Help cure "Do My Homework Syndrome"

[Chris Dean]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

I initiate this discussion in an effort develop solutions for what I like to call “Do My Homework Syndrome.”

The primary purpose of this discussion is to help Typophile, as a community, continue to exist as a valuable knowledge resource, without doing students the disservice of stunting their problem solving skills.

Simplified for the sake of discussion, the situation I have identified as follows: Students ask Typophiles for help with their homework, and we end up doing it for them. The harm, as previously mentioned, is that we end up stunting the problem solving skills of students, ultimately doing them a disservice.

It’s not quite so black and white, but I am confidant that we are all aware of the phenomenon. It is futile to point fingers at students, Typophiles, or educators in particular as we are all equal participants. Myself included. Rather than argue about what is, we should take it upon ourselves to acknowledge the reality of the situation, clearly identify the problem and implement practical solutions.

I strongly encourage the participation of students and educators in this discussion. I see Typophile as a community committed to contributing. Helping you helps our profession, which ultimately helps us all.

We all recognize the value of the Internet as an information resource. An example I often use is doctors using drug databases, instead of memorization, to help them keep track of medications, their interactions and their side effects. It is faster, more accurate and less prone to human error. The result is an efficient healthcare system, fewer tax dollars spent, and human lives saved. We also understand the philosophy behind the proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” I dub this dichotomy “search versus solve.”

Proposed solutions

1. Valid student accounts: Have students self identify. This will most certainly have to rely on the honour system to a large degree. Real names, proper profile photos and links to their respective academic institutions would help.

2. Teacher directory: A way of letting teachers monitor the activity of their students. This could be as simple as letting them know Typophile exists and asking them to keep an eye out for people having their homework done for them. Perhaps they could register accounts marked by their institution which would then give them access to a list of all student accounts marked with the same institution.

3. Professional profiles: Those with the greatest experience and value to offer should have full CV’s, history, portfolios &c so students and teachers know who the help is coming from.

4. How to ask: Students should be encouraged to explain the problem, what they have done and the reasoning behind their design decisions as opposed to simply asking “What do you think?” In conducting research, I find I have far greater success when requesting information if I begin with “I have spent time looking here, here and here and have been unable to find what I am looking for. Could you please point me in the right direction?”

5. How to help: A very difficult one. Typophiles should help students help themselves, and be mindful when helping turns into doing. An example could be suggesting resources to identify typefaces before simply doing it for them. The ability to rapidly recall and identify typefaces on the fly is a useful skill that can only be developed with practice.

These last two points involve exploring the ethics of education, which is not my area of expertise. I am not an educator, but I do believe a good teacher produces a student capable of thinking for themselves and does not need to constantly rely on others to get the job done, while simultaneously recognizing the value of collaboration.

In closing, I believe Typophile has tremendous value to offer and sincerely hope it will continue to do so for years to come. This is an important issue that needs to be calmly and carefully considered by all so that our community can continue to contribute in positive and meaningful ways.

I look forward to a fruitful discussion and thank you for your time.

[Riccardo Sartori]

Related:
https://typography.guru/forums/topic/76583-forwarding

[Chris Dean]

Interesting. A year later and situation remains the same. Perhaps we should re-evaluate our tactics.

[Frode Bo Helland]

Professional profiles sounds like a lot of hazzle. A like/dislike widget on comments that is reflected in a rating on each profile would give a simpler, more accurate indication of quality.

[William Berkson]

What's the problem? If you want to help a student, do, if you don't, don't.

[Chris Dean]

The problem is clear: “The harm, as previously mentioned, is that we end up stunting the problem solving skills of students, ultimately doing them a disservice.”

And it is something our community should recognize as a whole. Quoting dezcom from another thread:

“Christopher, It seems as though Typophile has become the hot place to go for kids wanting to get quick help with their homework. They don't seem to care if it has anything to do with typography or not. We are well known suckers :-)”

I would rather Typophile help more than harm our community, and certainly don’t want to see Typophile develop a reputation as being a room full of “suckers.” This portion of the discussion should be a non-issue.

It is my hope that this discussion can propose solutions to a situation that we are clearly already aware of.

[J.Montalbano]

FWIW I always advise my students not to post anything to Typophile. I tell them that given their limited experience they cannot tell whether the person offering them advice is an expert or a moron.

[Miss Tiffany]

I think James makes a good point. :)

I'd also like to add that if a student posts, asking for more than guidance, the correct thing to do is make your own choice. Either ignore the thread or help them. Being rude and telling them to take a hike is not the answer. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. It is one thing to politely offer a little guidance and constructive criticism. But another thing entirely to say something that might not be needed to be said.

[dezcom]

To me, I first look for due diligence on the part of the student. Have they made a sincere effort to solve their problem on their own? Saying, "I looked everywhere" is not a good sign. If I feel the student is really making an effort, I might post back some leading questions in a sort of attempt at a socratic dialogue. I hope that my questions will give them a new way to LOOK at the problem instead of just giving them a solution. I respond back again only if the student has put forth some thought and made a real attempt. I am trying to make them "Design an Enquiring System" for themselves as opposed to handing them a canned answer--teach them to fish.

Sometimes they become fisherman--sometime they just keep trolling for a free can of Tuna (Sorry Charlie).

