On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 13:59:22 -0400, Dipperstein, Michael wrote: > Steve, > > This may sound twisted, but I actually enjoy helping students learn. I > don't > enjoy doing their work for them. I've attempted to convert "do my work > for me" > students to "can you help me understand this issue?" students. > > My efforts seem about as successful as world peace marches, and I was > wondering > if I should try another approach or give up. Giving up will save a lot > of time, > but isn't satisfying. My approach is to first see, from the initial message, whether the student seems to have *any* understanding of the topic. If not, I don't bother replying. If so, I simply ask them "what have you come up with so far and where are you getting stuck?" Only a minority will respond; if the response shows that they're doing the work and that they understand what it's about, I'll give them hints and point out obvious errors. I will not apologize for pointing people to appropriate references rather than giving direct answers to certain questions. I simply tell them that if you're a newbie to a subject, you don't yet understand it well enough to tell if the advice you're getting is good or bad, and until you reach such an understanding, your only realistic option is to get your information from authoritative sources like specifications, datasheets, language references, and standards rather than from some stranger on the Internet who only *sounds* like he knows what he's talking about. -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.