[MWForum]how much MW homework help should this list provide?

[Lauren Pacini]

Wendy,

Thanks for the pinted post! When I tried to draw out
the author of one of those posts to begin an
instructive dialogue, another member of this group
answered my question for her and then answered her
question. Had it been one of my students I would have
been less than thrilled. It seems to me that the value
of Microworlds is the logical thought processes that
it instills.

Lauren

--- Wendy Petti <wpetti@mathcats.com> wrote:
> Hi again Folks,
> 
> My backlogged messages have finally gotten posted to
> the list, so now I will
> raise another topic.  Recently the list was asked
> for help in creating a set
> of nested polygons of different numbers of sides.  I
> wondered to myself if
> this was a class assignment.  We've received an
> almost identical (but more
> detailed) request for help from another student. 
> This message was posted by
> a non-member and I've deferred on deciding whether
> or not to post it because
> I wanted to send this cautionary note first.
> 
> I think we need to be careful to find the right
> balance between being
> helpful and being *too* helpful.  When a teacher is
> asking for help - we
> help!  If a student is asking for help - we coach! 
> We can give some helpful
> hints or help the student get started by giving one
> sample procedure,
> perhaps... but we should not go on to complete the
> entire assignment, if we
> have any suspicions that the request is an
> assignment.  We are not doing the
> student any favors if we complete the whole project
> for him or her.
> 
> It is fine to ask questions to clarify what is the
> driving force behind the
> request before providing assistance.  It is fine to
> ask a student to send a
> partially-completed project or a set of procedures
> so we can see what (if
> anything) he or she has been able to do so far.  It
> is fine to point the
> student to pertinent online resources; for instance,
> there is a polygons
> folder of projects at the MicroWorlds in Action
> website.
> 
> Thanks in advance for keeping alert to homework help
> requests and handling
> them with care.
> 
> Wendy Petti
> MWForum moderator
> OWL's MicroWorlds in Action
> http://mia.openworldlearning.org
> Math Cats
> http://www.mathcats.com
> 
> 
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