How can I tell if it's a test for a student?

[MikeTbob]

Hey people,
I was reading the forum rules, like a good boy...and I see a rule that causes me to wonder.

Dont give us YOUR homework questions - Don't be so bloody lazy. If you post your homework for someone else to do, don't be surprised if your post is removed. Asking for a brief pointer on a *particular area* IS ok. Verbatim copying of multiple assignment questions and attaching a note at the bottom saying "please help me" is not. We were all at school/college/university once upon a time, and we know what homework questions look like

I'm afraid we haven't all been to higher education.
How do I tell if I should leave a post alone, because it's some students homework?

[drl]

Hi, MikeTbob.

It's not always easy to tell. I go by:

very structured statement,
relative simplicity of the problem,
no background provided,
no indication of what has been tried,
low posting count

If you do a forum search for homework, and look at the closed (locked) threads, you can get a gut feeling.

I then tend to skip these kinds of threads and the moderators pick them up pretty quickly ... cheers, drl

[oz]

You gradually get to where you can better recognize most homework questions, but in some cases there's no exact way to tell, so you have to make a determination from the information given.

Like drl said, you go by the clues given and/or gut feeling. Sometimes, I'll ask them directly if it's homework. Of course, I'll still have to go by own feelings about it no matter which way they respond.

[Cabhan]

My main indicator is if it's a super-structured question, especially one that's fairly simple, with no explanation of why such a simple question is being asked (if there's an explanation, it helps me think otherwise).

If I expect it's a homework question, I usually ask the person straight out, and give some hints (such as suggest a Google search, point to a man page, etc.) without actually writing any code or showing any steps.

[techieMoe]

If it isn't obvious to me that a question is homework (using the suggestions above) I generally either bluntly ask them or get them to incriminate themselves by asking the context or other guided questions. If they admit it's homework, bam, locked. (I use this tactic for other rule violations too.)

[MikeTbob]

Thanks for the replies folks, I feel like I have learned something new. =-}
I just wanted to be sure and try to follow the forum rules, and besides, no one ever helped me do my homework.
Too bad we didnt have google when I was in school, I think I would have aced every exam.

Cheerios

[techieMoe]

Too bad we didnt have google when I was in school, I think I would have aced every exam.

Cheerios

We did. Trust me when I say it's not that handy a resource. A much better one is to find someone who's taken the class the previous semester and study their tests and homeworks.