ChrisL

[hrant]

> given their limited experience they cannot tell whether
> the person offering them advice is an expert or a moron.

Sounds like good advice at first, but when you think about it,
it doesn't make sense. And nothing is worse than listening to
only one person's advice.

hhp

[J.Montalbano]

After they pass the "Identify the Moron on Typophile Test" I let them do what they want.

[JamesT]

I'd like to add to the problem, if I may.

I'm a student and I've posted a thread regarding the critique of my typeface. This typeface, however, has no role in my academic life (it's something I've taken on completely outside the realm of my classes).

My purpose in posting my typeface here is not to get easy answers but a: because my professors don't have the time or the knowledge of type design to help me; and b: because posting it here allows those that do have either the time or the ability (except for the "morons", I suppose), to offer advice in areas I wouldn't otherwise think to look.

While I could go and contact professionals outside of the typophile community, I certainly wouldn't want to bother anyone with my requests. Typophile allows for those people to respond (if they care to), at their own time and without any badgering from me.

There is also only so much I can figure out on my own without either trying to reinvent the wheel or completely overlooking a major problem.

How would these kinds of situations be handled?

[hrant]

> Identify the Moron

Only glyphs are so black & white.

hhp

[DrDoc]

I haven't posted here in a while, so I'm not really sure I qualify as a contributing member of this community, but as a student I feel the need to offer my opinion.

I joined Typophile in January 2008, when I was a sophomore in college with a minor interest in type and design. I was at a point in my college career where I didn't have any clear career aspirations; I had started college wanting to be a journalist, but I had quit the school newspaper after one semester and decided that it wasn't for me. I figured that I would get through college majoring in something I enjoy (English and political science) and that something would be waiting for me when I got out. The only thing I knew was that I really enjoyed the act of creation involved in newspaper layout, and I had started reading type blogs in 2007.

Now I'm a third-quarter design student at the Creative Circus, well on my way toward entering the industry as a kick-ass designer with killer type skills. And I have Typophile to thank for that. I have learned so much about type from these forums over the past three years that even in design school I'm known as a type guru.

And the way I learned so much was not by asking questions and having them answered, but by listening to the conversations between the experts who inhabit these forums. And when I did have a question, it would be answered.

The thing is, there's really no way that we can "do students' homework" for them. If they're using this forum as a primary source for research, then it will show through in their presentation. I agree with William that it should be up to the individual members — if you want to help students, then help them; if you don't, then don't.

Because what this forum ultimately provides, more than anything else, is a community. The really amazing thing about this forum is that it is inhabited by everyone from overexuberant students like myself all the way up to type demigods like Erik Spiekermann. And to impose some sort of rules to curb "do my homework" syndrome would be to necessarily exclude students from this community. While I imagine that some of this forum's veterans like to regard themselves as the "true typophiles" and would like to preserve the purity of the community, we have to remember that part of Typophile's purpose is to spread knowledge and enthusiasm about type, and "otherizing" people who genuinely want to be a part of this community runs counter to that purpose.

[hrant]

Eric, well put.

Christopher, everybody who wants to learn* will do so. Anybody who wants others
to do their work will end up paying for that eventually. We cannot administer
psychotherapy. We can, and should give advice, technical or otherwise. Can all
of it be good, even from somebody like Spiekermann? Absolutely not - that would
be inhuman. Which is what things become when you vie for too much control.

* Including people who are in a position to teach - the best teacher
is an eternal student. In fact there's no magic threshold that entitles
one group of people to teach and the rest to learn.

hhp

[J.Montalbano]

While I agree that a teacher must continue to learn, this statement of yours:

In fact there's no magic threshold that entitles
one group of people to teach and the rest to learn.

Is an illusion.

[Miss Tiffany]

JamesT: It sounds to me like you have something valid to ask. I'd post the typeface in the critique section and see what happens.

[JamesT]

Miss Tiffany,

I did and got a lot of help. This forum has been extremely enlightening for me (due to my present lack of "off-line" resources).

I think James is right regarding the illusion. While one is never truly done learning, there is a point, when one knows enough about a subject, that they can then educate others.

[hrant]

That doesn't make sense, because:
- I teach stuff (well, I've been told I do).
AND
- I learn stuff from even the most novice participant.

hhp

[JamesT]

The two aren't mutually exclusive (at least in my experience).

[J.Montalbano]

That doesn't make sense...

To you.

And there you have it!

[William Berkson]

Some wisdom on teaching and learning from an ancient source: "Choose for yourself a mentor, acquire for yourself a friend, and be judging every person in a favorable light."

This says both that who you choose as a mentor matters, and that there is a difference between a "rav," a master or mentor, and a pupil, even though the teacher is also supposed to learn from his or her pupils.

[hrant]

There is a difference between everything.

hhp

[Chris Dean]

The teacher/student definition is a simple circular debate. We are all learning and we all have the ability to educate others.

For this thread, I operationalize the term “student” as someone taking a course and being given assignments which are graded. In most instances they are paying for this.

I operationalize “teacher” as someone who organizes the course, gives assignments and evaluates the work. In most instances they are being paid for their services.

[hrant]

I'm sorry, but those definitions are moot in the context of Typophile.
This is especially true of your "teacher"; do you think non-"teacher"s
cannot help people be parasitic?

hhp