Not signed in (Sign In)

Vanilla 1.1.9 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

General: Should MO have a 'homework' tag?

Bottom of Page

1 to 16 of 16

  1.  
    • CommentAuthorquid
    • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2013 edited
     

    Recently the tag 'homework' was created.

    In my opinion to have a homework-tag on MO is rather potentially harmful as it is likely to give the wrong impression that homwork-questions are on-topic (why else should such a tag exist, could be an IMO reasonable line of reasoning of a new user).

    Indeed, that is why I suggested the deletion of a then existant tag of the same name some time ago (which happened). It now was recretated, by a very experienced user. So I did not just want to remove it but rather thought to start this thread.

    Added: for reference this is what I said on the respective sticky thread Dec 4th 2011 (towards top of page 5) [To avoid a misconception, the user using it then and now are different.]

    I just noticed that there is a (recent?) 'homework' tag and somebody (not OPs) tagging things with this. For several reasons I think having this tag is a bad idea. One is that it can suggest homework is on-topic.

  2.  

    Question in question: http://mathoverflow.net/questions/122847/is-the-space-countably-compact-closed. Note that it has now been closed.

    • CommentAuthorbsteinberg
    • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2013
     
    I agree with quid that the homework tag is a bad idea. I also think it is not a good idea to add that tag to someone else's question. It may sometimes be the case somebody has a question that is of too low level for the site but it was an honest question rather than homework. To tag it as homework could be seen as rude. I realize the situation is different for the post at hand because the MSE version had a homework tag but I still think it sets an unwise precedent.
  4.  

    I think that a homework tag would be great if the software could be tweaked to display "This is not a site for asking questions about homework".

    • CommentAuthorYemon Choi
    • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2013
     

    In some cases, I think that a "mendicant" badge, stuck to the user's forehead, would be even better...

  6.  

    I removed the tag, please don't add it back.

    • CommentAuthorgrp
    • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2013
     
    Sorry Yemon. Bill Engvall (http://amog.com/entertainment/bill-engvall/ , among others) is all over that with his "Here's Your Sign". Maybe he could do a MathOverflow routine?

    Gerhard "Could Also Throw Something Together" Paseman, 2013.02.25
  8.  

    As I imagine several of you noticed, I tagged it with "homework", because the corresponding thread on math.stackexchange.com had been tagged (by the author) with "homework". I was trying to draw attention to the trend in this author's posts, earlier with this meta thread which hadn't garnered much attention until the homework tag was created, strangely enough.

    http://tea.mathoverflow.net/discussion/1539/not-sure-what-to-make-of-all-these-posts/

    I admit I maybe strayed too far towards ends rather than means. I'm glad this appears resolved.

  9.  
    Francois, in SE 2 it is possible (although only for admins) to blacklist tags. Perhaps it is possible on this platform as well?
  10.  

    No, but we're looking forward to that feature.

    • CommentAuthorWill Jagy
    • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2013
     
    We could have a mendicant tag.
    • CommentAuthorbsteinberg
    • CommentTimeMar 20th 2013
     
    The homework tag was recreated.
  13.  

    Maybe also we should have an easy-homework tag.

  14.  

    [trivial-exercise]

    • CommentAuthorbsteinberg
    • CommentTimeMar 23rd 2013
     
    It seems the homework tag is back and needs moderator deletion
    • CommentAuthorquid
    • CommentTimeMar 23rd 2013
     

    @bsteinberg: since you removed the only actual usage it it will be automatically deleted (within a day or so) except it gets reused in the intervening time.

    However, the user that created it (Rodrigo A. Pérez), was -- I am virtually certain -- the same that created it the last time. And, could recreate it any number of times, as he tags other peoples questions with it. To avoid a misconception this is IMO done with good intentions. Still it could be a good idea to let him know this should not be used, otherwise it might reappear every other day.

    (I could do so myself via a comment somewhere, but I'd think it is better somebody other than me does this.)

1 to 16 of 16

  1.  
Back to Discussions Top of Page