Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-29 Thread Iain Barnett


On 29 Sep 2009, at 03:19, Casey Hawthorne wrote:


If you do a student's homework, you are cheating that student out of
an education.

He/She may realize that t late in the future.
--
Regards,
Casey


I'm not sure I agree with that. If they're old enough to be doing  
Haskell homework then they're old enough to make their own decisions  
and take the consequences of that. As they might say in Calvinist  
Scotland, Let the child play with the knife, they'll soon learn :)


Personally, I tend to find exercises without access to the answers  
a poor way to learn. You'll learn more from a well crafted example  
than you ever will by struggling at something yourself.



Regards
Iain
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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-29 Thread Daniel Fischer
Am Dienstag 29 September 2009 13:04:38 schrieb Iain Barnett:
 Personally, I tend to find exercises without access to the answers  
 a poor way to learn. You'll learn more from a well crafted example  
 than you ever will by struggling at something yourself.

I sort of disagree. You'll learn more if you can read a well crafted example 
*after* 
you've struggled to get something good on your own. 
If you start inspecting an example before you've spent considerable effort 
understanding 
the matter on your own, you're likely to miss some important things.
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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-29 Thread Iain Barnett


On 29 Sep 2009, at 12:48, Daniel Fischer wrote:


Am Dienstag 29 September 2009 13:04:38 schrieb Iain Barnett:

Personally, I tend to find exercises without access to the answers
a poor way to learn. You'll learn more from a well crafted example
than you ever will by struggling at something yourself.


I sort of disagree. You'll learn more if you can read a well  
crafted example *after*

you've struggled to get something good on your own.
If you start inspecting an example before you've spent considerable  
effort understanding

the matter on your own, you're likely to miss some important things.



So, if I was trying to come up with a solution to a problem that  
possibly has multiple solutions, like building an engine for a car, I  
would do better if I hadn't seen a (well crafted) working engine by  
someone else than if I had?


If effort is there, then give me the example any time, because  
insight will be quicker. If you're going to be lazy then it doesn't  
matter either way.



Regards,
Iain

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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-29 Thread Curt Sampson
On 2009-09-29 13:47 +0100 (Tue), Iain Barnett wrote:

 So, if I was trying to come up with a solution to a problem that  
 possibly has multiple solutions, like building an engine for a car, I  
 would do better if I hadn't seen a (well crafted) working engine by  
 someone else than if I had?

Yes, because the work you'd done thinking about it would give you a
better understanding of the problem, even if the answer you'd come up
with was completely wrong.

That said, learning from the good example afterwards is without question
extremely valuable.

 If effort is there, then give me the example any time, because insight 
 will be quicker.

Actually, I find that for many problems there is no quick insight. The
true understanding of the problem comes with struggling with it, rather
than mastering it.

cjs
-- 
Curt Sampson   c...@starling-software.com+81 90 7737 2974
   Functional programming in all senses of the word:
   http://www.starling-software.com
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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-29 Thread Michael Mossey



Iain Barnett wrote:


So, if I was trying to come up with a solution to a problem that 
possibly has multiple solutions, like building an engine for a car, I 
would do better if I hadn't seen a (well crafted) working engine by 
someone else than if I had?


If effort is there, then give me the example any time, because insight 
will be quicker. If you're going to be lazy then it doesn't matter 
either way.


This could be a question of learning styles. You wrote If the effort is 
there... so I assume that means you have a way of putting effort into 
understanding an engine design, even if you have never seen an engine 
design before. Furthermore you have some way of digesting and transforming 
that knowledge so you can make new designs rather than be a slave to imitation.


I definitely cannot do this very well. I learn much faster by struggling 
with a problem so I learn where the problem is---what is the key thing 
I'm trying to do, and why do my efforts seem to fall short? Why do I feel 
confused? And THEN looking at the answer to get that aha! moment.


This is especially nice in learning Haskell because solutions tend to be 
elegant and contain deep insights.


Isn't there some saying like: See and remember for a day. Do and remember 
for a lifetime.


In struggling to answer, a student is not simpling doing the problem, but 
is actually doing part of the thinking that led to the creation of 
Haskell. They are retracing problems and alternative solutions that are in 
some way related to the history of computer science.


Mike



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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-29 Thread Daniel Fischer
Am Dienstag 29 September 2009 14:47:27 schrieb Iain Barnett:
 On 29 Sep 2009, at 12:48, Daniel Fischer wrote:
  Am Dienstag 29 September 2009 13:04:38 schrieb Iain Barnett:
  Personally, I tend to find exercises without access to the answers
  a poor way to learn. You'll learn more from a well crafted example
  than you ever will by struggling at something yourself.
 
  I sort of disagree. You'll learn more if you can read a well
  crafted example *after*
  you've struggled to get something good on your own.
  If you start inspecting an example before you've spent considerable
  effort understanding
  the matter on your own, you're likely to miss some important things.

 So, if I was trying to come up with a solution to a problem that
 possibly has multiple solutions, like building an engine for a car, I
 would do better if I hadn't seen a (well crafted) working engine by
 someone else than if I had?

I thought we were talking about homework for a school/university course.
I tacitly assumed that the principles and some examples would have previously 
been given 
in the lectures.
Then you're given the homework exercise to build upon those to solve a bigger 
task.


 If effort is there, then give me the example any time, because
 insight will be quicker.

But it will be deeper if you explored the matter first without your vision 
constrained by 
the example.

 If you're going to be lazy then it doesn't matter either way.

True.



 Regards,
 Iain

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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-28 Thread Joe Fredette
I think the consensus is Help, not do when it comes to homework  
(esp. on -beginners). At least, thats what I try to do. I've always  
got the sense that that is what the community expects.




On Sep 28, 2009, at 7:40 PM, Michael P Mossey wrote:

I'm not really hip to the culture here so this is just an  
observation, but some of the recent questions posted to this list  
(and beginn...@haskell.org) look a lot like someone's homework. Is  
anyone here concerned about avoiding giving the full answer, or  
maybe it's really none of our business (we aren't responsible for  
anyone's learning process)?


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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-28 Thread Thomas DuBuisson
 I think the consensus is Help, not do when it comes to homework (esp. on
 -beginners). At least, thats what I try to do. I've always got the sense
 that that is what the community expects.

Yep, there's a whole policy on this.
http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Homework_help

TomMD
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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-28 Thread Daniel Fischer
Am Dienstag 29 September 2009 01:40:02 schrieb Michael P Mossey:
 I'm not really hip to the culture here so this is just an observation, but
 some of the recent questions posted to this list (and
 beginn...@haskell.org) look a lot like someone's homework. Is anyone here
 concerned about avoiding giving the full answer, or maybe it's really none
 of our business (we aren't responsible for anyone's learning process)?

The (unofficial and not enforceable) policy is here:
http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Homework_help

If you notice somebody wants you to do their homework, you don't.
If the proper questions are asked, you help (guide into the right direction).
If you don't realize soon enough that somebody wanted their homework done and 
you've given 
a complete answer, hopefully their instructors read the lists, too.
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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Doing people's homework?

2009-09-28 Thread Casey Hawthorne
If you do a student's homework, you are cheating that student out of
an education.

He/She may realize that t late in the future.
--
Regards,
Casey
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