The Student Room Group

**Posting Guidelines**


Maths Forum Posting Guidelines

Before you post questions or help others in the maths forum, there are a few important things you should be aware of. Firstly there are the Community Guidelines set out by TSR. Please read through this guide before posting in the maths forum. There are also a set of guidelines specific for the maths forum. These are split into guidelines for asking questions and guidelines for answering questions.


Asking Questions fffffffff ffffff fffffff Answering Questions

(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 1

Asking Questions Guidelines

In the maths forum you can get help with any maths question, from Key Stage 3 to postgraduate level but we do expect that you have put a good amount of effort into a question before asking for help. The maths forum is not a "do my homework" service so there are some key guidelines below that we expect everyone who asks a question to follow.

Attempt the question before asking for help.

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Do not expect full solutions.

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Always post the full question including all your working.

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There are some supplementary guidelines below designed to make question threads clear and give your thread the best chance of receiving a useful reply. Please try to follow these guidelines as much as possible whenever you start a question thread.

Use informative thread titles.

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Use study labels.

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If you are attaching images to your post then make sure they are clear.

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Do not use ambiguous notation.

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Never hijack someone else's thread. Instead start a new thread or post in a megathread.

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Try to keep all of the question in the first post of the thread.

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Remember that people who reply to your questions are volunteers.

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(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 2

Answering Questions Guidelines

When a student posts a question in the maths forum, we would like them to go away with more understanding than they had before. The best way to ensure this is to allow the student to do as much of the question themselves as possible. We do not expect all helpers to be expert teachers but we would like everyone to follow the key guidelines shown below.

Offer hints to guide the student. Full solutions will normally be removed.

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Make sure that the student has attempted the question and posted their working before helping.

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If a hint has already been given, please do not offer a bigger hint.

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So that the student gets the most out of their question thread and to make sure the maths forum is a friendly place for students and helpers, there are some supplementary guidelines below that we recommend everyone follows.

Do not use ambiguous notation.
For example, if you are trying to type the fraction 3x+1\frac{3}{x+1} then 3/(x+1) is much clearer than 3/x+1. If you plan to help students regularly in the maths forum then consider learning LaTeX maths formatting.

Do not "barge in" while another helper is offering hints.

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Never belittle a student.

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Only offer help to a student if you are confident that you can assist them.

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Keep your explanation and notation relevant to the academic level of the student.

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Remain patient.

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Aim to assist the student with the method that they are already using.

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(edited 5 years ago)