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Emily
Emily
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  • It is not necessarily cheating to ask PSQs, and even if it were, policing such things is not our job.

It is not my duty as a civilian to enforce the law. That is for police officers. But if I see someone robbing a liquor store drop his cell-phone, I'm not going to say, "excuse me, sir, you dropped this!"

That is to say that while I have no obligation to prevent the possible crime in progress, I'm not going to pretend that there's a good chance that what I'm witnessing is in fact a crime. I'm going to call the cops. And if it turns out to not be a crime, but just a low-budget film being shot without a permit, then the police have the discretion to deal with it as appropriate. There's really no detriment to calling the police. If it's all an honest mistake, it will be handled the right way. If it was a crime and I do nothing, then criminals go free.

PSQs may not be cheating, but when a question is nothing but a PSQ it looks a whole heck of a lot like it. At best, the OP is using Math.SE as a factory. At worst, they are cheating. By closing the question and leaving a comment, we take the prudent action, and give the OP a chance to say "oops, sorry, I was filming a low-budget movie."

  • Many students, especially non-majors, are truly lost in the face of some exercises, and don't know how to describe where they're struggling.

If a student is struggling and doesn't know where to start, it is not hard to say, "I'm struggling and don't know where to start. Please give me guidance on how to begin."

If they don't know to say that, then the problem they're really having is much deeper: they don't know how to properly ask questions. In such a case, we do that student a much greater pedagogical service by teaching them how to ask questions in such a way that they receive the best benefit than we do by giving them the answer to that one specific question. Teach a man to fish, etc.

  • It is not necessarily cheating to ask PSQs, and even if it were, policing such things is not our job.

It is not my duty as a civilian to enforce the law. That is for police officers. But if I see someone robbing a liquor store drop his cell-phone, I'm not going to say, "excuse me, sir, you dropped this!"

That is to say that while I have no obligation to prevent the possible crime in progress, I'm not going to pretend that there's a good chance that what I'm witnessing is in fact a crime. I'm going to call the cops. And if it turns out to not be a crime, but just a low-budget film being shot without a permit, then the police have the discretion to deal with it as appropriate. There's really no detriment to calling the police. If it's all an honest mistake, it will be handled the right way. If it was a crime and I do nothing, then criminals go free.

PSQs may not be cheating, but when a question is nothing but a PSQ it looks a whole heck of a lot like it. At best, the OP is using Math.SE as a factory. At worst, they are cheating. By closing the question and leaving a comment, we take the prudent action, and give the OP a chance to say "oops, sorry, I was filming a low-budget movie."

  • Many students, especially non-majors, are truly lost in the face of some exercises, and don't know how to describe where they're struggling.

If a student is struggling and doesn't know where to start, it is not hard to say, "I'm struggling and don't know where to start. Please give me guidance on how to begin."

If they don't know to say that, then the problem they're really having is much deeper: they don't know how to properly ask questions. In such a case, we do that student a much greater pedagogical service by teaching them how to ask questions in such a way that they receive the best benefit than we do by giving them the answer to that one specific question. Teach a man to fish, etc.

added 1947 characters in body
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Emily
Emily
  • 36.4k
  • 18
  • 27
  • It is not necessarily cheating to ask PSQs, and even if it were, policing such things is not our job.

It is not my duty as a civilian to enforce the law. That is for police officers. But if I see someone robbing a liquor store drop his cell-phone, I'm not going to say, "excuse me, sir, you dropped this!"

That is to say that while I have no obligation to prevent the possible crime in progress, I'm not going to pretend that there's a good chance that what I'm witnessing is in fact a crime. I'm going to call the cops. And if it turns out to not be a crime, but just a low-budget film being shot without a permit, then the police have the discretion to deal with it as appropriate. There's really no detriment to calling the police. If it's all an honest mistake, it will be handled the right way. If it was a crime and I do nothing, then criminals go free.

PSQs may not be cheating, but when a question is nothing but a PSQ it looks a whole heck of a lot like it. At best, the OP is using Math.SE as a factory. At worst, they are cheating. By closing the question and leaving a comment, we take the prudent action, and give the OP a chance to say "oops, sorry, I was filming a low-budget movie."

