are the behavioural psychologists who test hypotheses on fora. These are the ones that cheese people off the most (I think) as they are viewed as trolls and some of the bleeding heart posts are undoubtedly trolls. Trouble is if it is posted as hypothetical the answers will be completely invalid.

[ClaryS]

But how can anyone be sure the person questioning is not genuine (within reason obviously)? people say they 'know' but do they? Sometimes fact can be much stranger than fiction.

[Prudie]

You're absolutely right Clary, we don't know and I think the correct course of action 'from the Ed' is either answer genuinely or if you think it's a wind up don't post. It is hard at times though...

[factor-fiction]

^ ...or report it to the Ed.

The Ed has confirmed the poster of the 'breaking car window to give first aid' poster was a known troll. Just look at 'her' previous thread and all the replies, and see if you spot a pattern. I think the Ed may have other info too- maybe IP address or email addresses.

Homework questions are fine to me provided the person asking sets out the required info (which course etc) and doesn't just want us to do all the work

[ethandron]

I don't see it as 'us doing all the work' though. Either we like answering questions, are happy to help, don't mind looking things up, etc. Or we don't. Isn't that why most of us are here on AB, because that's something we enjoy? And if we didn't enjoy it, we wouldn't do it.

[Peter Pedant]

.

Having posted on the 'broken quarter light - do I have to pay ?'
I can confirm it was 15 mins o f my life wasted
I wd be better off stroking the dog or making a cup of tea
or even scratching my a...


If you / are going to post coursework, you should label it as such
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Science/Question1097240.html
and you might even get F F to post an answer !
Having a go first and showing you have tried is important.
In my case (see q) I would never have guessed that the insoluble cubic had a repeated root (and so was soluble after all)

oddly enough in a q and a session person to person in another life
a pretty young thing asked me a question,
and I thought - the answer is on p 452 of the textbook she is holding
and she asked a relevant supplementary without hesitation
and I thought - that is on p 453
and she gave a knowing mona lisa smile.....

and even 20 y later I still wonder what she was about
I think she was just checking to see if I had read the relevant text ( I had ) but she was the one who needed to . ....

it has made me allergic to answering someone else's coursework tho'

[boxtops]

I don't mind responding to any question, but when the question asked is something factual which can so easily be Googled (and I might have to do that to be able to answer) I feel it something they could do for themselves....

I don't mind the opinion/canvassing questions, but I do mind being taken for a ride.

[pixie373]

I don't mind. Coursework is rarely straight answers, so using AB to get a few responses is perfectly valid. I would never recognise a "troll" and prefer to try to help and if it isn't a genuine question -no harm done. But i don't see what you'd get out of posting a fake question, anyway.

[boxtops]

Some people just do it to wind us up, pixie - and some trolls/banned people are easily recognised by their style.

[hc4361]

I do remember the wind ups we used to get in the motoring section, such as - I was doing 60 on a single lane when I got cut up by the idiot overtaking. I blared my horn and followed him for 20 miles trying to get him to stop so I could explain to him how dangerous his manoeuvre was. I lost him when I ran out of fuel. I have got his reg no, though, so is there any way I can his name and address?

[society]

Absolutely Peter Pedant... and I agree with you and Prudie.

I don't mind helping with homework but I'd appreciate if the person specify that it's their schoolwork, and they need help. Some actually do though and they always get great help and in details, especially with mathematics.