I don’t see any reason why you can’t just tell them how to work it out. As long as you don’t just give the answer and make sure to explain how you solve it then it is fine. This forum is for helping people with questions and just giving hints wouldn’t be very useful

Original post by AGrizzlyBearo

Sorry, but I don't think this forum allows us to give full solutions! Only hints + tips.

Reply 23

alavni

10

Original post by AGrizzlyBearo

Also, your answer is incorrect!

Oh thanks for letting me know, I misread the total number of people, I’ll edit the original now

Reply 24

AGrizzlyBearo

10

Original post by alavni

I don’t see any reason why you can’t just tell them how to work it out. As long as you don’t just give the answer and make sure to explain how you solve it then it is fine. This forum is for helping people with questions and just giving hints wouldn’t be very useful

For maths, it's much more effective to give hints rather than full solutions.

A person will get better if they have to work out the problem themselves, as it means that they have to actually understand the problem. And if they understand the problem, then they will be more likely to to be able to solve similar problems in the future.

If a person is given a full solution, they might fall into the trap of feeling like they actually understand everything, when in actuality they've just learnt the solution for a particular problem, and can't adapt to other ones.

You'll find that the best teachers will ask certain questions or give hints to point students in the right direction, rarely will they give them the solution straight away.

(Also, it's much more satisfying to answer a question with just a few hints, than if you were following along with a solution)

Probably best to only give a solution after a few hints, and someone is really struggling etc
---------------------------
@Sir Cumference might be able to explain it/ convince you better than me

Reply 25

alavni

10

Original post by AGrizzlyBearo

For maths, it's much more effective to give hints rather than full solutions.

A person will get better if they have to work out the problem themselves, as it means that they have to actually understand the problem. And if they understand the problem, then they will be more likely to to be able to solve similar problems in the future.

If a person is given a full solution, they might fall into the trap of feeling like they actually understand everything, when in actuality they've just learnt the solution for a particular problem, and can't adapt to other ones.

You'll find that the best teachers will ask certain questions or give hints to point students in the right direction, rarely will they give them the solution straight away.

(Also, it's much more satisfying to answer a question with just a few hints, than if you were following along with a solution)

Probably best to only give a solution after a few hints, and someone is really struggling etc
---------------------------
@Sir Cumference might be able to explain it/ convince you better than me

Alright, I do see that there are benefits to just giving hints, both methods are fine, honestly. If someone is posting here, they are stuck and hints aren’t always enough to show them what they are supposed to do, I prefer being taught the process behind how to solve the type of question, and then I will try a few similar questions to make sure I understand how to do it. It is also usually hard to pinpoint exactly where the person has got stuck on the question so a full explanation can make them see where they went wrong

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 26

1st superstar

22

Original post by AGrizzlyBearo

For maths, it's much more effective to give hints rather than full solutions.

A person will get better if they have to work out the problem themselves, as it means that they have to actually understand the problem. And if they understand the problem, then they will be more likely to to be able to solve similar problems in the future.

If a person is given a full solution, they might fall into the trap of feeling like they actually understand everything, when in actuality they've just learnt the solution for a particular problem, and can't adapt to other ones.

You'll find that the best teachers will ask certain questions or give hints to point students in the right direction, rarely will they give them the solution straight away.

(Also, it's much more satisfying to answer a question with just a few hints, than if you were following along with a solution)

Probably best to only give a solution after a few hints, and someone is really struggling etc
---------------------------
@Sir Cumference might be able to explain it/ convince you better than me

Also @Muttley79 and @RDKGames

Reply 27

Notnek

21

Original post by alavni

Alright, I do see that there are benefits to just giving hints, both methods are fine, honestly. If someone is posting here, they are stuck and hints aren’t always enough to show them what they are supposed to do, I prefer being taught the process behind how to solve the type of question, and then I will try a few similar questions to make sure I understand how to do it.

Full explanations are sometimes given by helpers but that's only as a last resort. We always start with hints and try to allow the student to do as much of the work themselves as possible. In nearly all cases (assuming the student is willing to put the work in), hints successfully allow the student to finish the question themselves and learn much more than if they were just given the solution.

It is also usually hard to pinpoint exactly where the person has got stuck on the question so a full explanation can make them see where they went wrong

Yes it can be hard but that's why we ask everyone to post their full working. A full solution should never be given initially, plus it's against the forum rules - those with forum powers can remove full solutions posted in this forum.

The full solution rule has been active in this forum for over 15 years and it's worked very well throughout that time. It's one of the reasons why this forum is easily the best place to receive free school level maths help online.

Reply 28

alavni

10

Original post by Sir Cumference

A full solution should never be given initially, plus it's against the forum rules - those with forum powers can remove full solutions posted in this forum.

Where can I find the forum rules?

Reply 29

Muttley79

20

Original post by alavni

I don’t see any reason why you can’t just tell them how to work it out. As long as you don’t just give the answer and make sure to explain how you solve it then it is fine. This forum is for helping people with questions and just giving hints wouldn’t be very useful

No-one is going to give you an answer in the exam. Getting stuck is an opportunity to learn and improve your understanding. Students do that best by just getting a hint - it's best if they post what they've done too.

The first question I ask in class is 'What have you tried?' so I know they really thought about the problem. Often in telling me they see what to do so they sort themselves out.