  • Many students, especially non-majors, are truly lost in the face of some exercises, and don't know how to describe where they're struggling.

If a student is struggling and doesn't know where to start, it is not hard to say, "I'm struggling and don't know where to start. Please give me guidance on how to begin."

If they don't know to say that, then the problem they're really having is much deeper: they don't know how to properly ask questions. In such a case, we do that student a much greater pedagogical service by teaching them how to ask questions in such a way that they receive the best benefit than we do by giving them the answer to that one specific question. Teach a man to fish, etc.

  • It is not necessarily cheating to ask PSQs, and even if it were, policing such things is not our job.

It is not my duty as a civilian to enforce the law. That is for police officers. But if I see someone robbing a liquor store drop his cell-phone, I'm not going to say, "excuse me, sir, you dropped this!"

That is to say that while I have no obligation to prevent the possible crime in progress, I'm not going to pretend that there's a good chance that what I'm witnessing is in fact a crime. I'm going to call the cops. And if it turns out to not be a crime, but just a low-budget film being shot without a permit, then the police have the discretion to deal with it as appropriate. There's really no detriment to calling the police. If it's all an honest mistake, it will be handled the right way. If it was a crime and I do nothing, then criminals go free.

PSQs may not be cheating, but when a question is nothing but a PSQ it looks a whole heck of a lot like it. At best, the OP is using Math.SE as a factory. At worst, they are cheating. By closing the question and leaving a comment, we take the prudent action, and give the OP a chance to say "oops, sorry, I was filming a low-budget movie."

  • Many students, especially non-majors, are truly lost in the face of some exercises, and don't know how to describe where they're struggling.

If a student is struggling and doesn't know where to start, it is not hard to say, "I'm struggling and don't know where to start. Please give me guidance on how to begin."

If they don't know to say that, then the problem they're really having is much deeper: they don't know how to properly ask questions. In such a case, we do that student a much greater pedagogical service by teaching them how to ask questions in such a way that they receive the best benefit than we do by giving them the answer to that one specific question. Teach a man to fish, etc.

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Emily
Emily
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  • 18
  • 27

My personal opinions below, I speak not for any other member:

1. Math.SE is a place to do math (at all levels), asking questions as they arise and helping others with theirs when we can.

Of the three, I think this is the most appropriate descriptor, but it is incomplete. Math.SE is a place to do math. It is a place to solve problems and to seek solutions to problems. But it is also a place to seek alternative ideas, to experience new branches of mathematics, and a place to hone problem solving skills. As a Q&A site, by nature this must involve multiple parties: at least one to ask, and another to answer. To me, this means that Math.SE is an interactive utility. Both the asker and the answerer are jointly responsible for doing math. A necessary component of making/keeping Math.SE as a place where people can do math is to ensure that this interactivity is upheld.

2. Math.SE is a place to learn and teach math, in addition to doing it.

I disagree with this. Math.SE is not a crowd-sourced tutor, although it can sometimes be used as such (and that's OK!). Learning and teaching are individual objectives. It is not the duty of the community to impose these objectives on its users. Some may be here to teach. Some may be here to learn. Some may be here just because they want to show the world that they're the best and fastest solver of problems with the tag. If the focus shifts to teaching/learning, then we adjudge questions and answers entirely within that framework, and that would be wrong.

3. Math.SE is a place for anything math and math-related.

No. Math.SE is for asking legitimate questions and seeking legitimate problems. This is too broad. Math.SE is not designing to be a cumulative solutions manual for the world's most popular textbooks. It is not designing to be a skeptics forum whereby we do the world a duty by debunking every crackpot. Math.SE does not exist to attempt to convince the countless number of individuals that no, in fact your "novel" concept of "tiny numbers" does not disprove $0.99999\ldots = 1$.

If Math.SE becomes for anything math and math-related, and we fail to enforce controls, then the site runs the risk of being the go-to source for everyone who has found a three line proof of the Riemann hypothesis.

Questions, and answers, should be self-contained and have a clear goal.