Question that some of you should ask yourselves.?

Question

I am a retired mathematics teacher who found this site by accident two weeks ago. I have answered some questions and looked at many more and have been surprised at the number of wrong answers (should I have been surprised?) Some are simple numerical errors that we all make occasionally but others show a misunderstanding of the question, or worse still, a lack of understanding of the topic involved (see the question "what is the indefinte integral of abs(sinx) for example.) Presumably students are giving answers with good intentions but they must realise that a wrong answer is worse than none; it may leave the questioner more confused. Therefore I would ask any student thinking of answering a question here to ask themselves two questions first. Have I really understood the question? Have I thoroughly, repeat thoroughly, understood the topic well enough to help others?

Answer 1

I try to stay away from the Math questions because I know I am an idiot when it comes to more complicated questions about Math.
However, give me anything dealing with English and I would have a better than basic understanding.
It is difficult when the principles learned in school are not applied to daily living. Hence the reason I cannot tell you how to solve a Physics problem anymore. I don't use it so I lose it. And as far as the students asking questions on here...it is difficult to ask your parents when 1) they are not home or 2) they don't understand the process of solving an equation either.

Answer 2

I agree entirely.
And it extends far beyond the math realm.
Just do a simple search for the colour of the sky. You'll get the top 10 answers saying that it is blue because of the reflection of the oceans. That is horribly incorrect. And you get these answers from people who claim to be absolutely certain!!
It's horrible.
When there is any doubt in my mind, I let the asker of the question know that I am unsure, or that there are differing schools of thought on the matter (such as any of the evolution questions).
Anyway, I agree with you. People should make sure they know what they're talking about before answering. And mostly they should make sure to point out whether their answer is opinion or fact.

Answer 3

In a forum such as this the need for clarity falls on both the asker of the question and the one answering the question. When I answer, I try my best to "answer the question asked" and not my favorite question. I try to supply steps that seem --at least to me-- to flow from the question to the answer in a natural way. I try to gage the level of understanding that questioner has so as not to invoke concepts or techniques outside of the questioners experience, and I do try to have some enthusiasm for the material.

Having said that, this is a multilingual forum and the grasp of the English language often exceeds both the talents of the questioner and the one providing answers. Lots of what I take to be younger "players" use their colloquial cant because their facility with the language is limited. I do not hold that against them, nor do I very often chide them for it, even though it can make deciphering their questions difficult. There are clearly non-native English speakers asking questions, too, and that makes it difficult as well.

If my answers are correct, and they appear often enough, the a level of trust will develop. Believe me, I am no fan of the communal knowledge approach of wikipedia, but in this forum there seems to be little choice.

Oh, yes, one last : the editor for responding is brain-dead, making the asking and answering some questions overly complex.

HTH

Charles

Answer 4

I agree with you. Caveat emptor, and all that. A really good answer will engage enough of the questioner's understanding to produce an "aha" moment. Wasn't sharing that moment what made teaching worth dealing with the bureaucracy?

Answer 5

Ugh! Math! All hail the English major!

Answer 6

Well, Al Gore won an Oscar for making a movie that totally ignored BOTH those questions, so obviously they are just irrelevant.

But thanks for playing.

Answer 7

do you want an answer to your question?